NCKU research team develops fish feed additive to raise survival rate of grouper fry
Tainan, Taiwan, October 12, 2015
A research team led by Prof. Jiann-Ruey Hong from the Institute of Biotechnology at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), Tainan, Taiwan, has produced a fish feed additive that could double the survival rate of grouper fry.
Hong said, grouper cultivation is a major aquaculture business in Taiwan, but one of the big problems encountered by farmers is a virus that decimates populations of young fish.
The virus causes viral nervous necrosis (VNN), a serious disease that affects more than 30 cultured marine species worldwide, he added.
In recent years, the mortality rate of grouper fry on fish farms in Taiwan has been 60-80 percent as result of VNN, which kills the young fish within a week of infection.
Hong’s team began studying the virus about seven years ago and teamed up with farmers of Queensland grouper last year to begin an experiment.
According to Hong, at first, the researchers succeeded in raising the survival rate of the fry to 75-80 percent but thought they could do better and later began experimenting on 80,000 orange-spotted grouper fry.
They developed a type of feed additive that raised the survival rate of the fry to more than 80 percent and is expected to help increase Taiwan's grouper output value 10-15 percent.
Taiwan produced 25,000 metric tons of grouper in 2013, with an output value of nearly NT$8 billion (US$245.38 million).
Taiwan holds a 23 percent share of global grouper market, with Asia as its biggest export market and Hong Kong and mainland China having the highest demand.
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A research team led by Prof. Jiann-Ruey Hong from the Institute of Biotechnology at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), Tainan, Taiwan, has produced a fish feed additive that could double the survival rate of grouper fry.
Hong said, grouper cultivation is a major aquaculture business in Taiwan, but one of the big problems encountered by farmers is a virus that decimates populations of young fish.
The virus causes viral nervous necrosis (VNN), a serious disease that affects more than 30 cultured marine species worldwide, he added.
In recent years, the mortality rate of grouper fry on fish farms in Taiwan has been 60-80 percent as result of VNN, which kills the young fish within a week of infection.
Hong’s team began studying the virus about seven years ago and teamed up with farmers of Queensland grouper last year to begin an experiment.
According to Hong, at first, the researchers succeeded in raising the survival rate of the fry to 75-80 percent but thought they could do better and later began experimenting on 80,000 orange-spotted grouper fry.
They developed a type of feed additive that raised the survival rate of the fry to more than 80 percent and is expected to help increase Taiwan's grouper output value 10-15 percent.
Taiwan produced 25,000 metric tons of grouper in 2013, with an output value of nearly NT$8 billion (US$245.38 million).
Taiwan holds a 23 percent share of global grouper market, with Asia as its biggest export market and Hong Kong and mainland China having the highest demand.
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