Research contractor Onda expands into shrimp 

Contract research organisation Onda (formerly known as the Centre for Aquaculture Technologies Canada), has announced the opening of a satellite location in Brazil to expand services to include work with whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei).

Prince Edward Island-based Onda said the expansion will be conducted in collaboration with an aquaculture facility and marks a pivotal step in advancing sustainable shrimp farming research globally.

It added that its expansion into shrimp through an external partner stemmed from a market push to provide innovative trials and testing for whiteleg shrimp. The trials aim to evaluate key performance indicators such as hatch success, growth rate, feed efficiency, survival rate and disease resistance.

Customisable trials

By partnering with an external facility, Onda can leverage its expertise in aquaculture research while benefiting from its partner’s advanced infrastructure. The collaboration allows Onda to design and execute trials with a species challenging to import into Canada while maintaining high standards.

Through the partnership, Onda’s services such as customisable shrimp research trials and Onda-designed models, remain available.

The new service is focused on nutrition, with growth, digestibility and palatability being the first phase of challenges available. The trials will focus on evaluating different feed formulations and ingredients to determine the impact on shrimp performance and growth rates to allow clients to enhance shrimp survival, reduce environmental impact, and improve profitability.

“After many years of development and securing reliable supply, we are very excited to expand our services in health and nutrition to include shrimp, the largest category by production in aquaculture,” said Onda chief executive Myrna Gillis.