A comparative study of feeding methods: Effect on the growth, behaviour and biochemical performance of juvenile Beluga sturgeon ( Huso huso Linnaeus, 1758)

This study compared the influence of feeding methods on growth parameters of young-of-year Beluga sturgeon Huso huso in a 6-week trial. Fish with an average weight 150.3 ± 0.8 g (±SE) were stocked into nine circular concrete tanks (30 fish per tank) in an open circular system with water temperature of 18.9°C. All fish were fed by three different feeding methods: (a) hand-fed (HF), (b) continuously available (automated feeder; AF), (c) half of daily feed provided by hand, and another half by automated feeder (combined feeding). For the hand-feeding method, fish were fed at 09:00, 14:00, 19:00, and 24:00. The entire automatic feeding groups were fed with the same amount of feed. The mean final body weight was the highest in fish fed by AF compared to fish fed by HF. Body weight increase, condition factor, specific growth rate, and feed conversion ratio did not differ among the feeding groups. Fish fed by AF revealed higher swimming activity than the HF group. No significant changes were found in hematocrit, glucose and total protein concentrations among treatments. The results showed less dependence of growth and physiology of Beluga sturgeon on feeding method, but automated-feeding was shown to be suitable for sturgeon rearing because of further low labour costs in rearing systems.