Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Carbon Emissions, Mycotoxins And Fish

By Allen Johnson


Today's livestock and meat supplies are a vast improvement over their counterparts in earlier eras. Scientific studies have influenced specific livestock production in a way that makes the meat produced safer for consumption and relatively free of disease. Farming facilities are so advanced now, and feeds so properly formulated, disease in animals that are farm raised have all but been eliminated Animal health has improved exponentially. Monitored, farmed meat is now, more than ever, a quality nutritional source for humans.

The worldwide meat market is regulated closely and there is little room for waste. Proprietors of livestock farming facilities supply the highest quality feeds to their stock. The administration of quality feeds controls the exposure of species to substances like mycotoxins. Mycotoxins can cause significantly higher mortality rates. If the feed that the livestock receives is good enough to ensure they are not exposed to mycotoxins, stock survives and profits rise.

If mycotoxins are present in a food supply, an animal's ability to grow healthily and maintain proper biological functions with be compromised. Sick animals are not fit for distribution and can only lead to a severe cut in a farmer's profits.

An industry that markets the bounty of living creatures is now obligated to adhere not only to nutritional and economic standards, but environmental standards as well. Meat farmers are discovering efficient farming will likely coincide with being considered "eco-friendly." All levels of production, from birth and husbandry, to all life cycling and finally, harvest, are seeing the benefits of operating a farm with the environment in mind. The more environmentally-conscious a farm is, the more likely it will succeed in the market.

Life Cycle Assessment Tests performed by professionals like those on the Faculty of Veterinary Science, in Timisoara, Romania have recently proven a link between certain livestock and carbon emissions. They have discovered that feed with the lowest mycotoxins will create the most properly-functioning physiologies, thereby minimizing emissions in the air and water. This is the strongest argument for farmers to continue an effort to eliminate feeds containing mycotoxins. Experiment conclusions and noticeable product quality and profitability further prove this.

Despite efforts, fish farmers, under economic constraints have to purchase plant-based, commercial feeds. These feeds are the same given to livestock that live on land. Fish can be exposed to the same mycotoxins as animals that share the same feed.

Most commercial fish feeds unfortunately, contain less than 5% animal proteins. Fish and shrimp are left susceptible to the dangers of aflatoxins when they do not receive the correct amounts of protein. Aflatoxins diminish meat quality, reproduction and immune response. It is also an enemy of aquaculture systems.

There are hundreds of known mycotoxins in feeds. The most important for farmers to eliminate are aflatoxin and ochratoxin A. Certain species of fish react more violently to these toxins than others. The Rainbow Trout is almost defenseless against the carcinogenic properties of aflatoxin. Fish farmers can only hope to minimize their livestock's exposure to these substances, provide environments that ensure healthy-bodied fish and raise fish with strong genetic potentials.




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