Incorporation of a mixture of meat and bone meal, poultry by-product meal, blood meal and corn gluten meal as a replacement for fish meal in practical diets of Pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei at two dietary protein levels

A 6-week feeding trial was carried out in glass tanks to determine the effects of partial replacement of fish meal (FM) with a combination of meat and bone meal (MBM), poultry by-product meal (PBM), blood meal (BM) and corn gluten meal (CGM) in practical diets on the growth, nutrient digestibility and body composition of Pacific white shrimp. Six practical diets were formulated, containing two levels of crude protein (CP) (330 and 380 g kg−1) and similar crude lipid (CL) levels. For the 330 g kg−1 dietary protein level, 0, 357 and 714 g kg−1 FM were replaced by the mixture in Diets 1–3, respectively; while 0, 514 and 784 g kg−1 FM were replaced in Diets 4–6, respectively, for 380 g kg−1 dietary protein level. White shrimp-fed diets containing 330 g kg−1 CP had significantly lower weight gain compared with white shrimp fed diets containing 380 g kg−1 CP. Increasing the mixture and dietary protein level significantly raised the body ash content of white shrimp. White shrimp fed a low-protein diet obtained better nutrient digestibility compared with those fed a high-protein diet.