Poster

Abstract

Among possible fish meal alternatives, e.g. animal by-products, fishery by-products, bacteria and algae concentrate, plant ingredients seem to be one of the most promising solutions, at the moment. Numerous plant raw materials have been successfully tested and used. It is commonly agreed that a major negative aspect of plant meals are the presence of anti-nutrients (ANF’s) which are detrimental to fish/shrimp. Although there are processes to remove or inactivate many of these ANF’s, the same does not apply for mycotoxins which are reasonably stable to processing conditions. Mycotoxins and their effect in aquaculture species have been a recognized threat since 1960, where aflatoxin-contaminated cottonseed meal caused an outbreak of aflatoxicosis in hatchery-reared rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). However, the contamination of aquafeeds and plant-based feedstuffs with mycotoxins is, in general, often neglected.

Mycotoxins are already found in most of the commodities and finished feeds used in aquaculture, showing that they might represent a risk for the development of the aquaculture sector. These plant ingredients used for aquafeeds are of variable origin and quality and currently, it is difficult to estimate the final mycotoxin contamination of aquaculture feeds or feed ingredients. Whilst in some cases, the contamination levels were rather low, in others, the contamination levels might represent a risk for aquaculture species.

Despite the awareness of mycotoxin-related issues in the industry has grown as feed manufacturers and producers realize the importance of mycotoxins and their potential to impact production, there is still deeply entrenched across the aquaculture industry that the majority of mycotoxin issues are the result of poor on-farm storage conditions leading to aflatoxin contamination, which is not exactly true. At this presentation, will be given an overview of the different mycotoxins found in plant-based meals and aquaculture feeds and its significance for aquaculture sector. Moreover, will be explained the known effects of mycotoxins in aquatic species and possible consequences for aquaculture.

Short CV

Rui Alexandre Gonçalves, holds the position of Scientist – Aquaculture in the Research & Development of BIOMIN Holding where his main responsibilities are overseeing and coordinating experiments and trials, managing external collaborations and contributing for the scientifically dissemination. Rui holds a BSc degree in Marine Biology and Biotechnology and after finishing his BSc in 2006, Rui worked for one of the major Gilthead Seabream and Seabass hatcheries in Europe where he was responsible for the larval rearing and weaning. Later in 2009 Rui, finalized his MSc in Aquaculture and focused his objectives on nutrition of new species for aquaculture at University of Algarve, Portugal. He dedicated his work on the determination of nutrient requirements for Senegalese sole juveniles, Solea senegalensis, and Cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis through radioactive tube-feeding methods (14C), “dose-response” growth trials, radiolabelled (14C) Artemia intake trials and tissues histologic examination. In 2014, Rui interrupted his graduation in Pharmaceuticals sciences and joined BIOMIN Holding.