Harnessing of Shrimp Head Waste in Nigeria for Low Cost Production of
Tilapia, Oreochromis Niloticus (L).
L.C. Nwanna and J. A. Daramola
Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Federal University of Technology
P M B 704 Akure, NIGERIA
Futa.oauife.edu.ng
ABSTRACT
A 56 day feeding trial was conducted in a recirculating system to assess the effects of replacing
fish meal with shrimp head waste meal (SHWM) at (0,15,30,45,60) in 30% protein diets, on the
growth and economic performance of Oreochromis niloticus (1.4+0.22g). Acceptance of the diets
was determined by the digestibility of the diets by the fishes. Food gain ratio (FGR), specific
growth rate (SGR) and protein efficiency ratio (PER) were used to assess the growth changes
while profit index and incidence of costs were used to estimate the economic benefit of the diets.
Results indicated that the fishes fed all the diets have high apparent digestibility coefficient
(ADC) ranging between 88.1 and 97.9. Fishes fed diets containing 0% SHWM have ADC
significantly different (P<0.05) from ADC obtained from fishes fed other diets. However, no
significant difference (P>0.05) existed in FGR, SGR and PER though fishes fed diets of 0%
SHWM had better growth (P>0.05) than fishes fed other diets. Economic analyses showed that
the fishes fed the various diets have similar profit index that ranged between 0.06 and 0.07.
Incidence of costs values highlighted highest production costs for fishes fed 0% SHWM, followed
by fishes fed 15%, 30%, 45% and 60% SHWM. Projected production costs analysis indicate that,
incorporation of 60% SHWM in the diet of Oreochromis niloticus minimized the cost of the diet
by US$420/ton.
Key words: Shrimp head waste meal, low-cost diet, Oreochromis niloticus.
INTRODUCTION
The role of animal protein in fish diets cannot be over-emphasized as it supplies high amino acid
profile required for fast growth, nourishment and maintenance and physiological functions.
Conventionally fish meal is used in fish diets because it contains the essential amino acid needed
by fish in a balanced proportion. Availability and costs of fish meal vary across nations. In some
countries, it is so scarce and expensive that New and Wijkstrom (1990) recognised that
identification of alternative protein substitutes is a priority in fish nutrition research. In Nigeria,
because of high costs of fish meal, the cost of fish feed alone constitute over 60% of the running
cost of aquaculture (Fagbenro 1999); and this has strong limitations on the scope and expansion
of aquaculture business (Nwanna 1999). For profitable and economical sustainable aquaculture
ventures in Nigeria, development of alternative dietary protein sources for replacement of fish
meal is a necessity.
Many development countries generate lot of agro-industrial waste without proper
management/recycling leading to indiscriminate disposal and environmental pollution. Balogun
and Akagbejo-Samsons (1992) reported that about 16.999 MT of shrimp head waste (Penaeus
notialis) are generated annually in Nigeria and discarded as waste. Harnessing of this waste into
fish feed production will not only reduce the unit cost of fish production, but would serve as an
excellent means of sanitizing the environment. This study was conducted to investigate the
effects of replacing fish meal with shrimp head waste meal (SHWM) on the growth and economic
performance of Oreochromis niloticus, a favourite aquaculture species in Africa.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Diet Formulation
Five isonitrogeneous diets were formulated to provide 30% crude protein (Table 1). The shrimp
head meal (SHWM) was bought from a commercial fish meal vendor in Lagos. The SHWM was
incorporated at 0%, 15%, 30%, 45%, 60% into the diet. The 0% SHWM served as the reference
diet. Ingredients were thoroughly mixed in a Hobbart A-200 (Troy Ohio, USA) pelleting and
mixing machine to obtain homogenous mass. Diets were passed through a mincer with die into
0.8mm and the pelleted diets were immediately sun-dried (30-32oC) and stored in a freezer at 20oC prior to feeding.
Digestibility Experiment
The digestibility experiment was carried out in recirculatory systems, with flow rate of 2.5 3L/min. for 14 days. Before the experiment, Oreochromis niloticus fingerlings (1.4 0.22g) were
collected from the Federal University of Technology, Akure teaching and research fish farm and
acclimated for 7days. The fishes were then cultured in triplicate glass tanks for 14days at 20
fishes/tank. The fishes were fed at 5% body weight twice daily. Faecal matters were collected at
5hr intervals after each feeding regime and oven dried at 48C for 24hrs. At the end of the
experiment feed samples and the dried faeces per sample/treatment were pooled and ashed. The
ashes were digested by Acid in soluble Ash (AIA) method (Halver et al. 1993).
Weight of Ash weight of AIA
AIA = ----------------------------------Weight of Ash
(% AIA in feeds X% Nutrient in faeces)
Digestibility coefficient =100-100 X ----------------------------------------------------(% AIA in faeces X % Nutrient in feed)
Growth Experiment
Tilapia fingerlings, Oreochromis niloticus (1.4 0.22g) were harvested from the FUTA feeding
and research fish farm, sorted and grouped into triplicate tanks (70x45x45cm) in the recirculation
system (flow rate 2.5-3L/minute) at 20 fishes/tank. The fishes were acclimated for 7 days before
the feeding experiment. The fishes were fed at 3.5% body weight twice daily (0900 - 1000 and
1500 - 1600h) for 56 days. Weighing was done weekly using an electronic top-loading balance
(Model Metler E200). Mean weight gain (MWG), specific growth rate (SGR), protein efficiency
ratio (PER), and food gain ratio (FGR) were estimated from weekly weight data (Olvera-Novua
et al. 1990).
MWG =
mean final weight - mean initial weight.
SGR
= 10(Lnwt - Lnwo) /t, where wt is the weight of fish at time t, wo is the weight
of fish at time o, t is the culture period in days
PER
=
Weight gain / protein fed
FGR
=
Total dry feed fed / total weight gain
Proximate Analysis and Water Quality Measurement
The proximate composition of the major feedstuffs and diets (Table1) were carried out according
to the procedures of the AOAC (1990). A factor of 6.25 was used to convert nitrogen to protein.
Water temperature and dissolved oxygen were measured daily with a combined digital YSI meter
(YSI Model 57, VWR Company, New Jersey, USA), while pH was monitored weekly using an
electric pH meter (Metler Toledo-320 model, Serial No. M5970, United Kingdom).
Statistical Analysis
Biological data resulting from the experiment were subjected to one way analysis of variance
using the SPSS (Statistical Package Computer, Software 1998 Version, Chicago Illinois, USA).
Duncan's multiple range test was used to compare differences among individual means at
(P=0.05) (Duncan 1955).
Economic Analysis
Profit index (PI) and incidence of costs (IC) models were used to estimate the economic benefits
of the diets.
PI = Value of fish (US$) / Cost of feed (US$)
IC
= Cost of feed (US$) / Kg. of fish produces
Calculation was based on the exchange rate of 50 : US$1.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Water quality parameters measured (Temperature 23 - 30C, dissolved oxygen 6.5-8.5.0mg/L.
pH 7.5-8.5) were within the acceptable range recommended for warm water fish culture (Boyd
1981). The gross composition of the experimental diets and the proximate composition are
presented in Table 1. The gross energy Kcal/g/DM ranged between 347.56 and 359.22 while the
protein energy ratio P/E (mg protein/Kcal GE) of the diets carried from 83.51 to 87.31. The
protein energy ratio (P/E) of feed influences feed utilization and growth (Li et al. 1991) and
optimum/balance P/E ratio boosts the economic viability of feeds (Wang et al. 1985; Xiqin et al.
1994). Chem and Lee (1985) reported that diets with 35% protein and P/E ratio 100 yield the best
growth in young red tilapia. Santiago and Laron (1991) obtained optimum P/E requirement of red
tilapia fed 30% protein as 100mg/Kcal (270Kcal/100g). And Li et al. (1991) recommended a P/E
ratio of 128 as optimum for Oreochromis niloticus fed 33.2% protein. The mean value of P/E
ratio of 86.11 obtained from the present study is lower than the reported values, but compares
well with the P/E of 83 mg/protein/Kcal reported by Xiqin et al. (1994) for Chinese bream,
Megalobrama amblycephala Yih fingerlings.
The dietary lipid of the diets from the present study varied from 5.86 to 7.02%. Teshima and
Kanazawa (1986) found that an increase in the dietary lipid content from 4-12% could increase
the protein efficiency ratio and weight gain of tilapia. The average percentage lipid content of
6.57 obtained from the experimental diets is in line with this reported range of values.
Table 1: Ingredient and Proximate Composition of the Test Diets
Diet 1
Diet 2
Diet 3
Diet 4
Ingredients(g/100g/DM)
Fish meal
34.75
29.54
24.33
19.11
Shrimp head meal
5.21
10.42
15.64
Corn
61.75
61.75
61.75
61.75
Vitamin-Mineral mix
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
Cod liver Oil
0.05
0.05
0.05
0.05
Bone Meal
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
Starch
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
Proximate Composition (g/100g/DM)
Crude Protein
30.00
Ether extract
5.86
Nitrogen free extract
39.12
Crude fibre
8.29
Ash
7.89
Moisture content
8.84
Gross Energy (Kcal/g/DM)
359.22
Protein Energy ratio
(mg/protein/GE)
83.51
Diet 5
13.90
20.85
61.75
1.00
0.05
1.00
1.00
30.32
6.02
35.75
9.88
8.52
9.51
348.78
30.22
6.94
33.50
9.96
9.70
9.68
347.50
30.01
7.01
34.12
9.02
9.89
9.95
349.62
30.42
7.02
33.28
9.17
10.67
9.44
348.40
86.93
86.95
85.84
87.31
Gross energy in Kcal/g is based on physiological values of 5Kcal/g protein 9 Kcal/g Lipid and
4Kcal/g carbohydrate
Apparent digestibility coefficient (ADC) is used to assess the level of acceptance/utilization of
feeds by fishes. The ADC values obtained from the present study are high and varied from 88.1
to 97.9 progressively from diet 1 to 5 (Figure 1). The ADC attained by the group of fishes fed
diet of 0% SHWM (diet 1) was significantly higher (p<0.05) than the ADC got from fishes fed
other diets. However, there was no significant difference (p>0.05) in the percentage mean weight
gain (MWG%), FGR, SGR and PER (Table 2) calculated for fishes fed the different diets.
Table 2:
Nutrient utilization O.niloticus Fed Graded Diets of SHWM for 56days.
Parameters
Diets/Treatments
1
2
3
4
5
Initial mean weight (g)
1.41
1 .40
1.40
1.41
1.39
Final mean weight (g)
3.60
3.51
3.47
3.38
3.33
Mean weight gain (g)
2.19
2.11
2.07
1.97
1.94
Weight gain (%)
60.83
60.11
59.65
58.28
58.26
Total feed fed (g)
120.74
114.36
111.37
101.65
97.78
Feed gain ratio (FGR)
2.76.07a 2.71.06a 2.69.05a 2.58.05a
2.52.06a
Specific growth rate (SGR) 1.67.05a 1.64.05a 1.62.04a 1.56.05a
1.56.04a
Protein efficiency ratio (PER) 1.46.07a 1.39 .07a 1.30 .06a 1.31.07a
1.28 .07a
Means within the same row followed by the same letter are not significantly different (P>0.05)
The mean value of FGR of 2.65 recorded from the present study is inferior to the values of 1.71
and 1.56 reported respectively, for O.niloticus by De Silva and Gunasekera (1989) and Li et al.
(1991). This discrepancy could be ascribed to differences in P/E ratio of 86.11 from the present
study and the value of 128 recommended by Li et al. (1991) as the optimum for O.niloticus. But
the value of 1.79 PER recorded by De Silva and Gunasekera (1989) is similar to the value of 1.35
obtained from the present study. Also, the values of FGR and PER obtained are comparable to
values reported by Teshima and Kanazawa (1988) from an experiment using fish meal as the
main dietary protein source for O.niloticus.
Analyses of the economic performance of the diets showed that the cost of producing each
diet/Kg (incidence of cost, IC) decreased from diet of 0% SHWM to diet of 60% SHWM (diets 15) and ranged between US$2.54 and US$3.60 (Table 3).
Table 3: Economic Performance of the Diets (US$)
Diet 1 Diet 2 Diet 3
Fish meal
2.22 1.89
1.56
Shrimp head meal
0.16
0.32
Corn meal
0.59 0.59
0.59
Vitamin-Mineral Premix
0.17
0.17
0.17
Codliver Oil
0.22 0.22
0.22
Starch
0.06
0.06
0.06
Diet 4
1.22
0.48
0.59
0.17
0.22
0.06
Diet 5
0.89
0.63
0.59
0.17
0.22
0.06
Bone Meal
Cost of 1.60Kg diet
Cost of Protein (%)
Cost of diet feed fed
Kg of fish produced
Value of fish @ US$2/Kg
Incidence of cost (IC)
Profit index (PI)
0.15 0.15
3.41 3.24
65
63
0.26 0.23
0.072 0.070
0.14 0.14
3.6 3.29
0.54 0.61
0.15
0.15
3.07
2.89
61
59
0.21
0.18
0.069 0.068
0.14
0.14
3.04
2.65
0.67
0.78
0.15
2.71
56
0.17
0.067
0.13
2.54
0.76
NB. Exchange rate is put 50:US$1.
Ikg of Tilapia was estimated at US$2.0
Project cost analysis shows that US$ 420/ton of feed will be minimized by the inclusion of 60%
SHWM in the diet.
However, the profits accrued from using the different diets were similar and varied from 0.54 to
0.78. Projected production cost analysis indicated that US$ 420/ton of diet would be minimized
by incorporating 60% SHWM into the diet of O.niloticus. The results of this study express that
shrimp head waste meal can be used to replace fish meal up to 60% in the diet of O.niloticus.
This is a good development as proper harnessing of the shrimp head waste into aqua-feeds apart
from reducing the unit cost of fish production, is the most cost effective means of solving the
problem of shrimp head waste disposal in Nigeria.
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