Scale matters: performance of European sea bass,Dicentrarchus labrax,L. (1758), reared in cages of different volumes

The effects of rearing volume on on‐growing European sea bass performance and stress parameters were investigated for the first time in a pilot aquaculture farm. Fish were held under the same initial stocking densities in triplicate net‐pen cages of different sizes (1.4, 45 and 252 m³) for a period of 8 months. Results showed significant differences among the experimental groups in most parameters tested, with better performance in the two larger rearing volumes. In particular, growth rate showed a linear association with rearing volume, being 0.68 g day^?1 for the large cage group, 0.56 g day^?1 and 0.32 g day^?1 for the medium and the small groups respectively. The feed conversion ratio and per cent survival (%) were also better in the large cage group. Fish reared in the small and medium‐sized cages showed higher plasma cortisol concentrations than those reared in large cages, which showed low basal cortisol concentrations. Additionally, after an acute chasing stress challenge, fish in the large and small groups, but not the medium group, showed increased cortisol concentrations. Differences also occurred in the ratio of the expression of cortisol receptors, namely the mineralocorticoid (mr) and glucocorticoid receptors (gr). In specific, the ratio of mr to grmRNA expression in the liver was higher in fish reared in the small cages. These findings verify that experimental scale significantly affects experimental results and is a critical factor for the interpretation of results.