DIETARY A V AILABILITY AND RETENTION OF SELECTED MINERALS ASSOCIATED WITH THE INTENSIVE PRODUCTION OF RAINBOW TROUT (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Dietary availability and retention of selected minerals associated with the intensive production of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Donna Leanne Snellgrove This research programme aimed to review the nutritional requirements for the main minerals, (namely calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and zinc) formulated in commercial diets that are essential for the health and growth performance for salmonid fish. This was undertaken with the aim of improving our knowledge oftheir physiology, metabolism and fate in the rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss. Phosphorous (P) featured strongly in this work due to its adverse role in pollution and the environmental impact of intensive fish farming. The first chapter surveyed the gross nutritional requirements of fish and focused on the mineral requirements in particular. Typically the P requirements for trout were found to range from 0.5-0.8% of the diet. The problems of P loading as a consequence of dietary loses was addressed and the physiological and metabolic roles of both calcium and phosphorous were especially noted in relation to fish health and for phosphorous its environmental implications were addressed. Experimental approaches were evaluated and it was decided to conduct both standard growth trial studies as well as digestibility trials to provide the basis of most investigations with the rainbow trout. Novel approaches and strategies were used in relation to specific experiments such as examining the mineral levels in blood, and various tissues and the testing of different feed ingredients, dietary supplements and mineral sources in successive investigations. Initial investigations appraised commercial diets of varying nutritional profile with respect to mineral retention and availability for rainbow trout under controlled laboratory conditions. The effects of diets containing different fishmeal sources: i.e. brown versus white fishmeals, elevated ash content and also varying in the levels of oil were tested on juvenile rainbow trout in closed recirculated systems. Diet composition caused a significant effect on mineral retention and distribution profile in fish tissues and organs. Typically, both P and Ca were of highest concentration in vertebrae of trout (60mg/g-dry weight), compared with P concentrations for all other major organs/tissues, which were fairly even between ll-20mg/g. A small increase in dietary P level ( 1.08% vs. 1.22%) did not affect any growth parameters for trout for the first two commercial feeds tested but there were interesting observations with respect to the amount of P excreted in the bile with a 25% increase from 0.8mM to 1.2mM. The P levels in plasma of these fish did not reflect any dietary changes. However, there was a noticeable reduction in the digestibility ofP in the diet containing the white fishmeal source (26%) compared with 49% for the higher grade fishmeal diet. High ash content feeds resulted in a marked reduction in the net mineral retention of this element (16% compared to 27% for the lower ash diet). The same was also true for Ca ( 12% compared with 26%). The effect of oil levels in diets on mineral utilization was investigated under farmed conditions and was of particular interest given the demand for nutrient dense feeds in the industry. There was a strong tendency for improved P and Ca digestibility coefficients at each incremental increase in oil level for juvenile production sized fish (50-l OOg). This ranged from 55% to over 70% when oil levels were over 26%. However this was not observed for larger fish of over 200g in weight. Experimental investigations followed are described in (Chapter 4) where fishmeal based diet was supplemented with varying levels of inorganic phosphorous. Phosphorous, calcium and other mineral absorption characteristics in addition to retention were measured in a series of growth and digestibility trials. Interestingly, there was no apparent change in the distribution