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Page 63AQUAFEEDRound UpRecent news from Aquafeed.comFeed solution for EMS looks promisingEarly Mortality Syndrome (EMS) has had adevastating impact on shrimp production inSoutheast Asia. Daniel Gruenberg, CEO ofAcquestra (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (formerlySea Garden Foods) believes he may havefound an answer through a feeding strategy.Acquestra is technical advisor to SureerathPrawns, Thailand's only certified organicsemi-intensive producer of both monodonand vannamei shrimp. Sureerath Prawnsjust built a new advanced feed mill last Octoberwith a twin screw extruder.“We had been forced to innovate our prawnformulation due to organic restrictions onanimal and protein content”, Gruenbergtold Aquafeed.com.“Along that line, we had been successful asour current formulation gives FCRs of between1.1 and 1, with acoustic automaticfeeding.Then, late last year, our farm was hit byEMS, almost exactly as our new feed millwas completed. We were extremely frustratedthat nobody knew what EMS was orhow to deal with it. We had to start ourown research program”.During this research, Dr. Donald Lightner atthe University of Arizona had disclosed thathis lab had found a toxigenic strain ofVibrio parahemolyticus (Vp) that carriedeither a plasmid or phage DNA which encodeda hepatotoxin.“Fortunately I had previously done researchon toxins and detoxification in fish andprawns”, Gruenberg said. “This led us toour initial feed formula which seemed toshow significantly reduced EMS incidence inthe first month of culture”.Even with using this feed however, Gruenbergsaid he would still see EMS-like diseasein shrimp past the "normal" first 30days of culture. “We seemed to be having aclear effect on the toxin detoxificationmechanism but we weren't stopping thegrowth of the bacteria producing the toxinso in the end the bacteria would win”.News of the early success however reacheda major prebiotic maker. “They have aherbal extract based product that has beenwell researched and well documented antivibrioactivity and amazingly it is quite selectivefor the gram negative vibrios andleaves the beneficial gram positive bacteriauntouched. We see a lot of potential synergybetween our original formula and theprebiotic which prevents vibrio growth”.The addition of the prebiotic that showsclear anti-Vibrio and anti-oxidant activity tothe existing formula, creates a synergistic