Aquaculture Use of Soybean Meal

Italian research compared a control diet containing animal protein (mainly fish meal) with six experimental diets containing different plant proteins (soybean meal, rapeseed meal, potato protein concentrate, or a combination of the three plant proteins). The plant protein source replaced either 25 percent or about half of the animal protein. Results indicated that energy, crude protein and crude fat digestibility values for fish meal and soybean meal were similar and not statistically different while values for rapeseed meal and potato protein concentration were significantly lower. Fish fed a diet in which 25 percent of the animal protein was replaced with soybean meal had similar performance to those of the control group. When half of the animal protein was replaced the experimental diets had lower growth rates and lower feed utilization compared to the control treatment. This study provides additional support that soybean meal can be substituted for up to 25 percent of the animal protein in the diet without any negative effect on sea bass performance.

Lanari, D. and E. DeAgaro. 2005. Alternative plant protein sources in sea bass diets. Italian J. Animal Sci. 4(4): 365-374.