Recipient Organization
LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY
202 HIMES HALL
BATON ROUGE,LA 70803-0100
Performing Department
Aquaculture Research Station
Non Technical Summary
Farming of the American alligator has become a significant aquaculture enterprise in Louisiana during the last 30 years. Alligator production is now the second largest aquaculture industry in Louisiana and among the five largest animal-production enterprises in the state. In 2018 Louisiana growers produced 612,610 meters (more than two million feet) of alligator skins with a farm-gate value of more than $102 million. In addition to skins, meat of farmed alligator is sold throughout the United States, and new biomedical compounds obtained from alligator show potential for use in treatment of some diseases. Despite its high value as an aquaculture product, however, little research has been conducted on the nutritional needs of alligator. Lack of information on the basic dietary requirements of the American alligator presents a unique challenge for producers engaged in commercial aquaculture. Feed costs are high; nutritional requirements of alligator have not been determined; and effects of nutrition on growth, health, and product quality are largely unknown. Development of effective ways to improve nutrition and feeding of captive-reared alligator will require substantially more information on nutritional requirements of the species. Better diets can improve alligator husbandry, reduce production cost, enhance environmental quality in production systems, and increase farm profit margins. Because the nutritional requirements of alligator are unknown, commercial feeds are fortified to preclude nutritional deficiencies. Feed mills produce high-protein diets for alligator grow-out that are likely to be over-fortified with both essential and non-essential nutrients to ensure that no deficiencies exist. This approach ensures that nutritional deficiencies are unlikely to occur, but lack of flexibility in diet composition also contributes to high feed cost. Also, water quality in the production environment can be negatively impacted by less than optimal feed conversion. Unutilized protein in feeds could contribute to air quality and water quality problems that can affect growth and animal health under intensive production conditions. A research program initiated in this laboratory in 2009 to develop improved diets and feeding practices for farmed alligator will continue in the project proposed here. Since 2009, research has focused on measuring nutrient availability in a variety of feedstuffs, determining optimal ratios of digestible energy-to-digestible protein in alligator diets, identifying appropriate nutrient/ingredient restrictions for diet formulation (e.g., optimal ratios amongdietary essential amino acids), and creating diet formulations based on these criteria for testing in feeding trials. This four-year project will continue to address these priorities. Specifically, facilities at the LSU Agricultural Center Aquaculture Research Station will be used to determine the quantitative, dietary essential amino acid requirements of American alligator and measure availability for alligator of nutrients (i.e., amino acids, protein, and energy) in selected feed ingredients. The information obtained will be used to improve the ingredient composition of alligator diets, increase the biological value of formulated feeds by improving nutrient balance, decrease waste production by increasing nutrient retention, and reduce feed cost by providing more least-cost formulation options.
Animal Health Component
50%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
50%
Applied
50%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
The goal of theproject is to develop improved diets for alligator aquaculture to reduce animal production cost and optimize environmental quality in the production environment. Objectives are:(1) determine minimum dietary requirements fordietary essential amino acids, (2) determine digestibility coefficients and amino acid availability coefficients for a range of feedstuffs of potential value in alligator diet formulation; and (3) develop feeding strategies that maximize the economic benefits of improved diet formulations. Results of the research will be used to produce a nutrition database that will allow improved least-cost diet formulation for American alligator. Anticipated research will: • Determine minimum dietary requirements for arginine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, phenylalanine, threonine,and valine. A project to determine the minimum dietary requirements for lysine and methionineis already in progress. • Continue digestibility trials with plant/animal protein products to expand the database of feedstuff nutrient availability coefficients for improved diet formulation. • Utilize the information obtained to identify biological and economic benefits of improved diet formulations.
Project Methods
Laboratory experiments and practical feeding trials will be used to identify nutritional requirements of captive-reared alligators in order to create diet formulations that optimize animal growth, product quality, and feed cost. Nutrition experiments will be conducted in tanks under highly controlled laboratory conditions and under simulated commercial-production conditions. The data collected will be subjected to statistical testing with standard methods, including analysis of variance and regression.Results will be used to make recommendations concerning proper nutrition and feeding of American alligator to optimize benefits to producers.Recommendations will be disseminated through presentations, consultations with businesspeople, extension publications, scientific articles, trade publications, and other appropriate outlets. Success of the project will be measured by the deliverables produced and recommendations adopted.