Alternative protein sources for fish meal in diets of young yellowtail

Abstract

Meat meal, meat-and-bone meal, corn gluten meal, and rapeseed meal were evaluated individually as partial replacement for fish meal in single moist pellet diets for young yellowtail Seriola quinqueradiata. Brown fish meal in the diet was replaced isonitrogenously and isocaloricaly with 10, 20, and 30% of each source. Better growth and feed efficiency were found in fish fed on diets with replacement of 10% of all the protein sources used, and the performance further increased as the replacement with meat meal was increased up to 30%. On the other hand, the performance tended to decrease as the replacement of other sources were increased to levels of more than 10%, and the worst performance together with diminished blood and serum characteristics were found in fish fed on the diet with 30% rapeseed meal. These results show that fish meal can be replaced with several cheaper proteins such as meat meal and corn gluten meal within limited amounts, and that the adequate addition of these protein sources to fish meal-based diets improves not only the dietary cost but also their performance.