Substitution of Canola Meal for Soybean Meal in Diets for Channel Catfish Ictalurus punctatus

Abstract Canola meal was used in channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus diets at levels of 0, 15.4, 30.8, 46.2 and 61.6%, by progressively replacing (on an equal nitrogen basis) 0, 25, 50, 75, or 100% of solvent-extracted soybean meal in the control diet. The feeds were formulated to contain approximately 29% crude protein and 2,650 kcal of digestible energy/kg on an air-dry basis. Each diet was fed to juvenile channel catfish to satiation twice daily for 10 wk. Fish fed the diets containing the two lowest levels of canola meal (15.4 and 30.8%) had similar weight gains, feed intakes, feed utilization efficiencies, and percent survivals relative to the group fed the control diet. Weight gains and feed intakes declined significantly as the dietary levels of canola meal were increased to 46.2% or higher, probably because of reductions in diet palatability and some impairment of feed utilization due to the presence of increased levels of antinutritional factors, particularly glucosinolates. Whole body percentages for moisture and crude protein were unaffected by the dietary treatments. Body ash contents, however, were lowest for fish fed the control diets but were essentially the same for fish fed the other diets. Fish fed the diet containing 30.8% canola meal had lowest body fat content but this effect may not have been diet related. Values for red blood cell concentration, hemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration were not affected by dietary canola meal level, but hematocrit was higher (although not always significant) for fish fed the control diet. The results of this study suggest that canola meal can comprise about 31% of the diet of channel catfish by replacing half of the amount of soybean meal used in the control diet without adversely affecting growth or any other aspect of performance.