Jurgen Adriaen, Thomas Abeel, Wouter Meeus, Ella Roelant, Stef Aerts, Nancy Nevejan, Bruno Goddeeris
Introduction
Recurrent high losses in the larval rearing of burbot (Lota lota) makes the availability and quality of fingerlings difficult to predict, which seems to limit burbot’s aquaculture potential. Protocols for intensive culture of burbot larvae have recently been developed. Besides light conditions, rearing density and weaning age, attention is paid to feed requirements. The transition from live food to dry feed (weaning) is a critical stage in the fingerling production where high mortality occurs, mostly from individuals not being able to absorb artificial feed (Cahu et al. 2001). A possible reason for weaning failure is the lack of knowledge regarding the function and efficiency of the digestive physiology in the early stages that hampers formulation of proper feeds and feeding regimes (Tillner et al. 2013). Palinska-Zarska et al. (2013) suggests that the weaning effectiveness is conditioned by the developmental advancement of the digestive tract. Natz et al (2009) concluded from their study that free methionine can stimulate gastro-intestinal activities. This study wants to evaluate the effect of free methionine supplementation on production and biological parameters of burbot larvae till after weaning.
