Nutritive value of fish meal for Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)

Fish meals (herring, menhaden, and anchovy), commercially available in Atlantic Canada and a Norwegian fish meal (Norse-LT94$\sp\circler$) were evaluated for their protein quality by in vitro assays and growth studies with Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar).

Atlantic salmon fingerlings were used in a growth study to evaluate the protein quality of two steam-dried herring meals and Norse-LT94$\sp\circler$. Fish fed Norse-LT94$\sp\circler$ gained 11 to 60% more weight than fish fed the herring meals.

Five fish meals were evaluated for their crude protein and amino acid availabilities using Atlantic salmon. For all essential amino acids, except tryptophan, Norse-LT94$\sp\circler$ had higher apparent amino acid availabilities than the other fish meals tested. Menhaden meal and anchovy meal had significantly lower amino acid availabilities than most of the herring meals tested.

A feeding experiment was conducted to determine the quantitative dietary requirement of Atlantic salmon for lysine. Broken-line regression of the growth values against dietary lysine level estimated the dietary requirement of lysine to be 1.99 $\pm$ 0.11% of the dry diet or 3.98% of the protein at 50% protein in the diet. No nutritional deficiency signs were observed in fish fed a lysine-deficient diet for 140 days. (Abstract shortened by UMI.).