FEEDING REGIMES FOR LARGEMOUTH BASS AT HIGH SUMMER TEMPERATURES  

Matthew A. Smith*, Luke A. Roy, Anita M. Kelly, Herbert E. Quintero, Jeonghwan Park
Aquaculture/Fisheries Center
University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Pine Bluff, AR
 smithma@uapb.edu

The production of largemouth bass (LMB) for the food fish market is an enterprise that has been expanding in recent years. While many LMB producers have been successfully producing bass for quite some time, there is still limited data available on optimal feed rates and feeding regimes for juvenile fish, particularly at high summer temperatures. In order to address this concern, three experimental trials are being carried out with LMB at the UAPB Lonoke Fish Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, University of Arkansas Pine Bluff. In the first trial, juvenile LMB (12.70 ± 0.20 g) were stocked into a recirculating system (2,725 L) with nine tanks (227 L each, 20 fish/tank). Water temperature was increased from ambient temperature over 9 d to acclimate fish to 30 C. Bass were fed a commercial feed (Skretting, 48% protein, 18% lipid) four times a day at 3, 5, and 7% of total body weight for four weeks. Feed rate was adjusted weekly following sampling from each treatment. Dissolved oxygen and temperature were monitored daily, while pH, total ammonia-nitrogen, and nitrite were recorded weekly to determine when to backwash filters. Water quality remained within preferable levels for LMB. High quantities of uneaten feed in the 5 and 7% treatments were removed at the end of each day. LMB were significantly heavier at harvest at the highest feeding rate (Table 1). Trial 2 is at the same temperature but with smaller LMB (7.16 ± 0.07 g) that are being fed to satiation daily, every other day, or every third day. The purpose of trial 3 is to investigate growth responses of multiple sized (83.30 ± 10.48 g, 110.96 ± 5.60 g, 143.84 ± 16.02 g) LMB near their upper thermal tolerance level. Feed will be distributed twice a day daily, every other day, and every third day. Trials are currently in process and results will be analyzed in the upcoming months.