2. Some Definitions Related to Fish Feed
and Nutrition
Food:
• Any substance, whether processed, semi-processed or raw,
• which is intended for human consumption, and
• includes drinks, chewing gum and any substance
• which has been used in the manufacture, preparation or
treatment of 'food'
• but does not include cosmetics or tobacco or substance used
only as drugs.
3. • Feed (s):
• Edible material (s) which are consumed by animals and
• contribute energy and/or nutrients to the animal’s diet.
• (Usually refers to animals rather than man).
4. Feed ingredient:
• A component part or constituent of
any combinations or mixture making
up a commercial feed.
Formulated feed:
Two or more ingredients
proportioned, mixed and processed
according to specifications.
5. • Complete feed:
• A nutritionally adequate feed for animals other
than man:
• by specific formula is compounded to be fed as the
sole ration and
• is capable of maintaining life and/or promoting
production
• without any additional substance being consumed
except water.
6. Supplement/supplementary feed:
• A feed used with another to improve the
nutritive balance or performance of the total
and intended to be:
(i) fed undiluted as a supplement to other feeds;
or
(ii) offered free choice with other parts of the
ration separately available:
(iii) further diluted and mixed to produce a
complete feed.
7. Additive:
• An ingredient or combination of ingredients
added to the basic feed mix or parts thereof to
fulfill a specific need.
• Usually used in micro quantities and requires
careful handling and mixing. e.g. BHA, BHT, Vit
C
8. Additives:
• BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) and BHT (butylated
hydroxytoluene) are widely used by the food industry
as preservatives, mainly to prevent oils in foods from
oxidizing and becoming rancid.
• Oxidation affects the flavor, color and odor of foods
and reduces some nutrients. BHA and BHT may have
some antimicrobial properties, too. BHT is even sold in
supplements, as an antioxidant.
9. Fish meal:
• (Feed ingredients) Fish meal is the clean, dried, ground
tissue of un-decomposed whole fish or fish cuttings, either
or both, with or without the extraction of part of the oil.
• It must contain not more than 10% moisture.
• If it contain more than 3% salt (NaCl), the amount of salt
must constitute a part of the brand name, provided that in
no case must the salt content of this product exceed 7%.
11. • Mash: (Physical form) A mixture of
ingredients in meal form.
• Meal: An ingredient which has been ground
or otherwise reduced in particle size.
• Micro ingredients: Vitamins, minerals,
antibiotics, drugs, and other minerals
normally required in small amounts and
measured in milligrams, micrograms or parts
per million (ppm).
12. Fish feed pellets
• Pellets: (Physical form) Agglomerated feed
formed by compacting and forcing through
die openings by a mechanical process.
14. Premix & Ration
• Premix: A uniform mixture of one or more
micro-ingredients with diluents and/or carrier.
Premixes are used to facilitate uniform
dispersion of micro-ingredients in a larger mix.
• Ration: The amount of the total feed which is
provided to one animal over a 24 hour period.
15. Methods of Assessing Nutritional
Quality of Compound Feed
• Growth parameters
i) Mean weight gain: It is calculated by
the following formula:
Mean weight gain = Mean final fish
weight –
Mean initial fish
weight.
16. Growth parameters
ii) Percent weight gain: It is a fairly straight forward measure of
overall increase in mean body weight over a period of
time. It is obtained by:
mean final fish weight – mean initial fish weight
% weight gain = Х 100
mean initial fish weigh
17. Growth parameters
iii) Specific growth rate (SGR %day): Specific growth rate is
determined by the following formula:
Loge w2 – loge w1
SGR (% day) = Х 100
T2 – T1
Where, W1 = Initial live body weight (g) at time T1 (day)
W2 = final live body weight (g) at time T2 (day)
18. Feed utilization parameters
• Food conversion ratio (FCR): It is a measure of degree of
gross utilization of feed. It is defined as the amount of
dry feed fed per unit live weight gain. It is given by:
Feed fed (dry) weight
FCR =
Live weight gain
• The FCR value always will be more than 1. The lower the
FCR value, the better the quality of supplied feed.
19. Feed utilization parameters
• Food conversion efficiency ( FCE): It is reciprocal of FCR
and is given by:
Live weight gain
FCE =
Feed fed (dry wt.)
• The FCE value always will be less than 1. The more
the FCE value, the better the quality of supplied
feed.
20. Feed utilization parameters
• Protein efficiency ratio (PER): It is an indication of
dietary protein utilization. It is defined as the
gain in live weight per gram of crude protein
fed.
Live weight gain (g)
PER =
Crude protein fed (g)
21. Types of
Fish
Fry
(% of body
wt)
Fingerling
(% of body wt)
Table size
or brood
fish
(% of
body wt)
Carp
Fishes
10-20% 5-10% 3-5%
Cat Fishes 10-20% 5-10% 3-6%
Shrimp 15-20% 5-10% 3-8%
Feed requirement of fishes according
to their species and life cycle
22. Types of
Fish
Protein
(%)
Lipid
(%)
Carbohydr
ate (%)
Vitamin and
Mineral
premix (%)
Carp Fishes
Fry 35-40 6-9 25-30 1.0-2.0
Table size 30-35 5-7 28-34 0.5-1.0
Brood 30-35 3-5 30-36 1.0-1.5
Cat fish
Fry 40-45 7-12 25-30 1.0-2.0
Table size 35-40 6-9 26-32 0.5-1.0
Brood 35-40 4-6 26-28 1.0-1.5
Shrimp/Prawn
Fry 35-40/40-45 8-12 26-28 2.0-3.0
Large 30-40/35-40 30-35/35-40 6-10 1.0-2.0
Brood 30-35/35-40 5-7 28-30 1.5-2.5
Nutritional requirement of fish and shrimp
according to species and life cycle
