Fish Hatchery Management - fisheries & aquaculture

Nutrition and FeedingNutritionNutrition encomPasses the ingestion, digestion' and absorption of food'The rearing of large numbers of animals in relatively restricted areas,whether they be terrestrial or aquatic, requires a detailed knowledge oftheir nutritional requirements in order that they can be provided a feedadequate for their growth and health. There has not been the emphasis on,"u.i.rg cultured fish as a major human food source that there has been forother livestock. Also, the quantity of fish feed required by hatcheries andcommercial fish farms has not been sufficient to justify feed companies orothers to spend more than a minimal amount of money for fish nutritionresearch. As a result, an understanding of fish nutrition has advanced veryslowly.Biologists first approached the problem of feeding cultured fish by investigatingnatural foods. Several species still must be supplied with naturalfoods because they will not eat prepared feeds. However, as large numbersof fish were propagated and more and more fish culture stations established.it became uneconomical or impractical to use natural feeds. Becauseof the limited supply and uncertain nature of artificially cultured naturalfood organisms, fish culturists turned to more readily available and reliablefood supplies. Glandular parts of slaughtered animals were among the firstingredients used to supplement or replace natural feeds.208