The Effects of starvation and refeeding on growth and digestive enzymes activity in Caspian brown trout (Salmo caspius Kessler, 1877) fingerlings

240 Caspian brown trout (Salmo caspius) fingerlings with initial weight of 13.74±0.63 g were stored in 300 L tanks to investigate the effect of starvationand refeeding on compensatory growth and digestive enzymes activity. The fish were introduced to four different periods of starvationduring 10 weeks including control (with no starvation: C), 2 weeks (S2), 4 weeks (S4) and 6 weeks (S6) and then fed to satiation during the refeeding period. Sampling for growth and enzymes activity measurements was conducted three times: day 1 (T1), after starvation(T2), after 2 weeks (R2) and 4 weeks [X1] (R4) of refeeding. Results have indicated a significant decrease in growth performance after starvation(p 0.05). Generally, results declared that Caspian brown trout fingerlings could recover digestive capacity after 2 weeks of starvationby appropriate refeeding with no negative impact on growth performance.