Effects of a Practical Korean Rockfish (Sebastes schlegeli) Diet ; Comparison with Raw Fish and Moist Pellet Diet

A practical control diet was prepared and compared with raw fish ( frozen horse mackerel + commercial binder meal) and moist pellet ( frozen horse mackerel + commercial binder meal) diets to develop a practical diet formulation for Korean rockfish (Sebastes schlegeli). Korean rockfish averaging 68.5g were fed with the three experimental diets for 11 months. Final average body weight was approximately 330g and showed no significant difference between fish groups (P>0.05). Feed efficiency of fish from control diet was significantly lower than those of fish from raw fish and moist pellet diets (P and , respectively, without any significant difference between the different diets. At the end of the experiment, chemical composition for the various parts of fish body and flesh quality of the raw fish were examined. The data showed that there was no significant difference between fish from the different diet groups for moisture, protein and lipid contents of whole body, liver, and dorsal muscle. Also, thirty three panelists did not find any difference in color, smell, texture, and taste of the raw fish flesh. These results suggest that Korean rockfish can be cultured with a laboratory practical feed without any negative effects on growth, nutrient utilization, chemical composition of fish, and quality of raw fish. Therefore, the next step in developing practical feed is to modify the control diet for improving fish performance and reducing feed cost.