Research Area 4. Influence of dietary supplements on oxidative status and disease resistance in aquacultured shrimp

Shrimp is one of the most popular types of seafood in the world. Approximately 5 million metric tons of shrimp are produced annually. Shrimp aquaculture is one of the fastest growing forms of aquaculture, and now accounts for one-third of the shrimp consumed globally. We have developed standardized assays to assess oxidative status and disease resistance in the Pacific whiteleg shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei, which is the most widely aquacultured shrimp around the world. We have previously developed immune function assays to demonstrate the efficacy of a yeast-based food supplements in increasing disease resistance in shrimp (Burgents et al., 2004) and are currently using similar and additional new assays to evaluate the efficacy of antioxidants to enhance productivity of shrimp aquaculture.