There is no doubt that the sustainable development of the aquaculture sector is the highest priority of all those involved in this process.
Raw materials are not inexhaustible and obviously their use requires rationality and best practices.
While the need for marine proteins is constantly increasing, targeted actions are needed that result in a real saving of raw materials.
Dibaq’s research and development department, aims to create products that will result in maximum performance with the smallest environmental footprint. It is with great pride, excitement and optimism we share our achievement for 2022 target, that 93% of marine ingredients used, come from trimmings – by products and not from wild fisheries.
Customers are provided with technical advice and support so as to achieve the best possible result.
It is clear that achieving as low as possible feed conversion rates entails apart from the beneficial use of raw materials and significant improvement of financial results, which also means sustainable business management.
However, we must not overlook that the good management of raw materials also implies the best practices of production management.
So it seems that in order to form an essential condition where the environment will have a primary role, all participants of fish farming should be possessed by the same concept of saving resources and substantial protection of the environment.
It is not enough to produce correctly and in sustainable terms, but to be able to transport and distribute products on the basis of perfect management conditions.
The environment concerns all of us and the end result is the responsibility of all of us. So we should be talking much more about environmental culture and less about individual actions of everyone.
At Dibaq, we support initiatives and strategies in the direction of creating a culture of environmental management. We want to be part of a large chain of partners who embrace our own priorities and needs. At the end of the day it’s not a choice, it’s our obligation. Let’s blue revolution have the green future it deserves.
European and therefore Spanish legislation is reviewing maximum content limits and intensifying the control of certain undesirable substances in food, to increase and improve the food safety of the products we consume.
One of the substances that is being focused on is PFA’s (PerFluoroAlquilated substances). Clear examples of this interest are Recommendation (EU) 2022/1431 of the commission of August 24, 2022 on the monitoring of perfluoroalkyl substances in food (http://data.europa.eu/eli/reco/2022/1431/oj),
Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/2388 of December 7, 2022 amending Regulation (EC) No. 1881/2006 with regard to the maximum content of perfluoroalkyl substances in certain food products (http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2022/2388/oj)
and in Spanish legislation with Royal Decree 3/2023, of January 10, which establishes the technical-sanitary criteria for the quality of drinking water, its control and supply (https://www.boe.es/eli/es/rd/2023/01/10/3).
At Dibaq, aware of the importance and awareness that our clients have of their products in the eyes of final consumers, people, we want to help them control this emerging risk. For this reason, and although it is not applicable to animal feed, we anticipate and have implemented a PFA control plan in our food risk management. In order to eliminate animal feed as one of the risk sources of PFA’s in their products.
We are pleased to share our participation in the recent XXIII Aquaculture Seminar and in the OmegaPeixe WorkShop, an event that brought together experts from the Portuguese industry to discuss strategies that promote the sustainability, competitiveness and diversification of the sector.
Both meetings brought together professionals and creative minds from the country’s aquaculture, with the aim of addressing current and future challenges.
As fish feed manufacturers committed to quality and innovation, we believe that these platforms are essential to keep us informed and connected with the latest developments in the sector in Portugal. Sustainability, competitiveness and diversification are essential elements for the growth of aquaculture, and we are proud to contribute to these objectives.
During the seminar, we had the opportunity to interact with passionate colleagues and experts, and we shared our perspectives on how to move towards a brighter future for aquaculture. Rich conversations and inspiring ideas motivate us to continue to innovate and collaborate to address the challenges and seize the opportunities emerging in our industry.
We thank all the participants, organizers and collaborators of both the XXIII Aquaculture Seminar and the OmegaPeixe WorkShop for creating a space conducive to the exchange of knowledge and collaboration. We are excited to continue to be an active part of these efforts and work together towards a strong future for global aquaculture.
It´s said that what doesn’t excite doesn’t work. And from Dibaq Aquaculture we have very excitedly launched a new line of floating products for salmonids within our range of premium AquaSafe products. It is a complete, effective, studied and proven update of this range of products.
Our extensive experience in this sector, in which we have been helping our clients to produce excellent quality fish with great performance for more than 35 years, has allowed us to obtain a range of products for salmonids optimized in macro and micronutrient detail to achieve excellent production parameters.
All the formulas of these products use top-quality raw materials, with high levels of EPA and DHA and high ratios of omega-3 and long-chain fatty acids, so important for these species. Without forgetting sustainability, since these products have terrestrial animal proteins selected especially for these species due to their high digestibility and micronutrient composition, although there is the possibility of obtaining these products only with raw materials of marine origin, according to the preferences of our clients.
In order to cover each and every one of the requirements of these species, in addition to the optimal selection of raw materials, we have formulated these products with a high percentage of organic minerals and vitamins, making their bioavailability greater. In addition, the entire range is part of our premium AquaSafe products, not only because of what has been said above, but also because we have focused on the highest possible intestinal health, through compounds such as lysophospholipids, butyrates, monoglycerides, etc. This promotes adequate intestinal health that translates into greater absorbance and use of nutrients, as well as proper immunity.
The Solution T product line is divided into medium and high energy products, wich our customers can select, and is as follows:
Dibaq was, one year more, to the Aquaculture Congress most important in Asia, WAS.
This congress was celebrated this year in Darwin, Australia, at the days 1st, 2nd and 3rd of June. Hand in hand of the director of Marine Aquaculture, the doctor Eloy Meseguer, Dibaq could check the status of the news species of the future, as well as confirm the good behavior of our products in the Asian zone, where cultivate more than 20 different species today and where Dibaq hopes, at short and medium term, to have one important part of its international market there.
Currently there is a tendency to intensify production processes and aquaculture is no exception. However, sometimes there are various structural limitations that prevent the increase in production units, so there is a tendency to modernize the cultivation processes while maintaining the same production units in order to achieve greater production.
This leads to demanding the maximum from the cultivation systems, such as, for example, sometimes reaching the limits of biomass loads for each of the systems, a fact that in turn affects the increase in water quality parameters that they are not adequate, leading to the detriment, the increase of the load per m3 and therefore the friction of animals against each other, increasing oxygen consumption, stress in animals and the most frequent appearance of pathologies. As a measure to solve these drawbacks, oxygenation systems tend to be improved or increased, but this would only be one of the steps to be taken in order to obtain good production volumes.
At Dibaq Aquaculture we are aware of the importance of high-quality food for our fish and shrimp. For us, it is an objective to find a well-balanced food for each of the species and in each of its productive stages, which generates the minimum waste and meets its nutritional requirements, also giving an extra contribution of organic vitamins and minerals to improve all the physiological processes and that the fish are prepared for any adversity.
In addition, it is very important that the raw materials that make up the products we offer our customers meet sustainability standards. This is where vegetable-based meals come in as partial substitutes for fish meals that are becoming increasingly scarce and their prices are always rising, thus contributing to the sustainability of our planet without creating so much dependence on the increasingly limited raw materials of fishing origin.
Within the group of plant-based flours, one of the most important is soybean, due to its high protein and amino acid content, but other factors must be considered with this raw material, for example, the amount of anti-nutritional factors that it has, among which oligosaccharides, saponins, etc. can be mentioned. On the other hand, it also contains phytic acid that decreases the bioavailability of essential minerals such as iron, zinc and calcium, essential in fish. Faced with these problems, there is the alternative of using fermented soybeans, since the fermentation process largely eliminates anti-nutritional substances. In turn, the fermentative process generates a series of short-chain organic acids such as butyric, valeric, acetic or formic acid.
These organic acids can help create certain inhibition halos against some pathogenic strains, such as Vibrio spp., which helps us to strengthen the immune system of our fish. As a result of our constant innovation and improvement work, at Dibaq Aquaculture R+D+I test are being carried out with the use of this ferment and a combination of other natural additives to seek an improvement in the performance and immune system of fish and farmed shrimp, in order to help the fish farmer to improve his productivity as much as possible.
A common goal in a short term in modern Aquaculture is to reduce the use of fish meal as a main ingredient on fish nutrition trying to find more sustainable ingredients, environmentally friendly, natural resource and with the aim to report several benefits on growth, immunity besides other benefits to the fish.
As a result of this global search, there are several ingredients that are being tested to replace part of the fish meal used on fish feed (seaweed, insect meal, etc.) but the ones that are showing better results are Fermented Vegetable Proteins (mainly fermented of some legumes).
Raw or not treated meal from these legumes have some anti-nutritional factors that can have negative effects not only in performance but also on fish health. Microbial fermentation is commonly used to avoid these negative effects and, also, to have other benefits as improving nutrient assimilation and palatability.
Recent research (Qin Zhang et al., 2023) carried out in Juvenile Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) shows that diets replaced 10% fish meal protein with fermented vegetable meal protein improve nutritional performance, with better growth rates and a significant improvement of antioxidant and immunity capacity of the juveniles.
DIBAQ, as a company absolutely concern on how the R&D can help to improve its products and carry out new projects and new developments, does not stay out of this progress. That’s why DIBAQ has recently started several projects with the aim to first hand analyse the effects of introducing fermented vegetables protein at different replacement of fish meal levels, on diets of some important commercial Mediterranean species.
Mullet (Mugil cephalus) is a highly valued fish throughout the Mediterranean area, especially for its roe, which is marketed as a substitute for caviar or as botarga, although interest in its fresh consumption has also increased recently. Likewise, its cultivation would be more acceptable to an increasingly aware consuming public that demands sustainability and less environmental impact. Apart from the Mediterranean area, the species is very promising in Korea where it is highly appreciated at a culinary level.
Given the growing interest in this species, Grupo Dibaq, the Spanish manufacturer of feed for aquaculture, is developing a specific food for the species, both in the fingerling and fattening phases. New developments, as usual, will be backed by Dibaq’s experience in new foods for species of growing interest.
This species, which easily adapts to breeding in nurseries, could be incorporated in the near future into the Spanish catalog of fish species, since it is part of projects such as Diversify, at the same time that the FAO sees it as a promising protein source.
Zero Waste is a global movement that aims to stop generating waste or reduce it as much as possible. But beyond a social movement, it is also a concern and one of the main objectives of organizations like the FAO. FAO is particularly sensitive to food loss and waste. Food losses are defined as “the decrease in the quantity or quality of food”. Agricultural or fishery products intended for human consumption that are not ultimately consumed or that lose quality, nutritional value, economic value, or food safety. At Dibaq and Grupo Tejedor Lázaro (GTL) we are also committed to reducing waste and we believe that RAS (recirculating aquaculture systems) aquaculture farms can contribute to meeting the objective.
The implementation of RAS aquaculture systems facilitates the rationalization of aquaculture production making it more easily manageable and predictable, so that the product can be delivered to the market based on demand. In this way, massive productions dependent on weather conditions that saturate the market with overproduction that cannot always be absorbed by consumers and may end up wasted, are avoided.
When studying and designing the production farms, a holistic vision is used, which includes the location of the facilities, assessing the distance from suppliers and the market to minimize the CO2 footprint derived from transport. Regarding the design, it should be noted that the RAS farms designed by Derwent Engineering (also part of GTL) are projected from the point of view of sustainability and the circular economy since we managed to minimize the use of water due to the filtering (mechanical, biological and UV) that allow us to reuse up to 95% of water and with a subsequent treatment of effluents. The water consumption of the closed circuit only occurs by evaporation, and this is the only quantity that must be replaced in the process. At Dibaq we have diets specially formulated for RAS systems that facilitate the maintenance of the system in perfect condition due to its high assimilation by the fish and less degradation in the water, reducing waste.
The aquaculture sector is presented as one of those exceptional cases in which sustainability is directly linked to greater economic profitability. Since, even if a producer does not care about the environment, the main cost is the feed, and for carnivorous species, specifically, ingredients such as oil or fishmeal and, currently, the industry is really interested in reducing their use in aquaculture feed. At Dibaq we have specially formulated diets for RAS systems that reduce this waste generation, at the same time, the aquaculture feed industry is constantly researching to incorporate by-products from other primary industries in their formulations to help reduce waste.
Therefore, minimizing the release of nutrients into the environment is not only a necessity, but a common good practice associated with RAS systems and aquaculture in general. In addition to this, RAS systems allow efficient treatment of effluents and waste, reducing the impact of the activity on the environment.
As a result of innovation and continuous improvement, Dibaq announces a new product line: Dibaq AquaSafe ®, in which we have been actively working in recent months. It is an internal quality seal to differentiate our high-value products.
The seal of Dibaq Aquaculture has always been of a valuable company, specialized in the manufacture of special and differentiated products, using high quality raw materials, micronutrients and functional components. However, as a result of the innovation and needs of our global market, we have managed to go further and improve the quality of our nutrients, additives and formulas in our products with this new seal that aims to provide value and differentiation to our clients and achieve them the maximum performance in their production.
Why have we called it AquaSafe?
This concept includes the sustainability and safety of water and Planet Earth, as well as the health and safety of fish fed with our products, stimulating the immune system, protecting them against internal and external parasites and improving productive performance, lowering the appearance of diseases and the use of antibiotics and treatments. Therefore, it is a global concept that offers and focuses on the safety of the planet and fish, through prevention.
The results obtained by customers around the world who use our new Products Premium Dibaq AquaSafe line, whether in cages, tanks, ponds, etc., show the great effectiveness it has in the objectives to be achieved with this range launch. A lower mortality and presence of internal intestinal and external branchial pathogens and parasites, provided by the additives and natural extracts that make up our products, long studied and tested, are summarized in better productivity and lower economic losses, both due to low daily mortality and for treatments that are expensive and sometimes harmful to fish.
In addition, with the improvement in the manufacture of the product, through a new micronization system, the quality and sustanaible origin of raw materials, the addition of organic minerals and compounds, essential fatty acids, nucleotides, and natural additives that help digestion and absorption of nutrients, we have managed to shorten the production stage to the maximum by making the fish fed with our AquaSafe products, take full advantage of the nutrients that are provided and lower the cost of production to the producer.
Main concepts
Nutraceutical activity: nutraceuticals are products derived from natural extracts whose nutritional and functional characteristics have benefits, improve health and, therefore, reduce the risk of disease and increase performance. These substances help to maintain the balance of the intestinal microbiota and have a favorable impact on the health and immunity of fish, something that Dibaq Aquaculture considers very important and that is why we give priority to these compounds, available in different formats and combinations.
Antiparasitic activity: natural additives that lower mortality and presence of internal intestinal and external branchial pathogens and parasites.
Sustainability: focuses on compensating for the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It is made up of three pillars: economic, environmental and social. At Dibaq Aquaculture we have adopted an environmentally responsible policy by including fishmeal and fish oil from sustainable fisheries along with the inclusion of alternative protein sources. In this way, we help our clients in their goal of being potential and sustainable protein producers for world production. Last but not least, our manufacturing method is environmentally friendly by minimizing and reusing waste and using 100% recyclable bags.
Technology. Improvement and expansion of micro-pellets in hatchery products :the size of the individual particles of a granule and, therefore, the degree of grinding of a food have an important effect on the digestibility of the raw materials of the feed, increasing it and, consequently, improving the productive results. Obtaining our new line of Microbaq AquaSafe segmented and adapted for different species is especially beneficial for carnivorous fish, having a short digestive tract, and for larvae and fry.
Digestive and Functional Activity: it is summarized in an improvement in the nutritional quality of the feed through proteases, nucleotids, short chain fatty acids, organic minerals and natural additives that optimize its use in the digestive tract. In addition, it allows a correct intestinal health in high diets of vegetable flours, using less fish meal and lowering costs to the client and improving the performance and the immune status of the fish, besides improving sustainability.
Among the examples of nutraceutical and antiparasitic activity we have the following AquaSafe products.
AquaSafe 4Tress
In addition to stimulating immunity, due to it favors the intestinal health of fish, which leads to a better nutrient absorption surface, and an increase in growth, as well as better microbiota and cellular immunity, the products that contains this natural additives are effective against internal parasites, such as myxosporidia in the intestine (E. leei) (image 1).
In comparative trials with different batches of sea bream fed with control feed or DIBAQ AquaSafe® 4Tress, it was observed that at the end of the trial, some of the animals in the group fed with control feed showed what it is called “knife syndrome” or extreme thinness, caused by the intestinal Myxozoo called Enteromyxum leei.
In image 1, in sea breams of the control feed, the villi appeared very thickened and even fused as a consequence of the inflammatory process caused by the parasite. It is observed in the final control image that the intestinal mucosa does not occupy more than half of the intestinal lumen.
In contrast, sea breams fed with DIBAQ AquaSafe®4Tress showed an increase in the mucosal surface that covers practically the entire intestinal lumen. This is due to the increase in the length of the villi and the depth of the crypt, as shown in the photos. The inflammatory process and the parasite load are reduced.
Compared with the appearance of the intestinal mucosa at the beginning of the experience, the DIBAQ AquaSafe® 4Tress food have a beneficial effect on the intestinal surface, which favors a greater capacity for nutrients absorption, and with it an improvement in growth. The increase in cell turnover, improves the elimination of intracellular parasites such as protozoa (E. leei), reducing the parasite load and secondarily the inflammatory reaction, avoiding symptoms such as weight loss and mortality.
It is concluded as a tool for the control of this parasite.
Regarding its internal antiparasitic function, it is recommended at times of rise in temperatures in summer, since in the transmission of E. leei, the temperature of the water plays an important role, verifying an evident relationship between temperature and prevalence. Low temperatures have an inhibitory effect on the development of enteromyxosis, but the infection usually reappears when the temperature rises again in spring. For this reason it is a good option if the fish stocked from April-May are given AquaSafe 4Tress from the beginning and for several months. Afterwards, we can rest for several weeks and use it again until the temperatures are low again.
In image 2, in a test using sea bream and sea bass, it was found that mortality was lower in fish that had been fed with Dibaq AquaSafe 4Tress, due to its immunostimulating effect.
During the same test, the SGR (specific growth rate) was measured. Image 3 shows a higher final weight gain in seabreams and seabass fed with DIBAQ AquaSafe® 4Tress. This additive shortens the production cycle, as the fish reach their selling size sooner.
AquaSafe Br
This product, made up of several specific natural additives for gill parasites (monogeneous), is recommended to be used in the time of greatest prevalence, that is, with increases in temperature from spring, being especially recommended during the summer months.
In image 4, in the results of a test carried out with two control feeds and AquaSafe Br in sea bream, we see how the prevalence of gill parasite infection, that is, the number of infected fish, is lower in fish fed with the products with Dibaq AquaSafe Br.
AquaSafe S
Another one between our nutraceutical and health products, among the recommendations to give this product to the fish, are at times when you want to boost growth, prepare them for stress situations (prior to biometrics, manipulations, storms) and reduce intestinal and general inflammation of the organism that usually causes a form of intensive production as occurs in aquaculture.
Between the AquaSafe concepts, we give priority to animal welfare and the prevention of parasitic, bacterial and virological diseases, through the best possible diet. For best results, the use of our products and natural additives with immunostimulating, antiparasitic, antistressing, anti-inflammatory and growth-promoting functions should be based on the way of production, epidemiological history, handling and characteristics of each farm.
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