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The effects of changing feeding frequency simultaneously with seawater transfer in Atlantic salmon Salmo salar L. smolt

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Abstract

The effects on group feed intake and growth performance of changing feeding frequency simultaneously with seawater transfer of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar were investigated. Two feeding regimes of one feed per day (1F) and eight feeds per day (8F) were compared for groups of Atlantic salmon in freshwater. Following seawater transfer groups were either fed on their pre-transfer regimes or swapped to the other regime, resulting in four treatments (n = 3). Regardless of the pre-transfer feeding regime, 1F groups had significantly (P < 0.05) lower feed intake immediately following transfer than 8F groups. However, groups that underwent a change in feeding frequency did not have significantly lower feed intake immediately following transfer than those kept on the pre-transfer feeding regime. During the freshwater phase, overall mean feed intake of 8F groups was significantly greater than 1F groups, whilst there was no significant difference in mean feed intake for any of the treatments during the seawater phase. Growth was better in groups fed 8F in freshwater than those fed 1F in freshwater regardless of post-transfer feeding regime. There were no significant differences in growth depensation throughout the experiment, suggesting that there were no overall differences in hierarchy strength amongst treatments. The main finding of this experiment was that a single meal per day immediately following seawater transfer results in initially significantly lower feed intake than the higher feeding frequency regardless of pre-transfer feeding regime, consequently multiple daily feeds is the recommended feeding regime following seawater transfer.

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Abbreviations

1F:

One feed per day

1F–1F:

One feed per day in FW and one feed per day in SW

1F–8F:

One feed day in FW and eight feeds per day in SW

8F:

Eight feeds per day

8F–1F:

Eight feeds per day in FW and one feed per day in SW

8F–8F:

Eight feeds per day in FW and eight in SW

FI:

Feed intake

FW:

Freshwater

K:

Condition factor

L:

Fork length

SW:

Seawater

W:

Weight

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Acknowledgments

The Australian Post-graduate Award (APA) and Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute (TAFI) scholarships received by the first author are gratefully acknowledged. We would also like to acknowledge SALTAS (Tasmania, Australia) for providing the fish for this experiment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences, GPO Box 1563, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia

    Matthew J. Flood

  2. National Centre for Marine Conservation and Resource Sustainability, Australian Maritime College, University of Tasmania, Locked Bag 1370, Launceston, TAS, 7250, Australia

    G. John Purser

  3. Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute, Marine Research Laboratories, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 49, Hobart, TAS, 7001, Australia

    Chris G. Carter

Authors
  1. Matthew J. Flood
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  2. G. John Purser
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  3. Chris G. Carter
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Correspondence to Matthew J. Flood.

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Flood, M.J., John Purser, G. & Carter, C.G. The effects of changing feeding frequency simultaneously with seawater transfer in Atlantic salmon Salmo salar L. smolt. Aquacult Int 20, 29–40 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10499-011-9439-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10499-011-9439-7

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