EFFECT OF STOCKING DENSITY ON GROWTH PERFORMANCE AND FEED UTILIZATION OF SEA BASS (Dicentrarchus labrax) IN CAGES SUSPENDED ON NATURAL POND | ||||
| Fayoum Journal of Agricultural Research and Development | ||||
| Article 11, Volume 24, Issue 1, January 2010, Page 120-127 PDF (471.39 K) | ||||
| Document Type: Research articles. | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/fjard.2010.195662 | ||||
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| Author | ||||
| Ramadan M. Abou-Zied | ||||
| Anim. Prod. Dept. Faculty of Agriculture, Fayoum University, Egypt | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| Stocking density is considered a priority topic in aquaculture research due to its bearing on the welfare of farmed fish and the need for future recommendations governing stocking density management on fish farms. This study was carried out to investigate the growth performance and feed utilization response of sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) to different stocking densities. Two duplicate groups of sea bass (mean BW=32.83 g) were reared in six cages (2 m3 each) suspended at natural pond with a proximate area of 20 hectare at three stocking densities (30, 45 and 60 fish/m3 equal to 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 kg/m3) for 225 days. Significant differences (P≤0.05) on final fish weight, weight gain and daily gain were observed. Fish reared at the highest densities (60/m3) had the lowest mean final body weight (225 g) while those of the lowest densities (30/m3) showed the highest mean final body weight (270 g) while (45/m3) are in between. The differences between the lowest and higher density was 20%. A similar tendency was observed for SGR, 0.85 and 0.92 in the highest and lowest densities, respectively. Significant difference in FCR were observed groups ranging from 2.76 to 3.24 by about 17% between the lowest and highest density. Survival rate was insignificantly (P≤0.05) affected and was around 96% independently of the density and the period. Part of the mortality observed was due to fish jumping out of cages and other part after sampling. Regarding economic efficiency the net returns of cage improved with increasing density and the best net returns was observed with the density 45/m3 followed by densities 60 and 30 fish/m3 respectively. In conclusion the best density was 45 fish/m3 which improved by 33% than the lowest density (30 fish/m3, one kg/m3) and 17% than the highest density (60 fish/m3, 2.0 kg/m3) for economical evaluation. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| Sea bass; growth performance; feed utilization and economic evaluation | ||||
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