EFFECTS OF DIETARY PROTEIN ON HYBRID CATFISH FINGERLINGS

What is it about?

We examined four experimental diets with different protein levels 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.

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Why is it important?

Our previous research showed protein levels in hybrid catfish fingerling diets could be reduced from 35 to 32%, and fishmeal could be replaced by pork meat, bone, and blood meal without negatively affecting growth and feed conversion. Data from the present study suggest dietary protein levels may be further reduced to 28% without significantly affecting growth performance, and potential cost savings could be achieved by using low-protein and all-plant-protein diets for hybrid catfish fingerling production. However, it should be noted that fish fed the 28 and 32% all-plant-protein diets had significantly higher feed conversion than those fed the 35% protein fishmeal control diet.

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