The farmed Scottish salmon sector’s ambition is to become world-leading in the provision of health, tasty nutritious food, produced in the most responsible and sustainable way will depend on the highest standards of animal welfare (www.scottishsalmon.co.uk).  

Aquaculture is the faster growing food sector, with global production estimated at 109 million tons by 2030.(FAO, 2020).  The power of aquaculture to meet the protein demand of the future increase in world population is well recognised but to meet this demand, the aquaculture industry is faced with a number of challenges including survival  and welfare of the aquaculture species.  Key indicators of welfare in salmon are survival rates, skin lesions and the prevalence of sealice. However, sealice treatment and non-feeding days contribute to further stress salmon in the seawater phase.  In addition, the Scottish industry faces  gill health challenges which impact the sectors growth.  Achieving the best lifetime performance by improving animal health and welfare at each stage of the lifecycle is a sustainability focus for all farmers and taking control with the right nutritional approach can increase fish robustness and help improve productivity.

DSM, the leading animal nutrition and health company,  has targeted  “improving lifetime performance” as one of its six sustainable business drivers (https://www.dsm.com/anh/en_US/sustainability/improving-lifetime-performance.html).

DSM Optimum Vitamin Nutrition provides a recommendation for targeted vitamin supplementation, appropriate to life stage and growing conditions of aquaculture species. Vitamins are vital to a healthy immune function, well-being and performance. There are additional benefits when increasing vitamin C and E supplementation together with functional feeds during challenging conditions.  For example, mechanical treatments challenge skin integrity and higher levels of vitamin C support a faster wound healing process. Vitamin E has a role in maintaining flesh quality, as an anti-oxidant, and has been identified as an inhibitor of cortisol secretion as well as having an important vitamin in  fish immunity.

Our Optimum Vitamin Nutrition™

There are many facets to maximizing lifetime performance. One of them is vitamin intake. Vitamins are essential and irreplaceable micronutrients that animals must obtain through a balanced diet. The right vitamin levels are essential for health, well-being and performance. Based on our industry-leading expertise and our partnerships with nutritionists, scientists and customers, it is well recognized that vitamins are essential to more sustainable animal production.

To further support and strengthen the immune system, nucleotides have been used commercially in the industry for more than two decades.  Under stressful conditions, disease, injury or during times of fast growth, when fish need rapid cell proliferation the de novo synthesis of nucleotides is not sufficient for the animals optimal performance.  During these periods the supplementation of dietary nucleotides can compensate for such a deficit.  DSM Rovimax product line has one of the leading free nucleotide products on the market, a highly purified source of nucleotides supporting innate and adaptive immune response in aquaculture species.  Yeast cell wall components, such as beta-glucans and mannan-oligo saccharides have a immunomodulatory effect by consistently activating the innate immune response, and also an important role in gut health by selectively modulating the gut microbiome.  DSM  supplies Leva-Mos a novel eubiotic rich in MOS and beta glucans available for use in the global aquaculture industry.

Feed additives are an effective tool to re-balance and maintain a healthy microbiota community and mucosal surface in the gut, skin and gills.  Science is uncovering the fact that the microbiome plays an important role in maintaining these barrier functions and contributes to the health status of farmed fish.  It has been documented that events such as seawater transfer, skin damage and non-feeding days will impact the stability of the fish microbiome, and could open up risk of infection with opportunistic pathogens.  Dietary inclusion of acidifiers and phytogenics can stabilise the gut microbiota under challenging conditions.  For example, BIOMIN’s Biotronic® Top contains a Permeabilizing Complex^TM which specifically targets Gram-negative pathogens, leaving the majority of the commensal bacteria unchanged.  The salmon microbiome is a very exciting area of science and innovation but complex; further studies are needed to fully reap the benefits to fish production under commercial conditions.

Optimum Omega Nutrition^TM

Veramaris, a joint-venture between DSM and Evonik, produces an ASC-MSC certified natural and sustainable marine algae oil with the highest available EPA & DHA Omega-3 as well as ARA Omega-6 which are critical for fish health. Science is showing us that by consistently including these long chain fatty acids in fish diets,  Veramaris Optimum Omega Nutrition allows farmers to control the levels of EPA, DHA and ARA in their feed to raise a more resilient and robust fish every day. This innovation provides the added benefit of a consistent nutritional profile in feed while reducing the reliance on wild-catch derived marine ingredients.

The status of  fish health and welfare in today’s salmon farming industry continues to be a challenge to a truly sustainable production.  The biological response of the fish to these challenges is multi-factorial and not fully understood; whether it is a compromise of the immune status, a change in the microbiome or other performance limiting factor.  However, with a strategic approach to extra micro-ingredient supplementation an opportunity exists to produce a more robust salmon with improved fish health, survival and welfare, resulting in a more sustainable production.

At DSM, we aim to improve the lifetime performance of farm animals by improving animal health and welfare at every stage of the lifecycle. Optimizing the health of aquaculture is essential for improving animal performance and overall production efficiency and thereby helping to drive more sustainable animal production.

Post written by:

DSM
Louise Buttle – Global Aqua Marketing Director
Ian Carr – Veramaris  Business Development Director

For more information, please visit: www.dsm.com/anh/en_US/species/aquaculture.html