Replacement of fish meal in practical diets for the Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus Õannamei

Ž . The use of a co-extruded soybean poultry by-product meal CEPM and flashed dried poultry Ž . by-product meal FD-PBM was evaluated as replacements for fish meal in a practical diet formulated to contain 32% crude protein and 8% lipid. Each meal was substituted for menhaden Ž fish meal on an iso-nitrogenous basis and offered to juvenile Litopenaeus Õannamei mean initial . Ž wt."S.D., 0.37"0.015 g over a 6-week period. Inclusion levels ranged from 0 30 g fish meal . Ž . r100 g diet to 80% replacement 6 g fish mealr100 g diet . Replacement of fish meal with Ž . CEPM resulted in equivalent values for final weight, percent weight gain and feed efficiency FE Ž . and a significant increase in protein conversion efficiency PCE . Similarly, replacement of 40%, 60%, and 80% of the fish-meal protein in the basal diet with FD-PBM resulted in a significant increase in weight gain and FE. Although not significant, there was also a general increase in PCE when FD-PBM was included in the diet. Under the reported conditions, survival, FE, and PCE values were either improved or were not significantly influenced by the replacement of menhaden fish meal with either CEPM or FD-PBM. Hence, these products can be used to reduce the fish-meal content of practical diets from 30 to 6 gr100 g dry wt. q 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.