Evaluation of Commercial Extruded Pellets and Raw Fish-Based Moist Pellets for the Growth and Quality of Korean Rockfish Sebastes schlegeli Cultured in Net-Cages

This study was conducted to compare extruded pellets (EP) and soft extruded pellets (SEP) with a raw fish-based moist pellet (MP) diet on the growth and flesh quality of Korean rockfish Sebastes schlegeli. Three groups of 20,000 fish (initial mean weight 133 g) per net-cage ( $6{\times}12{\times}7m$ ) were fed commercial EP, SEP or MP for 16 months. The survival of fish fed SEP was higher than those of fish fed EP or MP. The highest growth performances were observed in the mean weight gain, total weight gain, and feed efficiency of fish fed MP, followed by those fed EP and SEP. Among the fish fed on extruded pellets, the total weight gain of fish fed SEP was higher than that of those fed EP, while fish fed EP grew faster than those fed SEP. No notable differences in body composition, sensory scores or textural properties of the dorsal muscle were observed in fish fed on EP, SEP or MP. Thus, it is suggested that extruded pellets, rather than raw fish-based moist pellets, could be fed to Korean rockfish without compromising flesh quality.