Program and Abstracts(PDF)

Weirich, C.R., P.S. Wills, R.M. Baptiste, P.N. Woodward and M.A. Riche. 2009. Production
characteristics and body composition of Florida pompano reared to market size at two different
densities in low-salinity recirculating aquaculture systems. North American Journal of
Aquaculture 71:165-173. doi:10.1577/A08-016.1
The effect of culture density on production characteristics and body composition of Florida
pompano Trachinotus carolinus reared to market size using recirculating aquaculture systems
(RASs) maintained at a salinity of 5% was evaluated in a 110-d growth trial (water temperature =
27.0–28.5 o C). Juvenile Florida pompano (mean weight = 259.0 6 ± 3.0 g) were stocked into two
tanks from each of four separate RASs at an initial nominal density of 6.5 (low density) or 13.0
kg/m3 (high density), equivalent to 200 and 400 fish/tank, respectively. After stocking, fish were
fed a 4.7-mm, floating pelleted diet (50% protein, 14% lipid) twice daily at a targeted daily feed
rate of 3% body weight per day. At stocking and at 3-week intervals thereafter, 10% of the fish
population of each tank was sampled to determine production characteristics, including mean
weight, weight gain, specific growth rate, absolute growth rate (AGR), feed conversion efficiency
(FCE), biomass, and survival. At termination, fish in all tanks were harvested to determine
production characteristics and samples were obtained to determine whole-body composition,
energy retention, protein efficiency ratio (PER), protein productive value (PPV), hepatosomatic
index, gonadosomatic index, and fillet yield. Results indicated that final weight (570.0 g), weight
gain (312.7 g), AGR (2.8 g/d), FCE (25.5%), PER (0.54), and PPV (11.5%) of fish reared at high
density were significantly lower than those of fish reared at low density. No differences were
observed between density treatments with respect to other measured variables. Additional studies
must focus on the development of finishing diets for final stages of Florida pompano production
to increase FCE and to determine optimal rearing densities. In addition, research to evaluate the
potential of rearing pompano in RASs at salinities lower than 5%, perhaps through environmental
or dietary enhancement of critical ions, is warranted.
Riche, M. and T.N. Williams. 2010. Apparent digestible protein, energy and amino acid
availability of three plant proteins in Florida pompano, Trachinotus carolinus L. in sea water and
low-salinity water. Aquaculture Nutrition 16:223-230. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2095.2009.00654.x
Two experiments were conducted with Florida pompano, Trachinotus carolinus L. at 3 and 28 g
L -1 salinity to determine apparent crude protein digestibility (ACPD), energy digestibility (AED)
and amino acid availability (AAAA) from soybean meal (SBM), soy protein isolate (SPI), and
corn gluten meal (CGM). Mean AAAA was similar to ACPD. In fish adapted to 3 g L -1 salinity,
they were 81.2 and 81.9% (CGM), 93.6 and 92.2% (SBM), 93.8 and 93.1% (SPI) for AAAA and
ACPD, respectively. In fish adapted to 28 g L -1 , they were 84.5 and 83.4% (CGM), 86.5 and
87.1% (SBM), and 83.4 and 85.0% (SPI) for AAAA and ACPD, respectively. The AED was
highest for SPI and lowest for SBM and inversely related to carbohydrate. The ACPD, AED, and
AAAA of soy products appeared to be lower in high salinity, whereas CGM was unaffected. The
data suggests SBM, SPI, and CGM should be further evaluated as partial fishmeal replacements in
Florida pompano diets. Application of the generated coefficients can be used to develop wellbalanced,
low-cost diets for Florida pompano reared in low salinity or seawater.
Pfeiffer, T.J. and M. Riche. (In press). Evaluation of a low-head recirculating system used for
rearing Florida pompano to market size. Journal of the World Aquaculture Society.
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