Brine shrimp enrichment poised to boost hatcheries
Skretting Marine Hatchery Feeds says its “considerable investment” in researching and developing Artemia enrichment is paying off.
Artemia, known also as brine shrimp, are tiny crustaceans that are widely used as a live diet in the early stages of aquaculture production. Despite this application, Artemia do not naturally contain the highly unsaturated fatty acids DHA and EPA that are essential to marine fish growth and development.
A Skretting spokesman said: “Because hatcheries typically want a DHA-EPA ratio of 2:1 in their Artemia, they subject it to an enrichment phase before they are fed to fish, whereby it is placed in an enrichment suspension that it will ingest and incorporate into its biomass. However, there are two key problems associated with this standard model: Firstly, as a live animal, not all Artemia are the same; and secondly, Artemia will very efficiently break down DHA into other fatty acids.
Algae-based liquid
“Skretting Marine Hatchery Feeds has invested considerable R&D into the delivery of ORI-N3, its latest concept in Artemia enrichment that delivers a highly efficient incorporation of essential omega-3 fatty acids into the live feed as well as far greater flexibility in this essential marine hatchery process.
“Developed at MHF’s Centre of Excellence in Vervins, France, ORI-N3 is an algae-based liquid. It is supplied in 2kg foil stand-up spout bags and the dosage is simply weighed, mixed with water and then administered to the Artemia tank.
“Because ORI-N3 is algal-based there are no superfluous oils, while the risk of oxygen level challenges are much less likely than with standard enrichments. The Artemia also maintain a good protein base. A direct outcome of these benefits is a greatly reduced mortality rate and much cleaner enrichment.
“With commercial trials of ORI-N3 imminent, our goal is to have the market fully up to speed ahead of the new season, starting in September,” says Eamonn O’Brien, Product Manager for Skretting MHF.”
