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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Leetown, West Virginia » Cool and Cold Water Aquaculture Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #329389
Research Project: Developing and Refining Technologies for Sustainable Fish Growth in Closed Containment Systems

Location: Cool and Cold Water Aquaculture Research

Title: Fishmeal-free Atlantic salmon feed formulation shows promise - Joint research between TCFFI, USDA and EWOS uses new diet for post-smolt to food-size fish

Author
item SUMMERFELT, STEVEN - Freshwater Institute
item MAY, TRAVIS - Freshwater Institute
item CROUSE, CURTIS - Freshwater Institute
item DAVIDSON, JOHN - Freshwater Institute
item Barrows, Frederic
item MANN, JASON - Ewos Canada Ltd
item GOOD, CHRISTOPHER - Freshwater Institute

Submitted to: Global Aquaculture Advocate
Publication Type: Trade Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/8/2016
Publication Date: 4/15/2016
Citation: Summerfelt, S.T., May, T., Crouse, C., Davidson, J., Barrows, F., Mann, J., Good, C. 2016. Fishmeal-free Atlantic salmon feed formulation shows promise - Joint research between TCFFI, USDA and EWOS uses new diet for post-smolt to food-size fish. Global Aquaculture Advocate. 4: 1-6. doi.advocate.gaalliance.org/fishmeal-free-atlantic-salmon-feed-formulation-shows-promise/.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The 2 MT/week of Atlantic salmon that The Conservation Fund Freshwater Institute provided to market in March and April of 2016 were fed a custom diet during nearly 90% of their growth that met the following sustainability criteria: - Fishmeal free - GMO free - Zero wild fish in: fish out according to Seafood Watch standards - North America sourced major ingredients - Natural pigment (pfaffia yeast) - All oil supplied as fish oil from processing plant byproducts, which maximizes omega-3 levels in the fish The diet was formulated by Dr. Rick Barrows, USDA ARS, Bozeman, MT, and Jason Mann of EWOS Canada (now Cargill Aquaculture Nutrition); it was produced by EWOS Canada. EWOS Canada may also market this diet, because it is formulated with practical ingredients and can be produced competitive with standard salmon diets. The Atlantic salmon post-smolt began this diet at approximately 0.6 kg mean size, beginning the first week of May, 2015. Notably, the diet did not appear to create loose, diarrhea-like fecal pellets (the latter can create problems in recirculation aquaculture systems, i.e., RAS). The salmon performed well in the freshwater RAS, producing an average of 400 gram per month linear growth with 97% survival during the 10-month growout period, which ended with weekly harvests beginning in early March and finishing in April of 2016. Overall feed conversion averaged 1.18:1. Fish welfare was excellent with no vaccination, disease outbreaks, sea lice, or toxic algae, plus optimum water quality within the RAS culture environment. Because of their excellent health, no pesticides or antibiotics were fed to the salmon.