Response of Pond‐raised Fingerling Hybrid Catfish, ♀ Ictalurus punctatus × ♂ Ictalurus furcatus, to Dietary Protein Concentrations and Sources

Abstract

This study examined four experimental diets with different protein concentrations and sources for pond-raised fingerling hybrid catfish, ♀ Ictalurus punctatus × ♂ Ictalurus furcatus. A 35% protein diet with fishmeal was used as the control diet. Test diets were 32 and 28% all-plant-protein diets and a 28% protein diet with porcine meat, bone, and blood meal. Small fingerlings with a mean initial weight of 2.9 g/fish were stocked into 20 earthen ponds (0.04 ha) at a density of 172,970 fish/ha. They were fed once daily to apparent satiation for 107 d. No significant differences were observed for total diet fed, gross yield, final weight, survival, or condition factor among dietary treatments. However, fish fed the 28 and 32% all-plant-protein diets had a significantly higher feed conversion ratio than fish fed the 35% protein diet with fishmeal. There were no significant differences in chlorophyll a and nitrite concentrations in the pond water, but ponds receiving the 35% protein diet had significantly higher ammonia than those receiving 28% protein diets. Economic analysis suggested potential cost savings by using low-protein and all-plant-protein diets for hybrid catfish fingerling production. KEYWORDS dietary protein, feed conversion, growth, hybrid catfish fingerlings, protein source

Reducing dietary protein concentrations and replacing fish meal with porcine meat and bone meal do not affect growth or feed conversion of pond‐raised fingerling channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus

“…A high condition factor is important for overwintering catfish fingerlings, especially for farms that do not feed the fish during the winter. In the present study, the condition factor was similar among dietary treatments ranging from 0.77 to 0.79 and was in agreement with the previously reported condition factors for fingerling channel catfish (M. H. Li et al, 2006;Weirich et al, 2001) and hybrid catfish (Li et al 2016;Li, Bosworth, et al, 2018;Li, Wise, et al, 2018).…”

“…No significant differences were observed for FCR (1.39-1.54) among diets, which is consistent with previous pond studies with channel catfish and hybrid catfish fingerlings concerning dietary protein concentrations and animal protein sources (Li et al 2016;Li, Bosworth, et al, 2018;Li, Wise, et al, 2018;Robinson et al, 2002). A large range of FCRs has been reported for channel catfish fingerlings.…”

“…Weirich et al (2001) reported FCRs of 1.1-1.2 using small earthen-bottom fiberglass pools, while Robinson et al (2002) obtained FCRs of 2.5-2.6 using 0.4-ha ponds. We observed FCRs of 1.2-1.4 for hybrid catfish fingerlings (Li et al 2016;Li, Bosworth, et al, 2018;Li, Wise, et al, 2018) under experimental conditions similar to the present study, although survival was higher in the hybrid catfish studies.…”

“…In a pond study using channel catfish fingerlings at an initial weight of 10 g, Robinson, Li, and Manning (2002) reported that a 28% protein diet resulted in similar weight gain, gross yield, and feed conversion ratio (FCR) as a 32 or 41% protein diet. Recent studies with pond-raised hybrid catfish (♀ I. punctatus × ♂ Ictalurus furcatus) fingerlings (initial weight: 2-3 g) showed that a 28 or 32% protein diet containing a 7.5% mixture of porcine meat and bone meal (PMB) and blood meal provided similar growth, gross yield, and FCR as a 35% protein diet containing the same fishmeal level (Li, Wise, Mischke, & Lucas, 2016;Li, Bosworth, & Lucas, 2018;Li, Wise, Mischke, Kumar, & Lucas, 2018). There is a lack of information on optimum dietary protein concentration for small channel catfish fingerlings raised in ponds.…”

Factors Driving Aquaculture Technology Adoption

“…Improvements in feed formulations have led to the development of salmon and shrimp diets with improved feed conversions and reduced reliance on fishmeal and fish oil (Tacon and Metian ; Tacon et al ). Nutritionally balanced all‐plant sources have completely spared the use of fishmeal in tilapia (Watanabe et al ) and channel catfish diets (Li et al , ).…”