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CHAPTER 6
NUTRITIONAL ASPECTS
PREPARED BY: NORLIZA GERUNSIN
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OBJECTIVES
At the end of this chapter student should be able to:
1.Identify and explain on protein requirements
2.Identify and explain on carbohydrates requirements
3.Identify and explain lipid requirements
4.Identify and explain micronutrients requirements
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Proteins
• Proteins are the most abundant organic molecules within
cells and the proportion of protein in the fish body is
usually within the range 15-19% of the wet body mass.
• Many proteins are enzymes, catalysing a wide range of
chemical reactions.
• Some proteins have roles as structural elements; e.g.
collagen is a fibrous protein with structural functions in
connective tissue and bone
• Other proteins have an essential function muscle
contraction, some serve to transport specific molecules
either across cell membranes or in the bloodstream. E.g.
the haemoglobin in vertebrate red blood cells binds to and
transports oxygen.
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Proteins
• The basic structural component of proteins consists of
amino acids.
• Ten amino acids cannot be synthesized by vertebrates,
including fish, and must be supplied in the diet.
• These (indispensable) amino acids are essential to proper
fish nutrition: arginine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine,
lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan
and valine
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Factors affecting protein requirement

1. Fish size
• Small fish require more protein than larger fish
2. Protein quality
• Protein needs to be of good quality. E.g: grain amaranth
or black soldier fly larvae
3. Water temperature
• When water temperature is at or near a fish’s optimum
temperature for growth, a higher dietary protein level is
needed for optimum growth
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Factors affecting protein requirement

4. Feeding rate
• if fish are fed all they consume, the lower the protein level
required compared with fish fed a restricted amount of
diet(not all the diet a fish will consume)
5. The presence of natural food items in the culture
system
• Fish stocked in ponds at low density may have access to
more natural foods than those stocked at high density
• Lower dietary protein level or poorer-quality dietary
protein may be used for fish with access to natural foods
as compared with fish cultured where natural foods are
absent or limiting
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Factors affecting protein requirement

6. Dietary energy level
• The dietary energy level affects the dietary protein
requirements of fish
• If the non-protein energy level of a diet is low, the fish will
utilize protein to meet metabolic energy needs. This is
inefficient and financially wasteful.
• If the energy level is too high, it may suppress food intake
and the fish will not consume enough diet to meet protein
requirements. This may reduce fish growth.
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Typical protein requirements for tilapia

Fish feeding fry 45 – 50%
0.02 – 2.0g 40%
2.0 – 35g 35%
35 - harvest 30 – 32%
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Protein sources – Animal protein

1. Fish meal
• Balance of amino acids, digestible, not sustainable derived
from fish
2. Trash fish
• High water content, not sustainable
3. Poultry
• Nutrition depends on chicken parts
4. Insects
• High in protein
5. Zooplankton\high
• Fed with commercial diet
6. Crustaceans
• High in protein and chitin
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Protein sources – plant protein

1. Plant protein
• Lacks in amino acid content
• Must add additional amino acid
2. Soybean
• A high protein feed produced from soybeans
• Amino acid imbalance
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Amino acids
• A deficiency of amino acid may lead to poor utilization of
dietary protein, and may result in growth retardation, poor
live weight gain, and low feed efficiency.
• Amino acid deficiency also lowers resistance to diseases,
impairs the effectiveness of the immune response
mechanism, and may cause lens cataracts.
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Energy
• Fish need energy to live. Energy is defined as the
capacity to do work such as to run chemical reactions and
muscle activity.
• The energy of ingested diets is partitioned into various
fractions in terms of animal utilization
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Energy losses
• Feeds and feedstuffs contain energy, but
not all the energy goes toward growth and
reproduction.
• Energy losses occur as feed is digested
and metabolized. As feed moves through
the digestive processes, energy is lost in
the feces, urine, and gill excretions.
• Energy is also lost as heat.
• The figure illustrates the loss of energy as
intake energy (gross) loses fecal energy,
becoming digestible energy.
• Then digestible energy loses energy to
urine or gill excretions to become
metabolizable energy.
• Metabolizable energy loses heat energy,
becoming net energy. This is the energy
available for maintenance, growth, and
reproduction.
• Digestible energy (DE) and metabolizable
energy (ME) are more exact measures of
the energy required by fi sh.
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Energy
• fish derive their energy from three sources—
carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. Because carbohydrates
are used rather inefficiently in most fish systems, the
primary energy sources are fats and proteins.
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Energy
• Digestible energy (DE) is the intake energy of the diet
(food) consumed that is not excreted in faeces
• Metabolizable energy (ME) is the intake energy that is not
lost in the faeces or urine or through the gills
• The NE is the portion of IE that is available for
maintenance (NEM) and various productive purposes
(NEP), such as growth and reproduction.
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Factors affect energy use by fish

• Age. As age increases, the metabolic rate of fish generally decreases.
• Composition of the diet. If a diet has a high protein or mineral content,
metabolism increases, in order for the fish to eliminate waste products
that could possibly build up and become toxic.
• Light exposure. Darkness decreases the energy requirement in some
species. Fish grown in constant light do not grow as well as those of the
same species having a rest period of darkness.
• Physiological activity. Salmon have high metabolic rates during the
spawning season. Conversely, during winter rest, fish have extremely low
metabolic rates.
• Size. In general, smaller fish have higher metabolic rates than larger fish.
• Species. Metabolic rates vary according to the characteristic behavioral
patterns of the species. For example, sedentary fish have lower
metabolic rates than do pelagic (open sea) fish.
• Temperature of the water. As water temperature increases, its ability to
carry oxygen decreases. In response to the reduced oxygen-carrying
capacity of the water, the respiration rates of fish increase, resulting in
higher metabolic rates.
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Lipids
• Lipids include fats, oils and waxes
• Fish require dietary lipids to meet their essential fatty acid
requirements.
• Each species of fish may have a specific fatty acid
requirement, but, in general, it appears that cold-water fish
require highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA) of the n-3 class
of lipids, while warm-water fish require HUFA from either the n-
3 or n-6 classes, or a mixture of both.
• Lipids perform four main functions in the body:
i. provide energy
ii. Provide essential fatty acids
iii. serve as structural components
iv. serve in regulatory functions.
v. As sources of energy, lipids are the most concentrated
source,
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Fatty acids
• The fatty acids in lipids can be oxidised to provide energy
and also play important roles as precursors for the
synthesis of many hormones and in the formation of cell
membranes
• Lipids and fatty acids can also be deposited in adipose
tissue and used as a source of energy at a later date
• Particularly important in the diets of fish are the n-3 and n-
6 series of unsaturated fatty acids (named omega 3 and
omega 6), which are synthesized by bacteria, algae and
plants, but not by animals
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Carbohydrates
• Carbohydrates are organic compounds composed of carbon,
hydrogen and oxygen. They are one of the major classes of
nutrients besides proteins and lipids.
• Carbohydrates are abundant in plants because they are the
storage form of energy in plants, in contrast to animals, which
store energy as lipid (fat).
• Carbohydrates typically fall into three main groups:
monosaccharides, oligosaccharides and polysaccharides.
• Warmwater fish digest dietary carbohydrates better than
coldwater or marine fish.
• An excess of dietary carbohydrates can cause livers to enlarge
and glycogen to accumulate in the liver. A general
recommendation is a diet of no more than 12 percent digestible
carbohydrates.
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Vitamins
• Vitamins are organic substances that are essential for
growth, health, reproduction and maintenance, but
required in small amounts.
• Since fish cannot synthesize vitamins at all or can only
synthesize in insufficient quantity for normal development,
growth and maintenance, they must be supplied in the
diet.
• Each vitamin performs a specific function in the body
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Vitamins
• Vitamins can be classified into two groups:
1. Fat-soluble
• fat-soluble vitamins include vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E
and vitamin K
• fat-soluble vitamins contain carbon, hydrogen and oxygen
2. Water-soluble
• water-soluble vitamins consist of biotin, choline, folic acid,
niacin, pantothenic acid (B3), riboflavin (B2), thiamine
(B1), pyridoxine (B6), cyanocobalamin (B12), and vitamin
C (ascorbic acid)
• water-soluble vitamins contain these three elements plus
nitrogen, and cyanocobalamin contains cobalt.
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Vitamins
• Excesses of fat-soluble vitamins in fish diets may cause
physiological or health problems.
• Thus, adding excess amounts of vitamins not only may be
financially wasteful, but may compromise the well-being of
the fish.
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Vitamins
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Vitamins
• Vitamin A – responsible for vision
• Vitamin K – aids in blood clotting and skin integrity
• Vitamin D – responsible for bone integrity
• Vitamin E – provides antioxidants
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Minerals
• Minerals fulfil a variety of functions within an animals
• Some are incorporated into bone, others have a major
function in acid-base balance and in the maintenance of
cell homeostasis and others act as cofactors, that bind to
enzymes and influence their structure and function
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Minerals
• Major minerals that are required by fish in large quantities;
calcium, sodium, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus,
sulphur
• Trace minerals that are required in lesser amounts; iron,
iodine, manganese, copper, cobalt, zinc, selenium,
chromium, fluorine, molybdenum,
• These minerals are dissolved in the water in which fish
swim, so not all of the minerals required by fish need to
be supplied via the diet
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THANK YOU FOR YOUR

ATTENTION
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References
1) Parker, R. (2011). Aquaculture science. Cengage
learning.