Demonstration that Feeds Containing <1% Fishmeal Can Support Grow‐out of Large Juvenile Red Drum, Sciaenops ocellatus, and Reduce Nutrient Waste

• Published in: Journal of the World Aquaculture Society
• Main Authors: Denson, Michael R., Sandifer, Paul A., Leffler, John W., Yost, Justin, Bearden, Daniel W., Zeigler, Thomas R.
• Other Authors: National Institute of Standards and Technology
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2017
• Subjects: Red drum; Sciaenops ocellatus
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jwas.12421; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fjwas.12421; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/jwas.12421; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/jwas.12421; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/am-pdf/10.1111/jwas.12421

Abstract 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.