UTILIZATION OF FISHERY WASTE-BASED FEED IN THE CULTURE OF STRIPED CATFISH (Pangasius hypophthalmus)

Abstract

Siamese catfish (Pangasius hypophthalmus) aquaculture faces the challenge of high feed costs due to reliance on commercial fish meal, while fishery processing byproducts such as bones, scales, heads, gills, and offal remain underutilized and have the potential to pollute the environment if allowed to accumulate. This study aims to describe the utilization of fishery byproducts as raw materials for self-produced feed and to analyze their effect on the growth performance of Siamese catfish fry. The alternative fish meal was processed from waste consisting of heads, bones, skin, and scales through the stages of washing, boiling, roasting, drying, and grinding, then formulated together with rice bran, tapioca flour, and vitamins into pellet-shaped feed. This feed was provided to Siamese catfish fry during a 70-day rearing period, with body weight and length measured every 7 days. The results showed that the fish meal was grayish-brown in color with a fine, uniform texture, while the resulting pellets were brown and had a dense texture. The average fish weight increased from 7.0 grams on day 7 to 13.1 grams on day 70, with an absolute weight gain of 6.1 grams, an absolute total length gain of 2.17 cm, a specific growth rate of 0.99% per day, and a survival rate reaching 100%. These results indicate that fishery waste has great potential to be utilized as a substitute for commercial fish meal in self-sufficient feed formulations that support optimal growth of Siamese catfish fry while reducing environmental pollution caused by waste from the fish processing industry.