Biofloc new technology and shrimp disease in super-intensive aquaculture

Disease remains a limiting factor for the aquaculture industry including fresh waters aquaculture, shrimps culture and maricultur. With respect to the shrimp culture industry, disease outbreaks have been the primary cause of production loss during the last two decades. Disease outbreaks not only result from the mere presence of a pathogen in the system, a compromised health status of the cultured animals in combination with suboptimal environmental conditions are also factors facilitating disease outbreaks. Therefore, disease prevention and control should not only focus on implementing biosecurity measures, but must be performed in an integral approach involving, among others, adequate nutrition, enhancing the immunity of the cultured animals and maintaining a good water quality. The basic principle of the biofloc system is to recycle waste nutrients, in particular nitrogen, into microbial biomass that can be used in situ by the cultured animals or be harvested and processed into feed ingredients. So far, very few studies investigated the immunological potential of the biofloc technology although it is widely known that microorganisms, their cell components or their metabolites can act as immunostimulants that enhance the shrimp innate immune system and provide improved protection against pathogens.

biofloc, shrimp, viruses, pathogen, disease, super-intensive