The replacement of fish meal with soybean meal in fish diets has met with varying degrees of success. Quite often, poor responses to high soybean meal diets are due to a reduced palatability of the diet when fish meal is removed. Recent work has demonstrated that poultry by-product meal can be used as a substitute for fish meal in practical diets for juvenile red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus), indicating it may have favorable palatability characteristics for this species. The present research was designed to evaluate the replacement of menhaden fish meal with solvent-extracted soybean meal in practical diets containing 20% poultry by-product meal and formulated to contain 44% protein and 10% lipid. Test diets were adjusted for phosphorus and methionine content to ensure that minimal dietary requirements were maintained. The response of red drum (mean initial weight 179 g) to diets containing fish meal ranging from 40 to 5% of the diet, as well as the response to a low fish meal diet supplemented with krill hydrolysate, were evaluated over a 14-week growth period. Final weights (percent gain) ranged from 588 g (237.8%) to 651 g (258.5%), with feed conversion efficiencies ranging from 62.1% to 69.9% and protein conversion efficiencies ranging from 27.8% to 30%. No significant differences (P > 0.05) were observed for diet intake, feed conversion efficiency, protein conversion efficiency, intraperitoneal fat ratio, or weight gain. Significant differences in protein intake and the hepatosomatic index were observed. The present findings suggest that fish meal can be reduced to 5% of the diet by replacing it with solvent-extracted soybean meal as well as methionine and phosphorus supplements. Although diets without poultry by-product meal were not tested, it is presumed that the poultry meal enhanced the palatability of the diets, allowing the replacement of fish meal with soybean meal.
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