INTERVIEW FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE August 2023 43 Analysing and managing the content, size, feeding amount and method of the feed used when feeding fish can provide significant contributions to the farmers in terms of fish health and welfare. Gareth Butterfield, Cargill Aqua Nutrition Strategic Marketing Technology Director, answered some questions about these issues. In your opinion, what are the prerequisites for raising a healthy farmed fish? What is the place and importance of nutrition in healthy fish farming? The health of farmed fish is intrinsically linked with the health of our planet, so we put fish welfare at the top of our agenda. We take time and care to develop fish nutrition that protects the lives of farmed fish and keeps them healthy. This starts with ensuring we meet the nutritional needs of the farmed animal - the correct nutrients, at the correct time, size and for a given environment. When the animal comes under undue stress, much like in humans, it may be necessary to offer supplementary nutrition to combat disease, environmental challenges and stress. Additives and functional feeds can be used to strengthen animals’ immune systems, reducing the need for medication like antibiotics. Last year, Cargill Aqua Nutrition saw functional feed sales reach their highest level since 2017, while antiparasitic and antibiotic drug sales fell significantly over the same time. At Cargill, we supply feed with antibiotics only on an as-needed basis for customers who have a prescription for the treatment. This has helped fuel a 71% reduction in coldwater antibiotic feed sales since 2017, helping to reduce the risk of developing anti-microbial resistance (AMR) in the environments where seafood is farmed. What should be the most appropriate feeding to keep fish healthier and reduce mortality rates? For example, which feed ingredients should be preferred and how much should the feed quantity be? The correct nutrients must be delivered to the animal to sustain maximum, healthy growth and optimum feed conversion ratios. Too little food can introduce excessive competition into the population, whilst too much can impact the immediate and surrounding culture environment through waste feed. Balancing these attributes will maintain fish health and help to manage mortality rates. Feeding profiles in aquaculture will vary according to environment, geography, species, animal size and other variables. One common element is how the feeding profile changes over time. It is important to balance the nutrient profile for a given fish size, stage of life cycle, and environment. You also must ensure the nutrients are configured to deliver a high-quality feed that can be wholly consumed and utilised by the animal, can travel through the appropriate feed delivery system without losing integrity and have a minimal impact on the environment. A great example of this can be found with Cargill’s Aquaxcel™ shrimp feed range, which comes in micro-pellets less than 1 millimeter in diameter. Made from high-quality raw materials and fortified with health-boosting vitamins and minerals, the pellets help the shrimp grow quickly, and support their immune system, especially in the crucial early development stages when mortality is high. Because Aquaxcel pellets leach less and take longer to dissolve, it is easier to control—and reduce—the amount of feed delivered to ponds. This, in turn, means cleaner water, less need for water treatment, healthier shrimp, and more revenue for the farmer. It is a huge advancement from alternative feeds that can become broken in the water, which leads to a lot of fine particles that are variable in size and nutrient leaching.
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