Five players in the aquaculture sector team up on new shrimp feed

09-Sep-2022 - Last updated on 09-Sep-2022 at 12:38 GMT

Land-based shrimp farming at Munich, Germany headquartered Crusta Nova © Crusta Nova

Related tags Shrimp feed black soldier fly RAS land-based

European based ingredient and technology suppliers, feed formulation experts and farmers have collaborated on the development and launch of a new shrimp feed.

The partners including Protix, Förde Garnelen, Aquafeed Germany, neomar and Crusta Nova outlined how they worked closely together to develop the product, branded as SHR EX.

The new feed has been exclusively designed for the needs of European land-based shrimp farms.

Shrimp consumption is growing across the globe. Traditional sea farming faces challenges such as the depletion of natural resources for feed, environmental destruction, disease, and the use of antibiotics, coupled with issues arising from complex transport chains, say the partners.

“Land-based farming, away from coastal areas, is a sustainable alternative, built around the concept of local production. However, it requires feed tailored for the demands of the shrimp and its farmers," they added.

Typically, such shrimp producers increasingly want to create feed produced with locally sourced ingredients in response to growing consumer demand for sustainable use of raw materials.

Insect protein

Krill meal in the formulation has been replaced by insect protein, namely Black Soldier Fly (BSF) derived meal from Dutch supplier, Protix.

However, the formulation comprises other marine ingredients - fishmeal and fish oil.

Dr Bert Wecker, is CEO of neomar, a RAS-tech company and its subsidiary, Förde Garnelen, a land-based R&D farm for Pacific white shrimp, based in Germany, told FeedNavigator:

"The goal is the development of shrimp feed for production in land-based systems with high stocking densities (up to 15kg/m³). Protix ingredients are a substitute mainly for krill meal. In the future, we aim for stepwise reduction of all marine animal proteins [in the feed]."

Dr Fabian Riedel, CEO and founder of Munich headquartered, Crusta Nova, a vertically integrated RAS-tech and distribution company that farms shrimp in Europe and distributes 300+ seafood products through B2B and B2C, said customers have given positive feedback in terms of the use of insect meal as a feed component, shoring up the near-term future potential of that raw material.

The shrimp feed also includes a diverse range of other ingredients including rapeseed meal, sunflower seed meal, wheat flour, mineral and vitamin mix, clay mineral, yeast, astaxanthin, amino acids, and oregano.

Aquafeed Germany, a feed manufacturer with a background in tailoring formulation to customer requirements, is responsible for sales.