November 28, 2014-11-28
Silver Bullet water treatment system cuts EMS effect in shrimp, researchers say
Third-party researchers have found that a water-treatment technology developed by Silver Bullet, a US-based water treatment company, has substantially reduced and controlled the Vibrio parahaemolyticus bacteria, which causes Acute Hepatopancreatic Necrosis Disease (AHPND), or Early Mortality Syndrome (EMS), in shrimp.
Dr. Silvia Gomez and her team at Centro de Investigación en Alimentación y Desarrollo A.C.
(CIAD) government lab in Hermosillo, Mexico, had been analysing different strains of Vibrio parahaemolyticus and looking at eradicating this devastating disease. Recently, Gomez and her co-researchers found a dramatic increase in shrimp survival from the use of the Silver Bullet Water Treatment System.
In a statement released by the company, Dr. Gomez said, "Most farmers throughout Mexico have been experiencing close to 80% mortality of their shrimp in consecutive seasons over the last year. We have seen promising results in lab applications and now a full-scale field application of the Silver Bullet Water Treatment system''s oxidising capacity to reduce and control the levels of Vibrio parahaemolyticus, while causing no harm to the shrimp. We have replicated lab tests where we found the exact doses of Silver Bullet gas needed to avoid reaching toxic levels of pathogenic strains of Vibrio parahaemolyticus and achieve high survival rates in the shrimp."
Dr. Donald Lightner, a researcher from the University of Arizona Shrimp Pathology Research Lab who also analysed the Silver Bullet Water Treatment''s effect, said, "We verified in our lab that the Silver Bullet was able to successfully reduce the amount of Vibrio parahaemolyticus without having a toxic effect on the shrimp."
One farm in Mexico using the Silver Bullet Water Treatment System had just harvested shrimp and reported an average shrimp survival rate of 86%, and the owner, Alberto Soto, was elated with the results. The farm, located at Sinaloa, Mexico, has 205 hectares of surface water, split into 35 ponds. It has a production capacity of 960 tonnes of shrimp, which was exported to the US and Europe prior to the Acute Hepatopancreatic Necrosis Disease epidemic. Like most of the other shrimp farms in Mexico, Soto''s farm saw a dramatic drop in total production in 2013. Silver Bullet was installed on four ponds (a total of 20 hectares) out of the 35 total ponds on the farm. The four ponds using the Silver Bullet technology reported an average survival rate of 86%, much higher than the current industry average of 50% survivability due to AHPND.
David Sunshine, CEO of Silver Bullet, said, "We are delighted by this independent validation of our technology recognising that the Silver Bullet Water Treatment System is a promising tool for the shrimp aquaculture industry in its ongoing battle against pathogenic bacteria like Vibrio p.".
Sunshine said the Silver Bullet Water Treatment System "is safe for shrimp and is easy to install", adding that installation takes less than a day.
The unit, he said, is rented on a monthly basis and that no large capital outlay is needed, "making it an affordable, portable option for shrimp farmers."
The system treats water without water passing through the unit. Instead, ambient air is modified and bubbled into the water to complete the non-toxic disinfection process.
More information on the Silver Bullet Water Treatment is available at www.cnchemicals.com/.