The maintenance of the health condition and welfare of animals in cultivation is currently one of the main concerns of the aquaculture sector in view of the intensification of the production and development systems of a sustainable and consumer-friendly business model. As the industry has proposed, the development of new strategies and tools to guarantee the good growth, health and welfare of the animals in cultivation is of need. In this socio-economic context, strategies based on the use of diets that improve the health and welfare of animals without compromising their growth represent tools of great importance for the industry, both for species such as gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) where there is high pressure to improve their productive performance and reduce production costs, as well as those species that are just beginning to consolidate their production, such as meagre (Argyrosomus regius).
The objective of the DIETplus project funded by the MAGRAMA (Government of Spain) is to improve the competitiveness of the Spanish aquaculture sector through the development, standardization and implementation of functional diets that improve the general condition of the animal, its resistance to episodes of stress and potential infectious agents, as well as the improvement of the quality of the final product, without compromising growth performance. In this context, DIETplus has been designed to provide an innovative response to the needs of the sector in the development of an integrated approach on the improvement of existing formulations of fish diets based on improved stress response, stimulation of the animal’s immune system, improvement of the condition and integrity of the mucous membranes (gills, skin and intestine), as well as an increase in the production of mucus in gills and skin, that allow to improve the productive processes through an improvement in the health, welfare and general condition of the animal that has a direct impact on a decrease in the prevalence of infections and results in the productive performance of the sector.
Project partners:
– Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries (IRTA), Centro de Sant Carles de la Rápita.
– Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Departament de Biologia Cel•lular, de Fisiologia i d’Immunologia.
– Instituto de Investigación y Formación Agraria y Pesquera (IFAPA), Centro de Aguas del Pino.
– Universidad de Murcia (UM), Facultad de Biología, Departamento de Biología Celular e Histología .
– Universidad de Cádiz (UCA), Facultad de Ciencias del Mar y Ambientales.
– Instituto de Ciencias Marinas de Andalucía (ICMAN) – CSIC.
– Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Facultad de Biología, Departamento de Fisiología e Inmunología.