Page 25 - AWA Vol.42-No.6 issue

FISHERIES AND FISH FARMING

labelling farmed fish as wild caught.
Mislabelled products can lead to Microencapsulated phytogenic blend boosts survival
health risks such as exposure to tox- against Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei (EHP)
ins, allergens, pathogens and con-
taminants, especially when coming
from unauthorized sources or bypass
safety checks.
9- The stolen goods: Theft oc-
curs when a product is stolen and
passed off as if it were legitimately
purchased. Stolen products are dis-
tributed outside regulated or con-
trolled supply chains.As more indi-
viduals join Farmer Field Schools,
climate-smart agriculture, practical
training and solar-powered irrigation
are building stronger and more resil-
ient communities, ready to face the Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei basal diet + MPB at 500 ppm + EHP
challenges of a changing climate. (EHP) is a microsporidian parasite challenge. Shrimps (50 ind/tank)
All nine of these types of fraud come that infects farmed whiteleg shrimp were stocked in 350 L tanks, with
with serious health, economic and (Litopenaeus vannamei), causing six replicate tanks per treatment.
environmental consequences. significant issues such as growth re- The trial lasted 63 days, including
As a complex and widespread issue, tardation, increased mortality, and a 7-day EHP exposure phase fol-
FAO is fighting fraud in this field by economic losses in shrimp aqua- lowed by 42 days of post-challenge
working with governments and inter- culture. Various functional feed monitoring. EHP infection was in-
national bodies to harmonize label- additives have been investigated duced by oral administration of
ling requirements, make inclusion of to boost shrimp immunity and re- feed coated with a homogenized
scientific names mandatory and im- silience to EHP, though with incon- suspension of EHP-infected faeces.
plement better traceability systems.
sistent results. Among these, phy- Growth performance, feed utiliza-
International standards, including togenic compounds have shown tion, survival, and immune param-
Codex Alimentarius, FAO guidelines promise in inhibiting both aquatic eters were monitored throughout,
and national laws, all play a big part and terrestrial parasites, therefore and data were analyzed via one-
in regulating this sector and keeping incorporating such compounds into way ANOVA followed by Duncan’s
fish above board.
shrimp diets may represent a prom- post-hoc test.
Technology also plays a big part in ising practical strategy to reduce
ensuring the authenticity and safety the impact of EHP infections. At the end of the 42-day post-chal-
of products. Advanced DNA based lenge period, survival rates
methods and technology, such as This study evaluated the efficacy were as follows: NC (80.80%), PC
barcoding, polymerase chain reac- of a microencapsulated phytogenic (55.43%), MPB 250 ppm (64.13%),
tion and next generation sequencing, blend (MPB), previously shown to and MPB 500 ppm (73.19%). Sur-
are helpful for precise species identi- suppress EHP spore germination in vival was significantly higher in
fication, particularly in processed or vitro. The experiment included four the NC group compared to all chal-
mixed aquatic products. In addition, dietary treatments: (1) Negative lenged groups. Among the infected
innovative methods such as porta- treatments, shrimp fed MPB at 500
ble X ray fluorescence and machine Control (NC): basal diet only; (2) ppm showed significantly higher
learning models, are emerging as Positive Control (PC): basal diet +
tools for rapid origin verification. EHP challenge; (3) basal diet + MPB survival than both the PC (+32.04%
at 250 ppm + EHP challenge; and (4) Relative Percent Survival) and MPB
Combating food fraud in the aquatic 250 ppm groups. These results in-
sector requires a coordinated effort dicate that dietary inclusion of MPB
involving strict enforcement, ad-
vanced analytical tools, stakeholder enhances shrimp survival follow-
collaboration and public education. ing EHP challenge, with 500 ppm
FAO’s report offers practical recom- offering the most pronounced pro-
mendations to bolster global efforts tective effect. Nevertheless, the
to ensure authenticity, safety and in- MPB 250 ppm dose also conferred
tegrity in aquatic products and help improved survival over the chal-
consumers know what they are eat- lenged control.
ing.
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Vol. 42 No. 6 23