Open AccessDemonstration that Feeds Containing <1% Fishmeal Can Support Grow‐out of Large Juvenile Red Drum, Sciaenops ocellatus , and Reduce Nutrient Waste
Author(s) -
Denson Michael R.,
Sandifer Paul A.,
Leffler John W.,
Yost Justin,
Bearden Daniel W.,
Zeigler Thomas R.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of the world aquaculture society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.655
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1749-7345
pISSN - 0893-8849
DOI - 10.1111/jwas.12421
Subject(s) - biology , fish meal , juvenile , zoology , meal , feed conversion ratio , nutrient , soybean meal , food science , fishery , fish <actinopterygii> , body weight , ecology , raw material , endocrinology
We conducted a 16‐wk feeding trial with large juvenile red drum, Sciaenops ocellatus . Four diets were randomly assigned to six replicate tanks per treatment. Three isonitrogenous (ca. 44.5% protein) and isolipidic (ca. 14.1% lipid) extruded diets were formulated to compare a fishmeal‐based diet with diets using alternative protein sources. Diet 1 contained 19.60% fishmeal and 21.42% poultry meals as primary protein sources. Two alternative diets were formulated reducing the fishmeal to 0.61% by substituting poultry meals (33.85%) and soybean protein concentrate (11.55% in Diet 2 and 11.70% in Diet 3). Diet 3 also included Allzyme Vegpro® and Allzyme® SSF at 0.04%. Diet 4, a natural diet consisting of chopped cigar minnows, squid, and shrimp, was used as a positive control to compare growth rates of formulated feeds to near maximum growth under these culture conditions. We found that reducing the amount of fishmeal to <1% by using alternative protein sources did not affect the growth rate, survival, or health of red drum but improved assimilation of phosphorus, reduced potential release of P to the environment, and significantly lowered the amount of feeder fish needed in feed. The control diet identified performance benchmarks for future feeds development work.