New frontiers in the use of biotics in aquaculture:Towards advanced strategies beyond live microbial cultures

Abstract

The intensification of aquaculture, driven by market demand, necessitates strategies to maintain environmental health and ensure the industry's sustainability. In this context, the success of aquaculture operations is closely linked to feed costs and quality, and profitability depends directly on feed efficiency, growth rate, and pathogen resistance (Pepi & Focardi, 2021). However, intensification increases the risk of infectious disease outbreaks, which represents a significant constraint on sustainable industry growth. Consequently, there is urgent pressure to reduce antibiotic use in intensive systems, as excessive use contributes to the emergence of resistant bacterial strains and to undesirable levels of environmental residues (Lulijwa et al., 2020). Under these circumstances, probiotics have emerged as a key strategy for preventing certain bacterial diseases in fish.