Bio energetic research

PhD Project title: The feeding ecology of Sole (Solea solea) in an Integrated multitrophic aquaculture system (IMTA) with the ragworm (Nereis virens)

In the Netherlands Sole (Solea solea) production represents a new aquaculture sector. However, the culture of S. solea on a commercial scale is hampered by low growth rates mainly as a consequence of the lack of suitable commercial feeds. 
High growth rates could only be achieved with fresh diets. The use of live feed on a commercial scale was however restricted by their availability and high price.

With the development of commercial polychaete aquaculture, mainly Nereis virens and Arenicola marina and hence their increasing availability an opportunity may arise to utilize polychaetes as an important feed source for cultured Sole.
 
However, comprehensive knowledge on the value of ragworm as a Sole feed does not exist. The present research is embedded in the “Zeeuwse Tong” project which is aiming at evaluating the development of land based production systems for Sole in combination with ragworm and other organisms. The objectives are to determine the feed intake, growth performance and nutrient efficiency of Sole fed on ragworm, to investigate the fish’s prey size preference for worms and to study the fish’s foraging behaviour when preying on the worm in a substrate environment. The acquired knowledge will then be used to design an optimized Sole/ ragworm culture-system.

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