Brown shrimp remains as sustainable food for shrimp aquaculture
Brown shrimp, Crangon crangon, is the most valuable target of coastal fisheries in the southern North Sea. Landings approach 40,000 tons p.a., yielding up to 100 Mio Euro. The shrimp are boiled immediately after capture on board ship for preservation and easy peeling. After landing, the shrimp are collected by traders and sent for manual peeling. Only the meat of the pleon is returned and sold as regional delicacy. The remains, comprising the cephalothorax, the shell of the pleon and, in case, adhering eggs, accounts for 70 % of the body mass. This potential resource for e.g. aquaculture feeds has not yet been considered for exploitation. Shrimp peeling remains were obtained from a shrimp trader, operating a mechanical peeling device. The remains were dried, ground to a powder, and analyzed for gross composition, nutrients, and contaminants. The shrimp meal was used as substitute for commercial fishmeal in custom-made feed pellets. These pellets were fed to Whiteleg shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei, held in a recirculating aquaculture system. The acceptance of the pellets was excellent and the apparent digestibility high. Mortality decreased along with the rising share of shrimp meal. Concomitantly, growth of L. vannamei increased by up to 70 %. Brown shrimp remains proved to be a suitable complement for shrimp feeds. Commercial utilization of such remains would gain value to shrimp fisheries, encourage local processing, and may reduce transport emissions.
AWI Organizations > Biosciences > Functional Ecology