Low-protein supplement increases protein retention and reduces the amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus wasted by rainbow trout fed on low-fat herring

The growth, food utilization and amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus lost into the water by rainbow trout (initial size 485 g) fed on low-fat Baltic herring and supplemented with a low-protein dry diet fed separately were studied in an 18-week net cage trial. Similarly to balancing protein and nonprotein energy in full diets, giving nonprotein energy in different feeds several hours apart improved the protein retention of low-fat herring to a level comparable to a commercially available dry diet control. The amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus lost into the water were also reduced to the same extent. The losses from the plain herring-feeding were twice as high. The improved protein retention and reduced nutrient losses were accompanied by 15–25% reductions in growth of the fish compared with the control dry diet. The growth of the fish fed on plain herring was 14% lower than the growth on the dry diet control.     

Tolerance of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) to dietborne endosulfan assessed by haematology,biochemistry, histology and growth

The inclusion of plant‐based ingredients in commercial fish feeds may pose a challenge because of the presence of undesirable substances, such as the pesticide endosulfan. Waterborne endosulfan is highly toxic to fish, whereas dietborne exposure has varied toxicity in different species. To investigate the systemic effects of endosulfan exposure, quadruplicate groups of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) were fed either 0 (control), 0.005 mg kg^?1; the European Union's maximum limit, or 10 or 20 times this level (0.05 and 0.1 mg kg^?1 respectively) for 95 days. There were no significant differences (P > 0.05) in liver somatic index, spleen somatic index, condition factor or growth among treatments. There were no indications of liver damage in fish from any of the groups in the biomarkers measured: plasma aspartate aminotransferase, plasma alanine aminotransferase and histopathology. Similarly, there were no apparent treatment‐related effects on the haematological parameters Hct, Hb, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration and mean corpuscular haemoglobin, and blood sodium, potassium, calcium and chloride levels were not significantly (P > 0.05) different among groups. Lipid digestibility, but not energy, protein, or glycogen digestibility, was significantly (P < 0.05) reduced at the highest exposure concentration. However, no significant differences were observed in lipid production value or lipid efficiency ratio. In contrast to previous studies, clinical histological abnormalities were not observed in the intestine, liver or spleen of endosulfan‐treated fish.     

Dietary decontaminated fish oil has no negative impact on fish performance,flesh quality or production‐related diseases in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)

Fish oil is the main contributor of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in fish feed. A combination of active carbon filtration and steam deodourization can remove most of the POPs. However, other fat soluble compounds are also removed, thus possibly affecting the nutritional quality of decontaminated fish oils. Sea water–adapted Atlantic salmon were fed 18 months a commercially relevant diet based on either decontaminated or non‐treated fish oil until market size. The development of production‐related diseases (fin/skin erosion, bone deformity, cataract) and fillet quality parameters (gutted weight, fillet fat soluble vitamin levels and fatty acid composition, colour, gaping, texture and sensory quality) were assessed. No significant differences in growth performances, feed conversion ratio or quality parameters between the two dietary groups were found. The fillet levels of fat soluble vitamins in market size fish remained unaltered, and only marginal differences were observed in fatty acid profiles. There was a significantly lower percentage of deformed vertebrae in the tail region of fish fed the decontaminated fish oil diets, indicating a positive effect of the use of decontaminated fish oil. No apparent negative effects of the use of decontaminated fish oil in Atlantic salmon diets were reported in this study.     

Supplemental citric acid and particle size of fish bone-meal influence the availability of minerals in rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum)

Juvenile rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum) were fed six low-phosphorus (P) diets supplemented with two different sizes of ground fish bone-meals (fine, 68 μm or less; coarse, 250–425 μm) and a coarse bone-meal diet containing four levels of citric acid (0, 4, 8 or 16 g kg⁻¹ diet) to investigate the effects of pH and bone particle size on P bioavailability. The basal diet provided 3.4 g P   kg⁻¹ and bone-meal increased P contents to 5.4–6.0 g P   kg⁻¹. Coarse bone-meal diets supplemented with 0, 4, 8 or 16 g kg⁻¹ of citric acid had pH values of 6.0, 5.7, 5.4 and 5.0, respectively. Weight gain and whole-body water, protein and lipid contents were not influenced by bone-meal supplementation. Supplementing the basal diet with both coarse and fine bone-meal significantly increased whole-body ash content. Fish fed no bone-meal were hypophosphataemic compared with fish fed with either fine or coarse bone-meals. Phosphorus in fine bone-meal had higher availability than P in coarse bone-meal. Bone-meal supplementation significantly decreased whole-body manganese content from 8.9 μg g⁻¹ in fish fed no bone-meal to 2.3 and 4.5 μg g⁻¹ in fish fed with fine and coarse bone-meals, respectively. The concentration of magnesium increased but zinc concentration was not affected by bone-meal supplements. Citric acid increased whole-body ash content but the influence of citric acid on the body P content was not significant ( P  = 0.07). Dietary acidification by citric acid significantly increased whole-body iron in a linear fashion. The bioavailability of dietary P can be improved by fine grinding the bone in fish meals.     

Demonstration of salmon farming as a net producer of fish protein and oil

To date aquaculture’s reliance on dietary marine sources has been calculated on a fish weight‐to‐weight basis without considering the absolute amounts of nutrients but this approach neglects the often considerable differences in the nutritional value of fish. We propose simple nutrient‐to‐nutrient‐based dependency measures that take into account these nutritional differences. In the first study reported here, individually tagged Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) were reared in seawater supplied tanks with feed collection facilities. In the second, commercial net pens were used to grow over 200 000 fish. For both studies, a low marine ingredient feed containing approximately 165 g kg^?1 fishmeal was compared to a control feed (approx 300 g kg^?1 fishmeal) whilst fish oil inclusion was less markedly reduced. The low marine feeds supported similar growth and feed efficiency compared to the control feeds. With the low marine ingredient feeds, the weight of salmon protein and lipid produced through growth exceeded the weight of marine protein and lipid consumed by the fish meaning that salmon farming can be a net producer of fish protein and oil. The amount of n‐3 long‐chain polyunsaturated fatty acids deposited was sufficient to meet current recommendations from human health organizations.