Effects of different protein sources on growth performance and food consumption of goldfish, Carassius auratus

Protein is one of the most important components in a fish diet (De Silva and Andersoni, 1995; Kaushik, 1995). In aquaculture, the primary dietary animal protein source is fish meal, but its availability is limited and supply varies because of reductions in fish stocks related to factors such as climatic phenomena, and overexploitation and decline of ocean fisheries stocks. This variability can seriously affect aquaculture sustainability and provability, and therefore research in identifying alternative dietary protein sources has increased (Kissil et al., 2000; Maylor et al., 2000). Fish nutritionists have tried to use less expensive plant protein sources to partially or totally replace fish meal (Xie et al., 2000). In the context of research on substitutes for fish meal in diets of fish, numerous studies have been made in the past decades (Kaushik et al., 1995; Mambrini et al., 1999).