Effect of Ration Size Restriction on Compensatory Growth and Proximate Composition of Dark-banded Rockfish, Sebastes inermis

Abstract

Compensatory growth and proximate composition of dark-banded rockfish (mean weight 13.6 g) were examined after fish had experienced five different prefeeding regimes over a 7-wk period. Fish were fed at 0% (R0), 25% (R25), 50% (R50), 75% (R75), and 100% (R100, control) satiation for 2 wk before satiation feeding for 5 wk. Fish of R50 and R75 achieved the same body weight as the control fish after satiation feeding for 5 and 2 wk, respectively. Although the specific growth rate and feed efficiency of R0 and R25 fish were higher than those of the control fish during the first 3 wk of satiation feeding, fish in these tanks did not catch-up with the body weight of the control fish at the end of 5 wk. At Week 2 and Week 7, the lipid ratios to the body mass of R0, R25, and R50 fish were significantly lower than those of the control fish, but there was no difference between the control and R75 fish. This result suggests that the fish subjected to a prerestricted feeding regime of 50-75% satiation feeding for 2 wk result in complete compensatory growth, while the fish experiencing more severe feed restriction (0-25% satiation) only show partial compensatory growth capacity.