ENHANCEMENT OF LAKE STURGEON Acipenser fulvescens CONSERVATION THROUGH MANAGEMENT OF FORMULATED FEED

Dong-Fang Deng*, Seunghyung Lee, Song Yang, Shaowei Zhai, Silas Hung, Brian Shepherd, Fred P. Binkowski
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 600 East Greenfield Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53204, USA
dengd@uwm.edu
 

Lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens), listed as threatened under the State of Michigan's Endangered Species Act, has high ecological and economical values as a native benthivore. A lot of efforts for enhancing stocking have been implemented to restore wild populations. For current stocking programs, lake sturgeon are raised with raw/live feed, which causes stocking programs to be expensive and difficult to maintain due to special cares required for managing live feed and decreased control on biosecurity.  To address these drawbacks, we aim to replace raw feed with formulated feed and develop a biosecured and sustainable feed management program for the culture of lake sturgeon.   A series of feeding trials were conducted to study the effects of different feeds (Artemia, formulated feed, combination diet with Artemia and formulated feed) and to determine an optimal feeding rate for the fish based on their survival and growth performance.  With the selected formulated feed, the optimal feeding rates for lake sturgeon ranging from 3.6 g to 80 g (body weight) decreased from 7.6 to 3.5%body weight/day. Lipid storage in the whole body of lake sturgeon was significantly (P<0.05) influenced by different feeding rates with a lower lipid level in the fish fed at a suboptimal feeding rate. These results indicate that lake sturgeon can be fed with formulated feed if a proper feed management design is previously implemented during the early life stage. The changes in nutritional status of sturgeon may potentially affect their response to temperature challenges. The results are pending and will be discussed in the presentation.