Advancing Fish Nutrition Research for Sustainable Aquaculture

A special issue of Fishes (ISSN 2410-3888). This special issue belongs to the section "Nutrition and Feeding".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 13 July 2025 | Viewed by 652

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Tropical Aquafeed Innovations Lab, Department of Marine Biology and Aquaculture, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia
Interests: fish nutrition; climate change effect on fishes; sustainable aquaculture

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Tropical Aquafeed Innovations Lab, Department of Marine Biology and Aquaculture, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia
Interests: fish nutrition; sustainable aquaculture; aquafeed; fish digestive physiology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue, which highlights significant advancements in optimizing fish dietary formulations, enhancing nutrient utilization, and improving fish health and welfare, with a particular focus on tropical species and their adaptation to diverse environmental conditions.
Key topics to be addressed include:

  • Optimizing protein sources for aquaculture diets.
  • Using functional additives to promote gut health and growth.
  • Developing plant-based feed alternatives to reduce reliance on traditional fishmeal.
  • Exploring the sustainable use of fish by-products to produce supplementary feed ingredients, reducing waste and supporting the dietary needs of species such as grouper, pompano, and barramundi.

A unique feature of this Special Issue is its emphasis on region-specific challenges, particularly the metabolic needs of tropical species and their responses to alternative feeding strategies. Additionally, the global implications of these advancements will be discussed, including their scalability and applicability to temperate and cold-water species.

By addressing these critical areas, this Special Issue aims to provide valuable insights for researchers, industry professionals, and policymakers. It seeks to foster collaboration across regions and disciplines, attract high-quality submissions, and engage a broad readership.

We look forward to your contribution and the opportunity to collaborate on this important endeavour.

Dr. Simon K. Das
Dr. Leo Nankervis
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Fishes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • fish nutrition
  • alternative feed formulation
  • protein source optimization
  • sustainable aquaculture
  • essential amino acid
  • fishmeal
  • hepatic health
  • growth indices
  • digestion physiology
  • tropical species adaptation

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

13 pages, 593 KiB  
Article
Sardine-Based Diet Mitigates Growth Depression at Low Temperatures in Juvenile Meagre (Argyrosomus regius, Asso 1801)
by Lav Bavčević, Slavica Čolak, Renata Barić, Siniša Petrović and Tin Klanjscek
Fishes 2025, 10(7), 314; https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes10070314 - 2 Jul 2025
Abstract
Low seawater temperatures are expected to depress fish growth in aquaculture. However, recent evidence suggests diet composition may offer mitigation for some species. This study evaluated the impact of different diets on juvenile meagre (Argyrosomus regius) in cage farming at low [...] Read more.
Low seawater temperatures are expected to depress fish growth in aquaculture. However, recent evidence suggests diet composition may offer mitigation for some species. This study evaluated the impact of different diets on juvenile meagre (Argyrosomus regius) in cage farming at low seawater temperatures (average 15.19 °C), conditions known to typically suppress meagre growth. Three replicated groups of fish (initial weight ≈ 107 g) were fed for six months either sardines (group A) or commercial pellets (groups B/C, with group C moisturized). The results demonstrate that the nutritional profile of sardines effectively mitigates cold-induced growth reduction in meagre. While pellet-fed meagre experienced expected growth depression, sardine-fed meagre exhibited a doubled temperature growth coefficient (TGC) and an 80% higher final average weight than the pellet groups (A: 346.13 g, B: 194.44 g, C: 188.93 g). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancing Fish Nutrition Research for Sustainable Aquaculture)
Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 492 KiB  
Article
Effect of Dietary Lipid Level on Growth Performance, Feed Utilization, and Body Composition of Juvenile Kelp Grouper Epinephelus moara
by Tao Liu, Fen Dong, Yulong Sun, Huan Su, Puqiang Zheng, Qiang Chen, Tao Han and Jiteng Wang
Fishes 2025, 10(6), 244; https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes10060244 - 22 May 2025
Viewed by 344
Abstract
An 8-week feeding trial was conducted to assess the effects of different dietary lipid levels on the growth performance, feed utilization, and body composition of juvenile kelp grouper Epinephelus moara. Six diets with varying lipid levels of 2.82%, 5.30%, 7.83%, 11.76%, 14.19%, [...] Read more.
An 8-week feeding trial was conducted to assess the effects of different dietary lipid levels on the growth performance, feed utilization, and body composition of juvenile kelp grouper Epinephelus moara. Six diets with varying lipid levels of 2.82%, 5.30%, 7.83%, 11.76%, 14.19%, and 16.32% (designated as CL1 to CL6) were carefully formulated. A cohort of 324 juvenile fish (initial body weight of 5.87 ± 0.09 g fish−1) were randomly divided into six groups with three replicates in each group. The results showed that weight gain (WG) significantly improved as the dietary lipid level increased to 7.83%, followed by a decline with further increases. Fish fed the diet with 7.83% lipids also exhibited the highest feed efficiency (FE) and protein efficiency ratio. Although daily nitrogen intake and daily energy intake varied, no significant differences in nitrogen retention and energy retention were detected among the groups. With the increase in dietary lipid levels, daily lipid intake and daily lipid gain significantly increased, but lipid retention showed a consistent decline. Additionally, the viscerosomatic index and intraperitoneal fat ratio and the lipid content of the whole body, dorsal muscle, and liver increased significantly with increasing dietary lipid levels. The hepatic glycogen content inversely decreased with the elevation in dietary lipid levels. The lowest total cholesterol content in the serum was detected in the 16.32% dietary lipid treatment. According to the second-order polynomial regression analysis of WG and FE, a dietary lipid level of 6.56–9.31% was optimal for the growth performance and feed efficiency of juvenile kelp grouper. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancing Fish Nutrition Research for Sustainable Aquaculture)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop