Full-Fat Soybean Meal for Atlantic Halibut

Isonitrogenous and isocaloric diets containing 0, 18 and 36 percent toasted full-fat soybean meal were fed to Atlantic Halibut. The diets were fed to five tanks of fish for 34 days and the one tank from the 0 and 36% soybean meal treatments were split and transferred to two metabolism tanks. The initial weight of the fish in the growth trial was 169g, after 32 days the fish weighed 317g. Treatment had no significant effect on growth rate (0.8-1.1 %/day), feed consumption (0.5-0.7% body wt/day), feed efficiency (1.3-1.6g wt gain/g dry feed), protein retention (48-55%) or energy retention (49-57%). The fat, protein and energy concentration in the fish increased during the trial and were not affected by dietary treatment. The hepatosomatic index in the fish fed the 36% full-fat soybean meal treatment was significantly lower (1.7%) than the other treatments (2.2) (P<0.05). No differences in intestinal morphology were observed between the soybean meal treatment and no pathological reactions were identified in any of the samples. In the metabolism trial, no significant differences in oxygen or ammonia excretion between the fish fed 0 or 36 % full-fat soybean meal diets were observed. The researchers concluded that up to 36 percent toasted full-fat soybean meal may be added to diets of Atlantic Halibut without negative effects on growth, feed efficiency or intestinal morphology.

GrisdalelHelland, B. and co-workers. 2002. Full-fat soybean meal in diets of Atlantic halibut: growth, metabolism and intestinal histology. Aquaculture Nutr. 8(4): 265-270.