Growth Performance of Hybrid Striped Bass, Rainbow Trout, and Cobia Utilizing Asian Carp Meal‐Based Aquafeeds

Abstract

Fish meal sparing is more difficult for nutritionally demanding carnivorous fishes, but economic considerations and the limited supply of fish meal continue to incentivize investigations of alternative protein sources for aquafeeds. A promising alternative to traditional, marine‐origin fish meal is fish meal derived from undesirable freshwater species, such as the invasive Asian carp Hypophthalmichthys spp. To assess the relative value of such ingredients, we evaluated growth performance of juvenile hybrid Striped Bass (White Bass Morone chrysops × Striped Bass M. saxatilis; initial weight, 21.9 ± 0.2 g [mean ± SE]), Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss (15.1 ± 0.2 g), and Cobia Rachycentron canadum (57.2 ± 0.5 g) reared for 8 weeks on practical diets containing different levels of menhaden fish meal (MFM), Asian carp meal (CFM), or a 50:50 blend of these ingredients such that 0, 20, 40, or 60% of the estimated digestible protein content was derived from fish meal. Growth performance was generally consistent across taxa, and weight gain tended to increase with fish meal inclusion, regardless of its origin. However, Cobia did perform better on CFM‐based diets, suggesting that MFM or CFM can yield improved performance for some taxa or life stages, but these differences are likely to be marginal in most circumstances. We conclude CFM is a suitable and perhaps lower‐cost alternative to MFM in feeds for carnivorous fishes.

Growth performance of hybrid striped bass (Morone chrysops × M. saxatilis) fed with commercial pike perch and trout diets

“…In addition, the moderate excess of dietary lipid in the pike perch diet (18%, Table 2) did not seem to negatively influence FCR. In fact, present FCR values (Table 2, 0.88-0.98) compared favorably to FCR values previously reported in hybrid striped bass fed with diets of optimized dietary lipids levels of 12% (FCR of 1.1-1.5% (Bowzer and Trushenski 2015;Thompson et al 2000)). The absence of negative effects on FCR fed diet moderately in excess of dietary lipids requirements is in line with previous observations.…”

Geographic-Scale Harvest Program to Promote Invasivorism of Bigheaded Carps

“…Although recent surveys have suggested that there is potential domestic consumer demand for bigheaded carp as food [29], most US markets are for rendered carp products (meals and oils), as ingredients in livestock and aquaculture feeds [30][31][32] and as hydrolyzed fertilizers. The current supply of bigheaded carp in US rivers is not a limiting factor in the growth of the industry, but rather the lack of processing plants and reliable domestic markets plus access to existing international markets to monetarily compensate commercial fishers.…”

Novel Feed from Invasive Species is Beneficial to Walleye Aquaculture

“…as fish meal in pelleted feeds (Bowzer et al 2013). Invasive Asian carp were demonstrated to be a cost-effective alternative protein source ($600 per metric ton; Bowzer and Trushenski 2015) to traditional marine-origin fish meal in the diets of carnivorous fishes, such as hybrid Striped Bass (White Bass Morone chrysops × Striped Bass M. saxatilis), Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss, and Cobias Rachycentron canadum (Bowzer et al 2013;Bowzer and Trushenski 2015).…”