The present study was conducted to evaluate the potential of green water meal (GWM) as an alternative dietary ingredient
for juvenile Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei. Five isoproteic and isolipidic diets were formulated with 0%
(GWM0, control diet), 10% (GWM10), 20% (GWM20), 30% (GWM30) and 40% (GWM40) of GWM replacing fishmeal protein
and fed five times daily to triplicate groups of shrimp with an average initial weight of 6.42±0.02 g. In general, growth
performance and feed utilization of shrimp fed with GWM10 did not show any significant differences with the control
diet. Survival rate was above 88% and not affected by the dietary treatments. The whole-body protein and lipid of the
shrimps decreased with the increasing GWM level in the diets. The shrimps fed with the GWM-based diets (GWM10, GWM20,
GWM30 and GWM40) presented more intense red/orange colour and contained higher total carotenoid concentration
compare with the control diet. The present findings suggested that GWM is an excellent source of carotenoid for shrimp
pigmentation and able to replace fishmeal protein at up to 10% replacement level.
A trial was carried out to evaluate the possibility of replacing fish meal with poultry by-product meal (PBM) at high inclusion levels (50-100%) in the formulated feeds of tiger grouper, Epinephelus fuscoguttatus. Fish meal-based feed (PBM0) served as the control feed and three PBM-based feeds with inclusion levels of 50 (PBM50), 75 (PBM75), and 100% (PBM100) were fed to triplicate groups of fish with mean body weight of 26.2±0.2 g. All formulated feeds were isoproteic (50%) and isolipidic (13%). Weight gain of juveniles ranged from 233 to 338% at the end of feeding trial. Final weight (g), weight gain (%) and specific growth rate (% day-1) of fish fed PBM0 were lower than other fish groups. The feed conversion ratio ranged from 1.1 (PBM50) to 2.0 (PBM0) with no significant difference detected in all treatments. Apparent digestibility coefficients (ADCs) were influenced by the inclusion of PBM in the feeds, with PBM50 recording better values in all measured ADCs. Meanwhile, replacement of fish meal with PBM has little influence on the whole body proximate compositions and body indices. The present study shows that PBM is an excellent alternative protein source for farming the tiger grouper juveniles with fish meal protein replacement level of 50% resulted in the best overall performances.
Aquaculture has emerged as an important sector for addressing the challenge of global food security. In order for it to play this role, certain supporting policies and mechanisms are necessary. Because aquaculture is a subject where there is a convergence of science, art and business, this has a better chance of knowledge-based entrepreneurship. With the demand of seafood steadily rising, the market potential is high to strengthen the business activity related to aquaculture. Aquaculture can be conducted in a wide variety of aquatic environments, whether on land or in the sea, using different methods to produce many kinds of plants and animals for human consumption. This sort of diversity offers entrepreneurship of different types and scales. Not many subjects have as much advantages for entrepreneurship as aquaculture. Government demands that universities in Malaysia should impart entrepreneurship education to students and researchers to commercialize their findings. Aquaculture is one of the niche areas of Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) and thus, it becomes a priority to implement the national policies pertaining to this sector. Steps taken by the University to demonstrate our response through specific case studies are explained in this paper. Borneo Marine Research Institute developed aquaculture as its flagship program of education and research. This included building of infrastructure and expertise. UMS is the only university in the country with two on-campus hatcheries (for finfish and shellfish) to offer education, training and research. Entrepreneurship is an integral part of the undergraduate program. Worthwhile research carried out yielded results of great significance in promoting aquaculture industry. Selection of need-based research topics and problem-solving approaches applied to produce tangible outcomes are highlighted here. The paper also elaborates what it takes to be an aquaculture entrepreneur and constraints of applying industrial model of aquaculture under the academic culture of institutions of higher education. It is evident from an in-depth analysis of the scenario that academic entrepreneurship requires a radical departure from the past practices and a paradigm shift to successfully unify the art, science and business of aquaculture to achieve seafood sustainability and security.
This study was aimed at determining the optimum temperature for culturing the copepod, Euterpina acutifrons. The trial was conducted for 10 days in chambers at temperatures of 25⁰C, 27⁰C, 29⁰C and 31⁰C. Ten adult individuals of the copepod were randomly collected and placed into three replicate experimental flasks for each treatment. Throughout the trial, the salinity, light intensity, and photoperiod were maintained at 30 ±2psu, 100molm-2s-1 and 12:12 light-dark cycle, respectively. The copepods were fed with 80,000cell/ml Isochrysis sp. daily. At the end of the trial, the total numbers of E. acutifrons nauplii, copepodites and adults were determined and counted using Sedgwick-Rafter. The highest population was found at 27⁰C with mean total population of 800±100 individuals from an initial of 10 individuals. This was followed by those reared at 25⁰C and 29⁰C where the population counts were 700±100 individuals and 367±115 individuals, respectively. At the 31⁰C, all the copepod specimens were found dead on day 5th. Statistical analysis showed that the temperature had a significant effect (P
The present study was aimed at evaluating the growth performance and feed utilization of marble goby (Oxyeleotris marmorata) juveniles fed with the acidified diets (AD). In feeding trial I, five fish meal-based diets were prepared [control (pH 6.0), AD 5.3, 4.3, 3.2 and 2.5]. Each diet was fed to triplicate batches of wild-caught O. marmorata (19 fish/ tank; total length, TL = 4.72±0.46 cm) for 8 weeks. The control, AD 5.3, and AD 4.3 treatments were terminated at week 4, due to drastic decline in total feed intake (TFI=0–0.05 g) and weight loss (weight gain, WG = -15.3 to -16.9%) in the fish. The AD 3.2 and AD 2.5 treatments were continued until week 8. Fish fed with the AD 3.2 showed significantly higher (P < 0.05) TFI (0.98 g) compared to those fed with the AD 2.5 (0.73 g) at the end of the trial. Feeding trial II was done to assess the long-term effects of AD for another 7 weeks. Thirty fish specimens were randomly selected from each of AD 3.2 and AD 2.5 treatments and stocked individually in 7 L aquaria to eliminate the territorial behaviour that was observed in the first trial. At the end of the experiment, fish fed AD 3.2 attained significantly higher (P < 0.05) WG (34%) than those fed AD 2.5 (13%). However, the growth performance and feed utilization results of the present study were very poor compared to those fed the normal fishmeal-based diet as is evident from synthesis of data from the literature review. Feeding of acidified diets was, therefore, not recommended for an extended period (> 3 weeks). Nevertheless, based on the strong preference of the fish for AD, it is worth trying to develop a weaning protocol using these diets as the starter feed and then slowly replacing them with the normal diet.