Acronym EFISHTENT
Category
Aquaculture
Title Improvement of feeds and feeding efficiency for seabass in cage farms in the Mediterranean Programme FP7
Instrument (FP6)
Contact Type (FP7)
Strand (Interreg)
FP7 - Research for SMEs
Theme (FP7)
Activity Area (FP6)
Regional Area (Interreg)
Action (COST)
SME – Research for the benefit of SMEs
Specific Programme (FP7)
Capacities
Funding source European Coordinator NA Coordinator email NA
Coordinator institution
Akvaplan-niva - Akvaplan-niva AS (Norway)
Institutions involved
NA - FAI Aquaculture Ltd (United Kingdom) ,
NA - Feed Control Norway AS (Norway) ,
NA - National Research Council - Institute of Marine Engineering (Italy) ,
Nesne Elektronik - NESNE Electronic Design Consultancy Industry (Turkey) ,
NA - Nofima Marin AS (Norway) ,
NA - Raanan Fish Feed Ltd (Israel) ,
Özsu - Özsu Balik Production and Materials Food Industry Marketing Ltd (Turkey) ,
Start year 2010 End year 2013 Funding (€) € 1,299,117 Website https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/262155/it Summary In 2005 the total world production of Mediterranean sea bass reached 80,000 tons. The estimated amount of feed used to support this production was 150,000 tons valued at about € 100 million. Notwithstanding the increase in production, producer's profit margins are squeezed by the increase in price of feed ingredients, and the decline/instability of fish prices. Feed costs account for up to 60% of total production costs and inappropriate feeding management can therefore be detrimental to farmer's profits. Optimal feed management includes the use of well balanced feeds covering the species' nutritional and energy requirements and cost efficient feeding regimes. The large variation amongst generally poor industrial feed conversion ratios (FCR) obtained in European sea bass farming is a clear indication of inappropriate feeding. This project is a joint effort between European aquaculture stakeholders targeting the accurate determination of the basic nutritional requirements of sea bass throughout the production cycle and best practices in feeding regimes and technology in order to achieve a significant reduction in production FCR values. Specifically, the optimum dietary protein and energy levels which are crucial parameters for effective feed formulation will be determined for European sea bass and evaluated on the farm using the latest demand feeding technology. These requirements will be studied in relation to the main influencing biotic and abiotic factors which are fish size, diet composition, feeding level and frequency, water temperature and oxygen levels. The cost efficient use of diets with formulations targeting the specific seasonal and developmental needs of the fish will effectively improve production FCR and have a significant economic benefit for aquaculturists. Optimising feed utilization efficiency, fish growth, health and welfare besides promoting production efficiency and economy will also have a significantly positive environmental impact.
The main objective of the current proposal is to optimise feed management methods and allow the European sea bass farmer to significantly reduce production FCR by a total of at least 0.25:1 and thus feeding costs by more than 10%. At the same time nutritional and technical improvements will allow improvements in fish growth, labour costs reduction and minimise the environmental impacts of fish farming. Currently, one-third of the world’s fish catch is used to produce fishmeal and fish oil, and in 2004, the aquaculture industry used 87% of the world’s fish oil and 53% of the world’s fishmeal. Improved production FCR will reduce the overall demand for raw materials for fish feed production. The overall objectives of this project includes: Survey the recent findings on the nutritional requirements of sea bass, identify knowledge gaps and produce species specific feeds to maximise muscular and skeletal growth and minimise adiposity or expenditure of proteins for energy production. Analyse current feeding practices and identify problems and areas for potential improvement in sea bass farming and application of modern feeding technology systems (feeding management software, hardware for feeding consumption and loss monitoring, feeding protocols, oxygen diffusion in the sea cages during low water oxygen saturation levels in the warm production months). Research the protein and energy requirements of sea bass at different growth stages, seasons and environmental conditions. Research the effects of minor fish feed nutrient changes on fish performance and cost efficiency, for best raw material management in fish feed formulation. Research specific bottlenecks in sea bass farming (biomass loss during maturation, reduced winter performance, disease occurrences, reduced summer performance due to low sea oxygen levels) by: Inclusion of micro ingredients to improve the physiology of nutrient absorption and fish growth rates. Improving feed palatability during the winter at low water temperatures when feed intake rates are low. Determination of potential fish performance at various dissolved oxygen saturation levels. Decrease biomass losses from genetic maturation and spawning and disease outbreaks using special feed formulations and/or feeding strategies. Determine cost efficient feeding regimes for sea bass throughout the production cycle by optimising feeding rates, frequency and timing. Calculate the cost efficiency of the identified best feeding practices and creation of complete protocols for the fish farmers. Determine the environmental and animal welfare benefits resulting from best feeding practices and dissemination of the project findings to the stakeholders.
Keywords
Cage aquaculture;
Fish;
Diets;
Engineering;
Open sea aquaculture;
Animal welfare;
Technology;
Feed composition;
Seabass;
Marine Region
76
Not associated to marine areas
0
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