Soybean Meal-Lobsters
The potential use of soybean meal in diets for American lobsters was investigated. Extruded-expelled soybean meal replaced fish meal in the supplement feed at various levels. Amino acids (arginine, leucine, methionine and tryptohan) were also supplemented. Results of the 60-day feeding study indicated that feeding soybean meal levels up to fifty percent of the dietary protein resulted in higher juvenile lobster body weights compared to the treatments with higher levels of soybean meal. Growth performance of juvenile lobsters fed a control diet of blue mussel was similar to the juveniles fed the supplemented diet containing fifty- percent soybean meal. Based on these studies, soybean meal supplemented with amino acids may replace up to one-half of the fish meal protein in diets of juvenile lobsters without loss of performance. Additional studies to expand the understanding of amino acid and fatty acid requirements of juvenile lobsters may help expand this new potential use of soybean meal. Improving the growth performance of lobsters in captivity can provide both an increased supply of this seafood and a new market for soybean meal
Floreto, E.A.T., R.C. Bayer and P.B. Brown. 2000. The effects of soybean-based diets, with and without amino supplementation, on growth and biochemical composition of juvenile American lobster, Homarus americanus. Aquaculture 189(3-4):211-235.
