Successful Use of Soybean Meal with a Methionine Supplement to Replace Fish Meal in Diets Fed to Milkfish Chanos chanos Forskal

Abstract An experimental feeding trial was conducted to study the feasibility of using soybean meal (SBM) to replace fish meal as a protein source for milkfish feeds containing 30% and 40% dietary protein. The replacement levels were 0%, 33%, 67% and 100%. In each replacement level, methionine was supplemented to the amount that the fish meal control group contained. The experiment was conducted for eight weeks in aquaria that were part of a closed recirculated filtered rearing system. At both dietary protein levels, fish in the 100% replacement groups had significantly (P < 0.05) lower weight gain, feed conversion rate and protein efficiency ratio than that of the groups fed the control diets containing only fish meal. Growth in the 67% and 33% replacement groups did not differ significantly from that of the control groups. The apparent protein digestibility, dry matter digestibility and body composition of fish were similar in all the dietary groups. These data suggest that up to 67% of fish meal in milkfish feed could be replaced by commercial hexane‐extracted soybean meal and a methionine supplement without any adverse effect on milkfish growth and feed conversion rate.