September 6, 2006

 

Zagro Singapore launches Seabait products for shrimp and fish hatcheries
 

Press release
 

 

Marine worms are the natural food of fish and crustaceans, which is why sea anglers throughout the world have, for decades, used marine worms as baits and lures to catch fish.  

 

Marine worms have now proven to be essential for efficient hatchery production of marine and freshwater shrimps and many species of marine fish.  Quite simply, the inclusion of marine worms into shrimp and fish diets during the maturation phase boosts hatchery performance to levels otherwise only achievable with non-sustainable practices such as collection of larvae or collection of ripe brooders from the wild.

 

As the aquaculture industry has expanded dramatically during past decades, this has placed unacceptable pressures on wild stocks of both finfish and shrimps, and the industry has rapidly switched to hatchery-based production of larvae and rearing of brood stocks. 

 

This dramatic change in aquaculture practice has been nowhere more evident than in South-east Asia, where there has been a rapid, and in some countries, almost complete switch from production of the native black tiger shrimp to production of the non-native American white shrimp.  Producers are now eagerly seeking similar hatchery-based supplies of the native black tiger shrimp too.

 

Zagro Singapore (Zagro) recently launched a product range to meet the need for safe, nutrient-enhanced hatchery feeds to boost hatchery performance without risks of disease. 

 

Scientists working with Seabait Ltd. in north-eastern England, far from shrimp production centres, have developed quite a remarkable system for production of marine worms that are then blast frozen to retain all nutrients at maximum levels and to maintain the highest levels of bio-security. This retains the all-important SPF status with respect to all notifiable shrimp and fish diseases from the site of production to the end user.  These worms are now distributed by Zagro to shrimp and finfish hatcheries around the world.  Currently, more than 35 countries take this innovative product. 

 

Seabait Ltd. grows the ragworms (Nereis virens) under bio-secure conditions that optimise the worms' production.  Hundreds of millions of juvenile worms are produced each year from individually selected brood stocks of known parentage. 

 

In addition, the implementation of a brood stock selection process has resulted in a consistent quality of offspring.  Brood stock animals are grown indoors in recirculation systems in which the environmental conditions are carefully controlled to achieve a constant supply of larvae.  These worms are then raised to market size in equally well controlled conditions, many in state-of-the-art indoor production beds, feeding on a plant and cereal-based food that is guaranteed to be free of any terrestrial animal and crustacean material.

 

This revolutionary and patent protected production system offers enormous advantages over the use of wild caught marine worms that are known to be potential vectors of shrimp diseases. 

 

Samples of the blast frozen worms are routinely tested for all notifiable shrimp diseases - WSV, (White Spot Virus Syndrome), TSV (Taura Syndrome virus), YHV (yellow head virus) and IHHNV (infectious hypodermal and hematopoietic necrosis virus), using the latest PCR-based detection methodologies. 

 

The worms are certified as having Specific Pathogen Free (SPF) status with respect to these pathogens.  There has been much misunderstanding concerning the use of this standard.  In strict usage, it is the production centre that is certified as being Specific Pathogen Free, and the closed system used for rearing the Nereis brood stocks, coupled with blast freezing of the product, ensures the highest levels of bio-security that cannot be matched with the delivery of live worms. 

 

Seabait products distributed by Zagro also have a nutritional advantage over wild caught worms in that they can replace in a well-managed bio-secure hatchery system.  The total lipid content of 19 percent in Seabait-cultured worms is more than twice that of wild caught worms and worms cultured in less intensive systems. 

 

The worms also contain a diverse range of fatty acids including both Omega3 and Omega6 fatty acids such as DHA, EPA and AA.  In all, more than 32 different classes of fatty acids have been identified routinely in the worm tissues including high quantities of Cis Vaccenic acid C18:1n7 which is known to be a precursor of arthropod sex pheromones. 

 

The animals' excellent amino acid profile may explain the high palatability and attraction that the worms have to fish. Availability of these cultured polychaetes has had a massive impact on shrimp hatchery performance in the Americas where their use has become the industry standard.  With the onset of hatchery techniques for shrimp larvae sweeping through South-east Asia following the widespread switch from culture of the native Penaeus monodon to culture of the imported American white shrimp, there is an urgent need for cost effective maturation diets throughout South-east Asia's shrimp growing region.  As the sole global distributor of Seabait-cultured worms, the Zagro initiative is set to deliver these benefits throughout the aquaculture world.

 

For more information, contact:

 

Zagro Singapore Pte. Ltd.

Zagro Global Hub

5 Woodlands Terrace

Singapore 738430

Tel: +65-6759-1811

Fax: +65-6759-1855/ +65-6759-1866/ +65-6759-1877

E-mail:   enquiries24@zagro.com

Website: www.zagro.com