Program Aquasaf Tilapia
Aquasaf Tilapia is a program designed to maximise productivity and sustainability of tilapia production. The program addresses some the most pressing challenges of tilapia such as mass mortalities caused by pathogens, low growth patterns that are associated with chronic gut issues, economic losses due to unoptimized feed conversion ratios, while reducing producer’s dependency on antibiotics.
It is a complete and flexible program organized around three overarching themes: gut health, disease prevention, stress and immunity management.
6.2 million tonnes of tilapia farmed globally
Alike chicken, tilapia fits a unique role as a small livestock animal grown by subsistence farmers in developing countries while being at the same time produced in large scale operations to be processed and exported for the international market. In 2019, tilapia was the second most produced species after Chinese carp with an estimated volume of 6.2 million metric tonnes (FAO, 2020).
Over the past three decades, advances in nutrition, genetics and hatchery practices have been instrumental in increasing the global output of tilapia from aquaculture but, with the rapid development and intensification of farming systems, there has also been a concomitant increase of financial losses related to recurrent diseases outbreaks and poor husbandry performances.
Disease outbreaks, top challenge faced by farmers
Tilapia is farmed in many subtropical regions where production is hindered by seasonal diseases. In many parts of Asia, water and land constrain have also forced intensification in low bio secured systems such as floating cages in freshwater reservoirs or land based earthen ponds. Disease outbreaks are a major cause of economic losses for producers who are often left with no options but to use of antibiotics and antiseptics chemicals.
The issue around the dependency on these therapeutants is a big one as their overuse and misuse can often select for antimicrobial-resistant pathogens (AMR), reduce the effectiveness of the drugs available to farmers and limit market access through health regulations or change in consumer purchasing behavior.
Actisaf® improves gut health, growth & FCR
Low demand for tilapia and high supply in many places around the world and for both international and domestic markets has resulted in low prices and increasingly slim margins. In this context, the optimization of production costs is a process that often starts from good feed conversion ratios and hence the preservation of the digestive functionality of the fish.
Trials conducted by Phileo have demonstrated the potential for Actisaf® – Phileo’s live yeast probiotic – to substantially increase midgut microvilli length, reduce inflammation and support microbiota in the gut when supplemented in tilapia diet, thus supporting higher nutrient absorptive capacity and resulting in a significant reductions of FCR and higher growth.
Safmannan® boosts immunity, increases survival
With average survival rates as low as 30% in some of the most exposed production systems, the ability of tilapia farmers to control disease outbreaks is decisive to secure profits and limit dependency on antibiotics.
Safmannan® is a purified yeast postbiotic with consistent concentration and ratio of β-glucans and mannans. Safmannan® in tilapia diets significantly improves the innate immune response and pathogen exclusion by increasing the activation of lysozymes (an antimicrobial enzyme) in the gut mucus and by improving antibody levels (IgM) in the plasma. This enhancement in immunity results in better survival after challenge with the most common bacterial diseases of tilapia such as Aeromonas hydrophila and Streptococcus agalactiae.
Selsaf® prevents oxidative stress, optimizes production
The continued development of tilapia production exacerbates the emergence of production systems in less suitable production areas. These adverse production conditions are often a source of stress for the animals, leading to recurrent disease outbreaks and reducing production performances.
Selsaf is an organic selenium-enriched yeast that improves the overall health status of tilapia by stimulating their antioxidant defenses and consequently their ability to be more resilient to environmental challenges, express better immune response against pathogens and sustain growth during periods of stress. This response is particularly efficient when Selsaf® is provided in combination with immune stimulants such as Safmannan®.
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