Time-restricted self-feeding causes fin damage of Atlantic salmon

• Published in: Aquaculture international Vol. 25; no. 1; pp. 47 - 55
• Main Authors: Shi, Ce, Liu, Ying, Yi, MengMeng, Zheng, Jimeng, Tian, Huiqin, Du, Yishuai
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.02.2017; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Biomedical and Life Sciences; Body composition; Experiments; Feed conversion; Feeding behavior; Fish; Food waste; Freshwater & Marine Ecology; Life Sciences; Marine; Meals; Nutrient retention; Salmo salar; Salmon; Trout; Zoology; China; Fin index; Growth; Self-feeding regime
• ISSN: 0967-6120; 1573-143X
• DOI: 10.1007/s10499-016-0012-2

The way in which the feed is delivered mainly influences the growth rates and feed efficiency. Restricting the time during which food is available from a self-feeder may help to regulate production parameters, but may also increase competition. In this article, the effects of time-restricted self-feeding on growth, feeding behavior and fin index Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar ) were studied over the course of 6 weeks. A total of 150 fish were divided into two groups in triplicates: One group had free access to self-feeders (FA), and the other group received three meals (2 h per meal) restricted to dawn, midday and dusk a day in light phase (TR). The results showed that there were no significant differences in production parameters (specific growth rate 1.33 ± 0.21 and 1.40 ± 0.21 % day −1 , for TR and FA, respectively), body composition and nutrient retention efficiencies between treatments, while the FA fish had significantly higher food wastage (0.79 ± 0.06 vs. 0.56 ± 0.10 %) compared with the TR fish. In the course of the experiment, the TR fish gradually improved the accuracy of trigger actuation; in 1–2, 3–4 and 5–6 weeks, 61, 68 and 80 % trigger actuations happened in the feeding window. Nevertheless, there was a significant decrease in the dorsal fin index found in the TR fish as the experiment proceeded (9.83 ± 0.15 and 8.56 ± 0.04 for the beginning and end, respectively; P  < 0.05). The results indicate that time-restricted self-feeding causes fin damage on Atlantic salmon but has little effect on their growth. One should cautiously apply a complex self-feeding regime during production.