FISH NUTRITION
385
vation, 39 000 acres for catfish, the wholesale value of the 1969 crop
being 33 million dollars (Anon, 1970).
The success of the catfish industry in the U.S.A. is due to a
variety of favourable factors but it can be reasonably asserted that
one of the most vital of these is the availability of pelleted rations
formulated in accordance with the basic nutritional requirements of the
fish. Similarly the expanding production of rainbow trout and other
salmonids in the U.S.A. and elsewhere rests to a high degree on pelleted
rations, formulated on the basic nutritional data which has become
available from research over the past twenty-five years or so.
The situation with marine fish is rather less advanced. Thus, in the
U.K., flatfish used in pilot experiments at Hunterston and Ardtoe, in
Scotland, were fed a mixture of “minced trash white fish, plus prawn
when available with a binder and additives such as vitamins and fish
oil” (Bowers, 1970). In Japan the yellowtail (Seriola quinqueradiata
Temminck and Schlegel) cultivated in tidal exchange ponds is evidently
fed on crushed mussels and cheap forage fish (Webber, 1968).
The advantages conferred by a pelleted ration are so manifold as
to make its use almost mandatory for successful marine fish farming
under western conditions. Thus pelleted diets ensure continuous
availability and uniformity of food, ease of transport and of storage,
ease of feeding controlled rations by automated-timed or demand
feeders and water stability of the pellet (implying minimal nutrient loss
by leaching and maintenance of water quality). At the same time the
risk of transmitting disease by feeding trash wild fish to hatchery fish
is greatly diminished.
It has already been indicated that successful pelleted diets are
formulated on basic nutritional research, and it is the object of the
present paper to examine the current status of fish nutrition. Previous
reviews in this journal have dealt with other important aspects of fish
cultivation (Shelbourne, 1964 ; Hickling, 1970).
The ultimate aim of nutritional research is the provision of a
balanced diet, which will meet the requirements of the animal with
respect to any one of a number of physiological functions ranging from
growth to reproduction. This aim cannot be attained without an understanding of the chemical role of each food component and a broad
comprehension of the interplay between different food components. The
nature of the interaction between the cells, tissues and organs of the
body and their food supply are equally germane to this end. Only
when these relationships are understood will it be possible to provide
for optimal performance of those functions with respect to which any
particular diet might be designed or balanced.
385
vation, 39 000 acres for catfish, the wholesale value of the 1969 crop
being 33 million dollars (Anon, 1970).
The success of the catfish industry in the U.S.A. is due to a
variety of favourable factors but it can be reasonably asserted that
one of the most vital of these is the availability of pelleted rations
formulated in accordance with the basic nutritional requirements of the
fish. Similarly the expanding production of rainbow trout and other
salmonids in the U.S.A. and elsewhere rests to a high degree on pelleted
rations, formulated on the basic nutritional data which has become
available from research over the past twenty-five years or so.
The situation with marine fish is rather less advanced. Thus, in the
U.K., flatfish used in pilot experiments at Hunterston and Ardtoe, in
Scotland, were fed a mixture of “minced trash white fish, plus prawn
when available with a binder and additives such as vitamins and fish
oil” (Bowers, 1970). In Japan the yellowtail (Seriola quinqueradiata
Temminck and Schlegel) cultivated in tidal exchange ponds is evidently
fed on crushed mussels and cheap forage fish (Webber, 1968).
The advantages conferred by a pelleted ration are so manifold as
to make its use almost mandatory for successful marine fish farming
under western conditions. Thus pelleted diets ensure continuous
availability and uniformity of food, ease of transport and of storage,
ease of feeding controlled rations by automated-timed or demand
feeders and water stability of the pellet (implying minimal nutrient loss
by leaching and maintenance of water quality). At the same time the
risk of transmitting disease by feeding trash wild fish to hatchery fish
is greatly diminished.
It has already been indicated that successful pelleted diets are
formulated on basic nutritional research, and it is the object of the
present paper to examine the current status of fish nutrition. Previous
reviews in this journal have dealt with other important aspects of fish
cultivation (Shelbourne, 1964 ; Hickling, 1970).
The ultimate aim of nutritional research is the provision of a
balanced diet, which will meet the requirements of the animal with
respect to any one of a number of physiological functions ranging from
growth to reproduction. This aim cannot be attained without an understanding of the chemical role of each food component and a broad
comprehension of the interplay between different food components. The
nature of the interaction between the cells, tissues and organs of the
body and their food supply are equally germane to this end. Only
when these relationships are understood will it be possible to provide
for optimal performance of those functions with respect to which any
particular diet might be designed or balanced.