Executive Summary : | Aquaculture plays a crucial role as a potential source of nutritional security, food safety and employment opportunity in India. India has produced 7.1 million tons of aquaculture products during 2018 (FAO, 2020). Fish, shrimp and crab are being delicious food commodities for mankind due to the presence of a good source of protein, fatty acids, amino acids, antioxidants, etc. However, feed cost is one of the major constraints in aquaculture systems and which reach 50-60% of total production cost (Adikari et al., 2017). Among feed ingredients, fish meal is the major protein source, which has worldwide demand (Barlow, 1997). Fish meal is the primary (25-50% of total feed ingredients) and most expensive ingredient in commercial feed formulations (Amaya et al., 2007). The increasing price of feed is considered one of the most important factors limiting profitability in aquaculture. Therefore, there is the necessity to find out alternate feed ingredients for replacing fish meal with low cost animal protein sources to produce low cost aqua feeds (Forster et al., 2003; FAO, 2009). By-products including animals and plant based wastes are important contributors to the world aquaculture food production for supplying a good source of protein, essential amino acids and fatty acids, fats, minerals, enzymes, pigments, vitamins, etc. Concerning this, there are some reports available with animal by-product including fishery waste as meals in aqua feeds (Cavalheiro et al., 2017; Srour, 2009; Quinto et al., 2016). However, the information on the use of fisheries wastes as an alternative for fish meal protein for the production of marine fishes and crabs is limited. Hence, the present study is aimed to analyze the proximate composition of fisheries wastes collected from fish markets, followed by evaluating the effect of fish meal replacement with fisheries waste meals on the survival, growth, nutritional index, digestive enzyme activities, proximate composition, amino acids and fatty acids and antioxidants status of commercially important edible fish Asian sea bass (Lates calcarifer) and the mud crab (Scylla serrata) to formulate low cost aqua feeds. |