Integrated multitrophic aquaculture applied to shrimp rearing in a biofloc system
Introduction
Shrimp farming has grown constantly in past years, reaching a production of 5.1 million tons in 2016 (FAO-FIGIS, 2018). FAO projects that aquaculture will continue to grow rapidly, owing to intensification of production systems, diversification of species and introduction of innovative new technologies to make production more efficient (FAO, 2018). Biofloc technology (BFT) is now the premier technology contributing to the intensification of Pacific white shrimp production, and it uses high stocking densities and minimum, or zero, water exchange, considerably reducing the area used for rearing and also water resources in comparison with semi-intensive systems (Samocha et al., 2012).
In biofloc technology, ammonia is controlled inside the system by two pathways. The heterotrophic pathway is stimulated by the addition of an external carbon source (Avnimelech, 2015). Heterotrophic bacteria assimilate the inorganic nitrogen and orthophosphate, turning them into cell biomass. The chemoautotrophic pathway oxidizes ammonia and, as a result, produces nitrate by nitrifying bacteria (Ebeling et al., 2006). These two ammonia control pathways permit the biofloc system to operate without water exchange, consequently improving biosecurity (McIntosh et al., 2000). In addition, microbial aggregates can be used as a food source by the cultured animals (Xu et al., 2012).
However, in the biofloc system, the amount of solids increases every day, and shrimp are intolerant to the accumulation of solids (Ray et al., 2010; Gaona et al., 2011; Schveitzer et al., 2013). Therefore, the excess of solids must be removed from the system, thus becoming a salinized effluent rich in nitrogen and phosphorus.
In this context, one alternative that could improve the development of Pacific white shrimp reared in biofloc would consist of an integrated multitrophic aquaculture (IMTA) system. IMTA is an aquaculture model which integrates different trophic levels in the same environmental system, resulting in a conversion of the culture residues of the main species into food, or fertilization, for the other species (Chopin et al., 2001). This concept can improve aquaculture sustainability by reducing the effluent and bringing economic diversity by producing other value-added species (Chopin et al., 2001). The integration of shrimp production with tilapia (López-Gómez et al., 2017) and plants, like salicornia (Pinheiro et al., 2017) and tomato (Mariscal-Lagarda et al., 2012) have already been demonstrated to be beneficial, increasing the yield of the system.
The composition of an IMTA system that meets the requirements of shrimp rearing in biofloc technology involves different trophic levels of species that are salt-tolerant and able to take advantage of biofloc nutrients. Tilapia is a particularly good species for integration with shrimp in a biofloc system owing to its capacity to consume biofloc, as well as its rusticity and salt-tolerance (El-Sayed, 2006; Avnimelech, 2015). Furthermore, tilapia has shown good performance when integrated with shrimp rearing in biofloc technology using only 1% of fish biomass for feeding, thus improving nitrogen and phosphorus recovery (Poli et al., 2019).
Halophytes plants are from a different trophic level than shrimp and tilapia, being a photoautotrophic organism. Being salt-tolerant, they can be included in the composition of IMTA applied to shrimp rearing in a biofloc system, using aquaponic concepts (Pinheiro et al., 2017). This type of plant was reported as a food for its high salt content and medicinal uses (Lieth et al., 2002; Davy et al., 2001). Halophytes of the genera Salicornia and Sarcocornia are marketed as ‘Sea asparagus’ (Ventura and Sagi, 2013). In a recent study, Sarcocornia ambigua was reported to have good performance when integrated with Pacific white shrimp in BFT in addition to improving nitrogen recovery (Pinheiro et al., 2017). Thus, for a completely integrated shrimp rearing IMTA system, we include Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and sarcocornia (Sarcocornia ambigua).
This study aimed to evaluate the production and ecological performance of an integrated multitrophic aquaculture (IMTA) system applied to shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei), tilapia (Oreochorimis niloticus) and sarcocornia (Sarcocornia ambigua) cultivation in biofloc technology (BFT).
Section snippets
Material and methods
The experiment was conducted for 57 days from December of 2017 through February of 2018 at the Laboratório de Camarões Marinhos (LCM), a facility of the Aquaculture Department of the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC). The UFSC Ethics Committee on Animal Use approved this work (Protocol 1,023,030,417).
Water quality
Oxygen remained above 5.0 mg L−1 throughout the crop and was not a limiting factor for growth of the animals or development of bioflocs. Temperature, pH and salinity of the water varied within the limits considered appropriate for L. vannamei and O. niloticus (Van Wyk and Scarpa, 1999; McGinty and Rakocy, 2003) (Table 1).
Dissolved nitrogenous compounds were also within the limits considered suitable for rearing both species (Lin and Chen, 2001; Lin and Chen, 2003; El-Shafai et al., 2004; Cobo
Conclusion
Yield in the IMTA system increased with the multitrophic integration of L. vannamei, S. ambigua and O. niloticus species in a biofloc system. However, the presence of sarcocornia did not affect nitrogen and phosphorus recovery, despite reducing the amount of nitrate.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank CAPES for the doctoral scholarship granted to the first author and CNPq for financial support (Process 406310/2016-5). Felipe Vieira and Walter Seiffert received productivity research fellowships from CNPq (process numbers PQ 309868/2014-9 and 308292/2014-6, respectively). We also thank Bruno Correa da Silva for the tilapia donation and technical support.
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Nile tilapia production in polyculture with freshwater shrimp using an aquaponic system and biofloc technology
2022, AquacultureCitation Excerpt :The concentration of orthophosphate was lower in the ASBFT treatment, which is conceivably attributable to the precipitation of these compounds associated with calcium (Adler et al., 1996). In addition to the aforementioned factors, in BFT systems, orthophosphate and inorganic nitrogen are assimilated by heterotrophic bacteria for the production of cell biomass (Poli et al., 2019), which is consistent with the lower values of orthophosphate obtained for the BFT system in the present study, and can be considered a characteristic feature of this type of system. A further variable that is influenced by system type is alkalinity, which is determined by the carbonate content.