Use of soybean meal and distillers grains with solubles as partial or total replacement of fish meal in diets for channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus

A 12-week feeding trial was conducted in aquaria with juvenile (11g) channel catfish to examine effects of partially or totally replacing fish meal with a fixed percentage (35%) of distillers grains with solubles (DGS) and a variable percentage (up to 50%) of soybean meal in prepared diets. Four isonitrogenous (33% protein) and isocaloric (2.9 kcal digestible energy/g of diet) diets were formulated to contain 12, 8, 4, and 0% fish meal. Soybean meal was added to assure crude protein levels of 33%. A fifth diet was formulated identical to the diet with 0% fish meal, but with supplemental lysine and methionine added. After 12 weeks, weight gain, individual weight, individual length, food conversion ratio, specific growth rate, and survival were not significantly different ( P > 0.05) among treatments. These data suggest that a diet with all plant protein sources (soybean meal and distillers grains with solubles) can totally replace fish meal in a channel catfish diet.