A simple method for the measurement of daily feed intake of groups of fish in tanks

A simple and inexpensive method for determining daily feed intake of groups of fish in tanks is described. The method is based on the collection of waste feed from the effluent water and consists of an effective drainage system and a wire mesh collector. This technique is dependent upon the use of feed with good physical stability. The daily feed intake of fish in a tank is calculated by the difference between the amount fed and the amount of waste feed collected (corrected for leaching losses). The system can be combined with any type of feeding method in which sinking pellets are used. It allows accurate intake measurements for research purposes or can be used in commercial operations for adjusting feeding level without knowledge about biomass in the tanker water temperature. Use of the method has revealed large variations in daily feed intake of groups of Atlantic salmon fed continuously.