World Aquaculture December 2020

WWW.WA S.ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • DECEMBER 2020 13 I n each issue of World Aquaculture , we highlight a new and exciting research paper from the Journal of the World Aquaculture Society. This issue’s selected paper appeared in volume 51, issue 5 and is titled “Effect of feeding frequency on the white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei , during the pilot-scale nursery phase of a superintensive culture in a biofloc system.” The authors are Wilson Wasielesky, Jr., A.X. Bezerra, L. Poersch, L. Banderó Hoffling and D. Krummenauer. Biofloc systems for shrimp production are of increasing importance in Brazil and globally. Biofloc systems offer significant advantages in terms of resource use, especially improving feed efficiency, but also by reducing space and water demands while improving biosecurity. Nonetheless, crucial production phases, such as the nursery period, are not yet optimized, despite the need to ensure good survival and uniform growth before moving to grow- out. Nursery feeding regimes for biofloc systems must be optimized Recent Research Highlight from the Journal of the World Aquaculture Society to ensure correct management of animals and systemwater quality and to ensure economic viability. Comparing feeding frequencies in a pilot nursery system, the authors were able to show that reducing feeding frequency to one time per day, (in comparison to three or six feedings per day) allows time and cost reductions without affecting water quality, shrimp survival or growth performance. Using lower feeding frequencies takes advantage of the nutritional support offered by bioflocs to improve system economic efficiency. Reductions in feeding frequency as outlined in the paper offer significant operating cost reductions without impacting nursery output and further increase the viability of superintensive biofloc systems for shrimp production. This paper can be found in the Journal of the World Aquaculture Society 51(5):1175-1191, available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/ jwas.12694 or through the Publications tab on the WAS website (www.was.org) . —Matthew Slater, Executive Editor, JWAS