Effect of dietary taurine supplementation on growth, feed efficiency, and nutrient composition of juvenile sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria)

Authors: JOHNSON, RONALD - National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); KIM, SHIN-KWON - National Fisheries Research And Development Institute; WATSON, AARON - University Of Maryland; Barrows, Frederic; KROEGER, ERIC - National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); NICKLASON, PETER - National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Submitted to: Aquaculture
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/27/2015
Publication Date: 4/2/2015
Citation: Johnson, R.B., Kim, S., Watson, A.M., Barrows, F., Kroeger, E.L., Nicklason, P.M. 2015. Effect of dietary taurine supplementation on growth, feed efficiency, and nutrient composition of juvenile sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria). Aquaculture. 445:79-85.

Interpretive Summary: World aquaculture production continues to increase with food fish production more than doubling from 2000 to 2012. Demands for feed ingredients, especially fishmeal and oil, have increased dramatically. In global terms, more than 3.7 million metric tons of fishmeal and 0.8 million metric tons of fish oil, representing 61% and 74% of total production, were used for aquaculture in 2008. Alternative protein and oil sources are needed to supplement or replace fishmeal and fish oil in aquafeeds if further development of the aquaculture industry is to be sustained. Nutritionists have succeeded in replacing much of the fishmeal in diets for several marine fish species with proteins derived from vegetables and other terrestrial sources without compromising growth or health, but complete replacement has been problematic without the addition of supplements such as vitamins minerals and specific amino acid. Taurine is an amino acid found in fish meal but not plants so it must be supplemented when feeding low fish meal or plant-based diets. This study found that approximately 1.1% taurine is need in the diet of sablefish for peak feed efficiency.

Technical Abstract: Juvenile sablefish were fed a low taurine, basal feed with seven graded levels of supplemental taurine to determine taurine requirements for growth and feed efficiency. The basal feed was plant based, formulated primarily with soy and corn proteins with a minimal (9%) amount of fishmeal. The unsupplemented, basal feed contained 0.14% taurine. Experimental feeds were supplemented with 0, 0.25, 0.50, 1.0, 1.5, 3.0, and 6.0% taurine. Using the five parameter, saturated kinetic model (5 SKM), peak weight gain was predicted at 1.5% dietary taurine. Optimum weight gain, as defined as the region of the 5 SKM curve corresponding to at least 95% of peak was predicted between 0.4% and 5.8% dietary taurine. Peak feed efficiency was predicted at 1.1% dietary taurine with optimum weight gain predicted between 0.4% and 4.2%. Whole body and muscle tissue protein and lipid content were not affected by taurine supplementation. Tissue taurine content increased asymptotically with increasing dietary taurine supplementation. Whole body tissue became saturated at 0.25± 0.02% taurine, expressed on a wet weight basis. Muscle tissue became saturated at 0.34± 0.02% taurine. Results from this study should increase the performance of alternative, plant based feeds formulated for sablefish and enable regulatory agencies better estimate the potential human exposure to taurine from the consumption of sablefish receiving these feeds.