Date: 25/11/2025

Aquaculture is the controlled cultivation of aquatic organisms, such as fish, shrimp, mollusks, and algae, carried out in natural or artificial environments, such as tanks, ponds, and recirculation systems. According to the Peixe BR Fish Farming Yearbook, Brazil has already reached the milestone of more than 800,000 tons of fish produced, generating around R$9 billion and creating approximately 3 million direct and indirect jobs.

What many people don't know is that the success of aquaculture is directly linked to the quality of the feed used. A balanced formulation not only influences the growth of farmed organisms, but also affects water quality, feed conversion, the intestinal health of fish and shrimp, and even the sustainability of the production system. Feed with highly digestible and functional ingredients reduces waste, improves nutrient utilization, and contributes to a more balanced and efficient farming environment.

More than simply offering feed, fish and shrimp nutrition requires planning, quality, and functionality of the ingredients that make up the diets, which are fundamental elements for healthy growth, feed efficiency, and the sustainability of farming systems.

In this blog, you will understand how fish and shrimp nutrition works, why feed quality is critical to the performance and sustainability of farming systems, and how innovative ingredients, such as those in MBRF Ingredients' BioActio line, have contributed to transforming modern aquaculture, raising standards of efficiency and animal health.

Topics covered:

What makes feed crucial to the success of aquaculture?

Feed accounts for between 60% and 85% of operating costs in aquaculture, according to a survey by Projeto Campo Futuro (CNA/Senar System, 2025). This data reinforces that the choice of feed is one of the most strategic factors for the economic viability of farming systems. Commercial feed must be formulated based on the specific nutritional requirements of each species and stage of development, ensuring an adequate supply of proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals, in addition to considering the digestibility and functionality of the ingredients to maximize feed conversion and the health of the farmed organisms.

Poorly formulated feed with ingredients of low nutritional value can compromise digestibility because fish and shrimp are unable to break down or efficiently absorb the nutrients present, resulting in reduced utilization of proteins, lipids, and other essential compounds.

In addition, these ingredients can generate greater waste production, impairing intestinal health and animal growth. On the other hand, highly digestible ingredients and balanced formulations reduce waste production and suspended particles, which helps keep the water cleaner and more stable.

High-quality feeds, formulated with functional and highly digestible ingredients, provide direct benefits such as better feed conversion, more uniform growth, and greater production efficiency.

For feed to be considered high quality in aquaculture, it must meet several nutritional and technological criteria. Among the main aspects are the proper balance of proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins, and minerals, the high digestibility of ingredients, and the functionality of components, ensuring uniform growth, feed efficiency, and intestinal health. (Embrapa, 2002, p. 13)

When purchasing feed, it is essential to consider various parameters, such as protein, carbohydrate, fat, ash, dry matter, and crude fiber levels. Protein is essential for growth, muscle development, and tissue repair; carbohydrates provide energy for metabolic activities and organism maintenance; and fat acts as a concentrated source of energy, also influencing the palatability of the feed. The analysis of these components is in accordance with the principles of aquaculture feed formulation, which highlight the importance of macronutritional composition and digestibility for efficient performance.

Ash represents the amount of minerals present, which are essential for the formation of bones, scales, and various physiological functions of fish and shrimp. Dry matter corresponds to the residual mass of the feed after water removal during the drying process. This parameter is directly related to feed stability, as lower moisture reduces water activity in the material, decreasing the action of microorganisms and slowing down nutrient degradation.

Strategies for optimizing health and zootechnical performance;

Among the innovations in aquaculture diet formulation, protein hydrolysates have stood out as an effective solution. These ingredients are obtained from the enzymatic hydrolysis of proteins, a process that breaks down protein chains into free amino acids and low molecular weight peptides.

This characteristic gives hydrolysates high digestibility and rapid absorption by aquatic organisms, making them a viable alternative for the partial replacement of fish meal in commercial feeds. (Fries et al., 2011).

The inclusion of these compounds in fish diets is associated with better feed conversion, accelerated growth, and improved immune response, especially in the early stages of development. The presence of soluble nitrogen compounds also increases the attractiveness and palatability of the feed, positively influencing feeding behavior (Broggi et al., 2017; Alves et al., 2020; Oliveira et al., 2022).

Even at low inclusion levels, protein hydrolysates demonstrate positive effects on intestinal health and production efficiency, reinforcing their role as a precision nutrition strategy focused on sustainability and performance in aquaculture systems.

These results reinforce that the use of innovative and functionally active ingredients is an essential strategy for enhancing intestinal health, growth, and production efficiency, aligning precision nutrition with aquaculture sustainability.

Health, growth, and smart nutrition for fish and shrimp

The MBRF Ingredients portfolio offers functional solutions focused on high-performance nutrition for fish and shrimp. Highlights include BioActio Efficiency and BioActio Health & Performance ingredients, which combine high digestibility, proven functional activity, and contribution to sustainable production systems.

BioActio Efficiency

BioActio Efficiency, launched at FENAGRA 2024, is an enzymatic feather hydrolysate that delivers nutritional efficiency and promotes health and performance in farmed organisms. Regarding the product, Wilson Boscolo, who has a PhD in Animal Science and is a professor and animal nutrition consultant for several companies, comments:

"The first important aspect is that it is a renewable source. It is also a source that provides highly digestible amino acids. This ingredient is produced by controlled enzymatic hydrolysis and, therefore, its main advantage is its high concentration of bioactive peptides. These bioactive peptides, in addition to being easily absorbed and important for nutrition, have functionality that improves the resistance of organisms such as shrimp, especially in the challenging environments we face today," says the zootechnician.

Observed benefits:

● Palatability and digestibility;

● Weight gain and feed conversion;

● Low muscle mass.

BioActio Health & Performance is a functional ingredient developed from hydrolyzed chicken proteins obtained by enzymatic hydrolysis of offal, giblets, and meat. Rich in highly digestible bioactive peptides, the product was formulated to maximize zootechnical performance and strengthen the health of farmed organisms. Its application in commercial diets contributes to improved feed efficiency, uniform growth, and increased immune resistance, even in high-density farming systems or under sanitary challenges.

By integrating functional nutrition and sustainability, BioActio Health & Performance offers technical support for aquaculture systems that demand high performance with low environmental impact.

Final consideration

Nutrition in aquaculture is a strategic component that goes beyond simply providing food. The quality of feed, in terms of nutritional composition, digestibility, and functionality, directly impacts zootechnical performance, intestinal health, feed conversion, and the sustainability of farming systems.

Balanced formulations, with highly bioavailable ingredients and bioactive peptides, contribute to uniform growth, reduced waste, and greater production efficiency, even in challenging environments.

Solutions such as BioActio Efficiency and BioActio Health & Performance, developed by MBRF Ingredients, exemplify how the application of technology and nutritional science can promote immune resilience, better nutrient utilization, and low environmental impact, aligning precision nutrition with the sustainability of modern aquaculture.

Investing in functional feed is investing in economic viability, animal health, and production system efficiency, consolidating more responsible and technically advanced practices in the aquaculture sector.

To keep up with technical content, applied studies, and innovative solutions in aquaculture nutrition, visit the blog and follow MBRF Ingredients on social media to stay up to date on advances in functional nutrition and sustainability.