Aquaculture has been the fastest growing animal production sector for the past three decades. With increasing production, the demand for quality aquaculture feed will also rise significantly reaching 75 million tons by 2020. With poor characterization of most ingredients coupled with fewer novel sources, the industry is at a crossroad where it needs to find ways for sustained growth. One way is to improve the quality of ingredients; the other is to increase the available nutrient content in feed. There is an increasing use of exogenous enzymes such as phytase and several carbohydrases including xylanase, beta-glucanase, beta-mannanase, to ensure better utilization of nutrients in aquaculture feed. However, volatility of global supply and price of common protein ingredients has been discomforting for aquaculture feed manufacturers worldwide. A probable solution, to reduce the inherent variations in protein quality and to increase digestible protein content, is adding protease enzyme in feed.
There are about 15 major fed aquaculture species that include carps, tilapias, salmonids, catfishes and crustaceans such as shrimps or crabs. Nutritional and environmental requirement of each group of species is different and proper understanding of ingredients quality and nutrition of target species group is therefore key to better utilize the nutrients from ingredients available at a given moment, the lack of which forces formulators to use higher safety margins resulting in the waste of expensive proteins. Use of protease in aquafeed will improve intestinal health of the animals and will ensure better growth. It will also increase digestible protein contents in the feed and therefore, will minimize the ecological footprint of an operation. In a nutshell, protease can provide a valuable insurance for feed manufacturers, allowing them to reduce safety margins, without sacrificing the quality of the feed.
Dr. M A Kabir Chowdhury, Product Manager Aquaculture, Jefo Nutrition Inc., Canada
Trained in Bangladesh, Thailand and Canada, Dr. Kabir Chowdhury has some 20 years of experience in aquaculture. He has published more than 25 peer-reviewed and popular articles published in internationally reputed journals and magazines, co-authored a widely acclaimed book on “Environment Assessment Guidelines for Coastal Aquaculture”, and presented research papers in numerous meetings and conferences. Currently he is acting as external reviewer for major aquaculture journals. Dr. Chowdhury has joined Jefo Nutrition Inc. of Quebec, Canada as Product Manager – Aquaculture following his graduation from the Fish Nutrition Research Laboratory of the University of Guelph, Canada with a major in animal nutrition. In his current role, he manages and lead Jefo aquaculture program that include product development, providing technical and sales support, and maintaining liaison with industry leaders around the world.
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