Postponed Feeding Does Not Substantially Reduce Production Expense during Pond Rearing of Hybrid Catfish Fry

Abstract

Production variables of hybrid catfish (Channel Catfish Ictalurus punctatus × Blue Catfish I. furcatus) reared in nursery ponds and then stocked were compared between fish fed immediately after stocking (standard industry practice) and fish for which feeding was postponed after stocking. Ponds (0.04 ha) were stocked with swim-up fry at 10,000 fish/pond (250,000 fish/ha). At 2 weeks poststocking, fish in the postponed feeding treatment were significantly smaller than fish in the standard feeding protocol. Therefore, all ponds began receiving commercial diets after 2 weeks. At 2 weeks poststocking and continuing through 5 weeks poststocking, the average individual fish length and weight was greater for the standard feeding protocol than for the postponed feeding protocol. At harvest, there were no differences in production variables between the two feeding protocols. Unlike a previous study with Channel Catfish fry, where feed was withheld for 6 weeks without compromising production, noticeable deficiencies in hybrid catfish fry growth were observed after only 2 weeks of feed restriction. However, compensatory growth was observed, and postponed feeding did not result in differences in production variables observed 6 weeks poststocking. At the feeding rate and feed prices during this study, we observed feed savings of only US$38.75/ha by postponing feeding for 2 weeks.

Received July 27, 2016; accepted November 4, 2016 Published online February 13, 2017

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This is journal article 12752 of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station (MAFES), Mississippi State University. This project is supported under MAFES Project Number 371592. The authors thank Billy Rutland and crew at the pond facility of the National Warmwater Aquaculture Center for assistance and Ambika Tiwari for her assistance with water quality analysis.