Some observations on fish feeding in integrated fish farming ponds based on delta C analyses of fish flesh and natural foods
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Integrated fish farming, an efficient method of combining fisheries, agriculture and livestock to increase the overall production and obtain maximum utilization of resources is a traditional practice in China. High fish production has been achieved. In order to transfer and adapt the Chinese technology in developing countries having different agro-climatic conditions, there is a need to establish through research a better understanding of the biological processes that are taking place in fish po nds under the system of integrated fish farming. The fish pond is often treated as a “black box”. We stock fish; we add manures and grasses and in some cases chemical fertilizers or processed feeds. Via photosynthesis algae grow. In several months, if we have managed the pond well, marketable fish are harvested. What the actual sources of the fish growth were we can only estimate from analyses of the gut content. But such analyses reveal only the foods most recently consumed and almost always the major component is “unidentified organic matter”. A tracer is needed that will show incorporation of food into the fish's body. Radioactive tracers (14C: 32P) are useable only in very small ponds or tanks. Even then the feeds must be artificially labelled with the radioactive isotope.