Dietary inclusion of a marine microalgae meal for Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar): Impact of Pavlova sp. 459 on growth performance and tissue lipid composition

Abstract

An intact-cell meal produced from the marine microalga, Pavlova sp. CCMP459 (Pav459) cultivated in land-based enclosed photobioreactors, was investigated as a protein and lipid source in the diets for post-smolt Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). The Pav459 meal contained 60.87% protein, 12.25% lipid, 2.86% EPA and 1.45% DHA. Growth performance and tissue fatty acid profiles of salmon (170.1 ± 23.9 g/fish initial weight) were evaluated after being fed test diets for 12 weeks containing either 10% (Low Pav) or 20% (High Pav) Pav459 meal; relative to a fish meal and fish oil-based control diet. No significant differences (P > 0.05) were found in salmon comparing dietary treatments for weight gain (271.3–279.6 g/fish), specific growth rate (1.2%/day), or feed conversion ratio (0.9 g feed/g gain). Salmon fed diets containing Pav459 meal had a slightly higher condition factor (1.3) than salmon fed the control diet (1.2). Liver DHA + EPA were significantly higher in salmon fed the control diet (5.1 mg/g) than salmon fed diets containing 10–20% Pav459 meal (3.4–3.5 mg/g). There were no significant differences observed in fillet muscle DHA, EPA, and most fatty acids among salmon fish diets containing 10–20% Pav459 meal compared to salmon fed the control diet. Overall, the results from this study indicate that Pav459 marine microalgae meal is a good candidate source of protein and essential n-3 LC-PUFA in diets for farmed Atlantic salmon.