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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stoneville, Mississippi » Warmwater Aquaculture Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #134911
Title: EFFECT OF POSTSPAWNING FEEDING ON REPRODUCTION IN CHANNEL CATFISH

Author
item CHATAKONDI, N - HARVEST SELECT FARMS
item YANT, R - HARVEST SELECT FARMS
item Waldbieser, Geoffrey - Geoff
item Wolters, William

Submitted to: Global Aquaculture Advocate
Publication Type: Popular Publication
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/4/2002
Publication Date: 4/1/2002
Citation: Chatakondi, N., Yant, R., Waldbieser, G.C., Wolters, W.R. 2002. Effect of postspawning feeding on reproduction in channel catfish. Global Aquaculture Advocate 5(2):16-17.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Production of farmed channel catfish in the United States relies almost entirely upon broodstock spawning naturally in ponds supplied with spawning containers. Female spawning success ranged from 20-80% depending on fish condition, management, and environmental conditions during the spawning season. Study goals were to evaluate effect of different feeding regimes on broodfish growth and reproductive performance. Three-year old broodfish were fed one, three, or five times a week to satiation with a 36% protein commercial feed. Eight replicated 0.01-acre ponds were stocked for each treatment with 15 females and 10 males. Fish fed once, three, or five times a week grew from 1.99 kg to 2.25 kg, 2.01 kg to 2.70 kg, and 2.16 to 3.02 kg, respectively. Broodstock fed once weekly produced 1.1 million fry/acre while fish fed three times a week produced 641,722 fry/acre, and fish fed five times a week produced 679,350 fry/acre. Results demonstrated that feeding catfish broodstock once a week to satiation limited fish growth, but resulted in optimum condition factor and reproductive performance compared to fish fed three or five times a week. Smaller broodfish had higher reproductive efficiency because they produced smaller eggs and therefore had higher fecundity.