Fish Nutrition and Feed Technology (2+1)

Unit 17 - Feeding devices and Methods

17.1.Introduction

In fish and shellfish farming, feed accounts for more than 60% of the operational cost and thus different feeding methods can be adopted to avoid wastage of feed. The widespread availability of durable dry feeds and rapid advances in control technology has led to the introduction of numerous types of automated systems for delivering fish feeds. Options for fish farmers range from traditional hand feeding methods to the use of automatic, computer- controlled systems. The first choice by fish farmers is whether to feed fish by hand or whether to use labor-saving mechanical or automatic systems. This decision is based on labour cost, scale of farm operation, species being farmed, types of holding system, hatchery or grow out operation etc.