Shrimp aquaculture production in mu

Shrimp aquaculture production in much of the world is depressed by disease, particularly
caused by luminous Vibrio and/or viruses. Antibiotics, which have been used in large
quantities, are in many cases ineffective, or result in increases in virulence of pathogens
and, furthermore, are cause for concern in promoting transfer of antibiotic resistance to
human pathogens. Probiotic technology provides a solution to these problems. The
microbial species composition in hatchery tanks or large aquaculture ponds can be changed
by adding selected bacterial species to displace deleterious normal bacteria. Virulence of
luminous Vibrio species can be controlled in this manner. Abundance of luminous Vibrio
strains decreased in ponds and tanks where specially selected, probiotic strains of Bacillus
species were added. A farm on Negros, in the Philippines, which had been devastated by
luminous Vibrio disease while using heavy doses of antibiotics in feed, achieved survival
of 80-100% of shrimp in all ponds treated with probiotics.