Replacement of fish meal with poultry by-product meal in practical diets for redclaw crayfish (Cherax quadricarinatus)

Abstract

Aquaculture of redclaw crayfish, Cherax quadricarinatus, is rapidly developing in tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. As the industry is still in its infancy, grow out diets are generally not formulated specifically for this species as there is limited data on nutrient requirements and the acceptability of various ingredients. Given the recent increases in the price of fish meal (FM), the use of alternative protein sources such as poultry by-product meal (PBM) may be more cost effective. The present research evaluated the response of juvenile redclaw to practical diets utilizing PBM as a replacement for FM. Juvenile redclaw crayfish (0.45 g ± 0.01) were stocked into 24, 600-L, outdoor round tanks at a density of 12.5 m )2 . Tanks were supplied water from a watershed reservoir and maintained on a flow through regime. Crayfish in four replicate tanks were maintained on one of the six diets formulated to contain 260 g kg )1 crude protein and 70 g kg )1 crude fat which had previously demonstrated good growth under similar conditions. FM in the basal diets was replaced with PBM at various levels, on an iso-nitrogenous basis, so that the diets contained 150, 120, 90, 60, 30 and 0 g FM kg )1 diet and 78, 105, 132, 158, 185 and 212 g PBM kg )1 diet, respectively. At the conclusion of the 56-day growth trial, survival (>83%) and growth (>11.3 g or 2400%) of the crayfish were not significantly different among treatments. Based on these results, PBM appears to be a viable candidate as a replacement for FM in redclaw crayfish diets. KEY WORDS

Effects of Stargrass Hay Supplementation on Growth and Survival of Juvenile Redclaw Crayfish Cherax quadricarinatus

“…Since crayfish tend to be sloppy and slow feeders, it is possible that dividing the ration into several daily feedings would have improved growth, but it would not have changed the effect observed from hay supplementation. Growth and survival of redclaw crayfish offered FF (treatments A-E) were reasonable, albeit lower than some literature values for similarly fed redclaw crayfish (see Manomaitis 2001;Hernández-Vergara et al 2003;Muzinic et al 2004;Thompson et al 2005;Saoud et al 2008), but the difference in results may be attributable to the fact that the present experiment started with much smaller individuals that the other published investigations. Growth of redclaw crayfish juveniles in the present experiment was comparable with that reported by Jones (1995), who offered the crayfish a combination of flake feed (40% protein) and zooplankton.…”

“…As there was no dose-response pattern in terms of FF input and growth, we concluded that feed rations were in excess of crayfish requirements under present culture conditions. Saoud et al (2008) used a feeding regimen similar to the one used here, but they offered the feed in two daily rations and reported better growth than we observed. Since crayfish tend to be sloppy and slow feeders, it is possible that dividing the ration into several daily feedings would have improved growth, but it would not have changed the effect observed from hay supplementation.…”

“…For juvenile redclaw crayfish, Jones (1995) evaluated fresh zooplankton and a high-protein formulated flake diet in the presence and absence of the floating aquatic macrophyte Pistia stratoites. Additionally, several trials have been conducted to evaluate the rearing of juvenile redclaw crayfish with artificial diets only (Manomaitis 2001;Muzinic et al 2004;Thompson et al 2005;Saoud et al 2008). Many farmers and researchers report anecdotal evidence of better redclaw crayfish performance when forage material is supplemented to ponds, but pond experiments are difficult to control and benefits might have resulted from some factor other than the forage being tested.…”

Increasing pressure on freshwater resources due to terrestrial feed ingredients for aquaculture production

“…The formulated diet for the crustacean redclaw crayfish by Saoud et al (2008) used in this study has high proportions soy (19%), wheat (12.5%) and wheat starch (37.5%) content and hence results in comparably high water footprint values. Fleshy prawn feed water footprint values are also high due to the levels of soybean (40%) and wheat gluten meal (10%) included in all life stages of the diet given by Weimin and Mengqing (2007).…”

Growth Response of African Catfish (Clarias gariepinus) Fed Dietary Inclusion Levels of Green Leaf (Amaranthus cruentus)

“…Many studies have shown that the essential nutrient requirements of fish are proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins and minerals (Thompson, 1993;Tibbets et al, 2004;Jhingran, 2014;Gabriel et al, 2007b).Vitamins and minerals are usually presented in the form of premixture (premix) which are additives usually provided as a commercially prepared package. This feed additive among others is added to fish feed, for optimal fish growth (Wantanabe et al, 1991;Saoud et al, 2008;Azaza et al, 2013).…”