Effect of replacing fish meal by sweet lupin meal on growth performance of African catfish fingerlings, Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822)

Abstract

Scarcity of fish meal remains one of the major challenges in the development of aquaculture in Ethiopia. A growth performance experiment was conducted to investigate the best inclusion level of sweet lupin meal (SLM) in replacing fish meal (FM) to grow African catfish fingerlings, Clarias gariepinus . A total of 120 juveniles weighing an average of 6.01 to 6.09 g were stocked at a rate of 100 fishes m -3 . The control group received 100% FM and 3 treatments with different proportions of SLM replacement level (50%, 75% and 100%) were tested and feed was provided at a rate of 5% of their live body weight. The mean live weight varied from 8.5 g to 30 g and condition factor from 0.44 to 0.68 after 9 weeks of feeding. The fingerlings grown in 50% SLM and 50% FM formulated feed showed better condition and growth than 75% and 100%. The feed conversion ratio was higher for all treatments but the FCR at 100% replacement level was significantly different from others. Cost of production was higher on the control group, while the profit index was better for treatment I. The study revealed the possibility of growing C. gariepinus juveniles to 30 g sized fingerlings in 9 weeks by replacing 50% of FM with cheaper and locally available SLM.