INTRODUCTION

1. Background of study

Fish meal had been used as feed stuff since the 19^th century starting in Northern Europe and North America where it undergoes drying and grinding before turned into fishmeal for animal feed (Ariyawansa, 2000). Major portion more than 60 percent of fish meal produced worldwide is used for aquaculture farming and due to increasing extension of aquaculture farming in Asia, the demand for fish meal increases dramatically although the supply are unable to grow correspondingly. Fish meal are made from undersized or low value fishes which is unfit for human consumption (Ponce & Gernat, 2002) and are discarded at sea or left unutilized. These unutilized fish are then be used to turn it into a source of high protein feed for animal consumption. However, these days, fishmeal is mostly produced from smaller oily fish specifically caught for the production of fishmeal (Leeson & Summers, 2005). Now days, the interest of pursuing good-quality, low cost protein sources has been increasing worldwide. These are due to the total cost of feed where nutrition is the most expensive component in the intensive aquaculture industry representing 50% of the operational cost of aquaculture production (Sulieman & Ahmed, 2011). Shortage in world fishmeal production together with the increasing demand for fishmeal in the livestock and poultry industry had caused reduction in the dependence of fishmeal as one of the main protein source in aquaculture (El-Sayed, 1999). Fishmeal had been the major choice for many aquaculture producer also livestock producer due to the excellent amino acid balance (Rand et al., 1960; Ponce & Gernat, 2002), rich in protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, vitamin B12 choline, niacin, pantothenic acid and riboflavin (Ponce & Gernat, 2002). Due to its high nutrient content, fishmeal had been used as a source of protein in diets of pig (Kim & Ester, 2001), Poultry (Ponce & Gernat, 2002) and aquatic animals (Steffens, 1994).

Tilapias had been part of the major farmed species in Malaysia constituting over 46 % of total aquaculture production (Ng et al., 2013). In 2007, the production of fisheries sector in Malaysia contributed 1.42 million tonnes of seafood valued (US$1.66 billion) (DOF, 2007). Out of the 1.42 million tons, around 16 percent (268 500 tonnes) of it were contributed by the aquaculture industry valued around US$0.41 billion (DOF, 2007; Ng et al., 2013). Favors from the government policies (MOA, 1999) had impact an increase production of the aquaculture species (Ng, 2009) which were proven by the annual growth recorded of an increase in 10 percent from 1993 to 2007 (Ng et al., 2013). Tilapias constitutes many species of the Cichlidae family where these fishes are prevalent to Africa and the Middle East but long before, they were presented into most tropical and subtropical countries for aquatic weed control and aquaculture farming (Boyd, 2004). Red hybrid Tilapia, Oreochromis sp are gaining popularity among aquaculture producer due to their resemblance to premium marine species such as sea bream (Chrysophrys major) and red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) (Stickney, 1986) also due to its excellent growth and feed conversion rates in freshwater (Liao and Chen 1983; Watanabe et al., 1989). Red hybrid tilapia is originally genetic mutants that are selected from tilapia species of genus Oreochromis. They are crossed with two different types of species or even more and hence that is what constitutes the genes of red hybrid tilapia. Taxonomically, Oreochromis differs from other tilapias due to the difference of female incubating fertilized eggs in their mouth.

1.2 Problem statement

Crude Protein (CP) content in an animal’s feed is very crucial for the development of growth of the animal. In Livestock, Aquaculture and Poultry production, each of them requires the usage of feed with high percentage of crude protein making it important in the animal production field. In this part, fish meal is one of the meals that contain the highest number of crude protein available in animal field. Fish meal was used in the production of aquaculture, poultry and also livestock making it to be the highest demand feed resource around the world. Due to its high demand, many companies started producing fish meal using fishes and it’s by product which is not suitable for human consumption. What happens nowadays is that, due to rapid production of fish meal, the number of resources to produce fish meal which is the fishes drops rapidly causing it hard to produce fish meal. What comes next is that; feed producers starts to find alternative resources to replace fish meal. Focus had been onto plant-based resource such as soybean, oilseed and etc. which can be found easily anywhere and is cheap. Targeting to gain the highest crude protein in the feed that they produce high protein plant-based types are used such as palm oil, soy bean and others. Fermentation is a method which had been used ages before to prolong shelf life of the abject. Knowing what microbes will be available in the Fermented Fish Meal sample makes it easier to study what causes the fermentation to happen smoothly and also what microbes that can trigger the success of the fermentation process.

2. Research Hypothesis

Fish meal that undergoes fermentation process will have an increase in crude protein and decrease in anti-nutritional factors and when it is given to the Red Hybrid Tilapia, the growth and survival rate would increase compared to unfermented fish meal.

• Ho : p≤ 0.05

Fermented Fish Meal significantly can increase the growth rate of Red Hybrid Tilapia, Oreochromis sp.

• Ha : p> 0.05

Fermented Fish Meal significantly can decrease the growth rate of Red Hybrid Tilapia, Oreochromis sp.

1.4 Research Objectives

1. To investigate the nutrient composition in fermented fish meal and microbes available in the fermented fish meal that aids in the fermentation process.
2. To study the effects of fermented fish meal on the feed consumption, growth and survival rate of Red Hybrid Tilapia, Oreochromis sp.

1.5 Scope of research

The scopes of this research are as follow:

1. Fish Nutrition
2. Microbiology

1.6 Significance of Study

According to the research title, this research study would be focusing on the content of crude protein in the fermented fishmeal whether it will be increasing or decreasing. This is important because by studying on this matter we can find other alternative to increase the protein content in the feed that we want to use. Feed prices are very pricey due to the content of crude protein as it is one of the main components needed for growth of any animal. Further, this study would also be reviewing on the microbial activity in the fermented fish meal and the type of microbes present during fermentation that causes the fermented feed to turn out well. In regards to that, it is best to know what causes the fermentation to work and whether the microbes affect any changes that happen to the feed. Other than that, this study is determined to prove whether by feeding fermented fishmeal to Red Hybrid Tilapia (Oreochromis sp), the growth of the fish would be faster and better. With these analyses, it is hoped that the improvement of feed through fermentation will help to shorten the period of growing out for the fish hence it will be beneficial to the producers.