January | February 2010

Feature title: Preventing the impact of seawater transfer on feed intake in salmon

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 F: Nutrition F: Nutrition
we can add a Other feed additives have also been
good sensory shown to increase feed intake during trans-
memory, since fer to seawater. But, when compared to
salmons smolts Optifeed® Aqua, which is essentially com-

Preventing the impact of have the abil-

ity to ‘record’
the smells of
posed of sensorial feed additives (botanicals
and aromatic molecules); most appetite
stimulants studied in fish have been of

seawater transfer on feed

a river along marine origin.
their migration Compared to existing alternatives,
towards the sea therefore, Optifeed® Aqua can be considered

intake in salmon
in order to find as a favourable factor for a sustainable
their way back, aquaculture.
sometimes
years later. Reference
Figure 1: Daily cumulated feed intake (g/tank)
The importance of sensory stimulation in fish feeding
Based on
Stradmeyer L., 1994. Survival, growth and
an expertise of feeding of Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L.,
sensory stimu-
Improved feed intake lations in fish, a range of feed additive has
smolts after transfer to seawater in relation
to the failed smolt syndrome. Aquacult. Fish.
after smolts transfer been developed specifically to encourage Manage. 25: 103-112.
by Virginie Noirot, Laboratoires Phodé, Albi, France At the end of the six week period, the feed consumption in aquatic species, with a
smolts that received Optifeed® Aqua had specific formula for salmonids /carnivorous
consumed significantly more feed than fishes, and shrimps: Optifeed® Aqua. This

C
hanges in diet, environ-
ment or physiology rep-
resent many stress factors
for farmed animals that
can impact their appetite, health and
performance. In salmon farming, the
transfer of smolts from freshwater to
seawater is a stressful event.
Stradmeyer (1994) has shown that the
weeks following this transfer see a dra-
matic drop of appetite and feed intake: in his
observations, only 10 percent of the fishes
were feeding within the first week following
transfer, increasing to no more than 65
additive, designed to improve feed intake
and induce feed loyalty in fish (Optifeed®
Aqua), has recently been evaluated in
Norway for its capacity to optimise appetite
and feed intake following the transfer of
Atlantic Salmon smolts into seawater.
It showed an interesting potential for a
profitable and sustainable aquaculture.
Trial conditions
A production trial was conducted in
Norway at the Nofima Marine experimental
station, SunndalsØra, and supervised by AVS
Chile.
At the beginning of the trial, 252 Atlantic
salmon smolts (Salmo salar,
SalmoBreed strain), weighing
100-120g, were transferred
matic feeders (one meal every 15 minutes),
during six weeks following the seawater
transfer. The daily feeding was continuously
adjusted according to feed intake the previ-
ous two days, aiming at an overfeeding of 20
percent to allow optimal feed intake.
Feed waste were collected from the out-
let and dried in order to quantify feed intake.
The water average temperature was
8.7°C, salinity 33ppt. The fishes were
weighted individually at start and at the end
of the trial.
Table 1: Salmon diet composition
Ingredient % Based in Albi, in the South-West of
with the control diet (487g/tank vs. 366,
P=0.006).
The cumulated feed intake per tank
over the six-week trial was improved by 33
percent with Optifeed® Aqua.
The difference between treatments
started to appear around 10 days after the
beginning of the experiment (see Figure 1). ter animal, both being particularly attractive
The effects of sensory
stimulation in fish
As mentioned earlier, transfer to sea-
water represents a stressful event and can
have a detrimental effect on smolts feeding
behaviour. Fishes have a well-developed
sensory system.
Depending on the species, they have
a variable number of sensory receptors
additive combines three activities:
Attraction: fishes and crustaceans
are particularly attracted to amino acids
(L-isomers). Optifeed® Aqua for salmon and
carnivorous fish contains a formulation of
amino acids composed of two blends: one
present in a plant and an other in a seawa-
for these types of fish.
Appetite stimulation: a specific core
based on plant extracts has been developed
to stimulate the appetite center and path-
way within the nervous system.
Feed loyalty: specific plant extracts are
used as a natural source of alkaloids to
induce habituation to the feed.
The present trial confirms the effi-
ciency of Optifeed® Aqua in optimising feed
About Phodé
Phodé is born from the conviction
that the sense of smell is our pri-
mary sense, and one of the driving forces
behind the behavior and well-being of
living beings. Its mission is to capitalise
on its expertise of olfaction and nutrition
to improve the well-being and health
of humans and animals, both through
their food and their environment. Phodé
develops, produces and distributes
innovative solutions for animal nutrition,
the environment and the food industry
thanks to its unique expertise in taste
and smell physiology.
France, Phodé has 49 co-workers and
operates in over 20 countries through

"Transfer to seawater
to six 200-litre seawater
tanks (42 fishes/tank). The
experiment was conducted
represents a stressful in triplicates over a six-week
period (January-February
Soy Protein Concentrate
located in various parts of their body, from intake in salmons after transfer to seawater. a network of local distributors and
LT Fish Meal-Norway 31.7
the tongue to the entire body surface Moreover the smolts were fed a diet with research partners. For more informa-
Soybean meal 5.0 in the case of cat fish (the animal with a relatively high level of plant proteins, tion, visit www.phode.com
10.0
the larger number of gustative receptors!).
Salmons have 3000-4000 receptors. To this,
potentially representing a second stress fac-
tor with negative impact on their appetite.

event and can have 2009). Three tanks were allo-

cated to each diet: control
Hydrolysed feather meal

Wheat gluten
8.0

5.0

a detrimental effect (basal diet), and Optifeed®

Aqua treatment (basal diet
Wheat 12.0

plus 0.2 percent Optifeed® Fish oil (NorSalmOil) 24.3

on smolts feeding Aqua KX 81 P1).

The basal feed contained
Vitamin premix 2.0
The natural choice for

behaviour" 31.7 percent fishmeal and

24.3 percent fish oil (see
Mineral premix 0.4
Core vacuum coating
L-Lysine HCl 0.38
table 1).
The feed was extruded and DL-Methionine 0.2 0ptimum penetration of liquid
percent after five weeks. vacuum coated with the oil. Feed nutritional
High energy feed
Carophyll Pink (10%
Reducing this gap in feed consumption is analysis was: 43.8 percent crude protein, 6.6 0.064

www.forberg.no
astaxanthin)
an important factor to optimise production percent moisture, 6.8 percent ash and 28
Mono calcium phosphate 1.0
and reduce economic losses. A sensory feed percent fat. Both feed were given by auto-

24 | InternatIonal AquAFeed | January-February 2010 January-February 2010 | InternatIonal AquAFeed | 25

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