The Effect of Different Feeding Protocols on Compensatory Growth of Black Sea Trout Salmo trutta labrax

Abstract The objective of this study was to determine the effects of different feeding protocols on compensatory growth, feeding rate, and feed conversion efficiency of Black Sea Trout Salmo trutta labrax. To our knowledge, no previous feeding experiments with Black Sea Trout have incorporated a fasting period to simulate the handling and acclimation conditions experienced by farmed fish. Fifteen fish per tank (10.69 ± 0.06 cm and 13.22 ± 0.14 g, mean ± SE) were stocked into 40-L fiberglass tanks. Fish were fed with different fasting–feeding regimes for 95 d and were equally allotted to four treatments (Tcont: control; T5–10: 5 d fasting, 10 days feeding; T10–10: 10 d fasting, 10 d feeding; and T15–10: 15 d fasting, 10 d feeding) with three replicates per treatment. The results indicated that length (P = 0.0005), weight (P = 0.000), condition factor (P = 0.013), and specific growth rate (P = 0.014) were significantly affected by the interaction between feeding and time. All fasting treatments showed parti...