New Aquaculture Results

The American Soybean Association in cooperation with the Shenyang Municipal Fishery Research Institute conducted a four-month pond feeding trial with wuchang bream. The objective of the trial was to demonstrate wuchang bream growth and economic performance from fingerling to market weight when fed a soy-based growout feed. The 32 percent protein, 6 percent crude lipid growout feed contained 52.8 percent hi-pro soybean meal. The wuchang bream grew from 65 grams to 480 grams during the 128-day feeding trial. Total pond production averaged 7,200 kg per hectare for the wuchang bream and 1,025 kg for silver carp. Survival rates of 99.9 and 100 percent were reported for the wuchang bream and silver carp, respectively. The feed conversion ratio for the wuchang bream was 1.10:1. The average net economic return for the three demonstration ponds was $886 per hectare, which calculated out to a return on the investment of 19.3 percent. With the 1.10:1 feed conversion with the all-plant protein, soybean meal-based feed set a high standard for practical feeding studies with this species.


Cremer, Michael, Zhang Jian and Zhiu Enhua. 2004. Chinese fisheries report soy-based feeding trial; Feedstuffs, May 31. p9.