Fish Meal Substitution Using Black Soldier Fly Larvae (Hermetia illucens) Meal for Feed Efficiency, Growth, and Survival of the Silver Pompano (Trachinotus blochii) Fingerlings

One of the critical raw feed materials is fish meal, but the price of fish meal is increasing, and its availability is increasingly limited. Therefore, a need for an alternative for fish meal has emerged. To cover this demand, the black soldier fly larvae meal can be a viable alternative raw material. This research aimed to determine the effect of fish meal substitution using the black soldier fly larvae meal in artificial feed on the growth and survival of the silver pompano fingerlings (T. blochii). This research used an experimental efficiency ratio method, completely randomized design (CRD), consisting of 6 treatments with three replications. The treatments applied were treatments A, B, C, D, and E, and controls using 0, 15, 30, 45, and 60% black soldier fly larvae flour, and controls using commercial feed. The fish tested were the silver pompano fingerlings weighing 3±1.1 grams and 3-5cm long. Fingerlings were reared in containers at a stocking density of 15 fish/container for a maintenance period of 42 days. The results showed that fish meal substitution using black soldier fly larvae meal at different doses had a significant effect (P<0.05) on total feed consumption, feed conversion ratio, feed utilization efficiency, protein efficiency ratio (PER), protein retention (PR), and specific growth rate (SGR). However, there was no significant effect (P≥0.05) on the survival rate of the silver pompano fingerlings. The best result was found in treatment C (30% BSFL meal substitution), which was able to produce total feed consumption (68.11 ± 1.17 grams), feed convention ratio (1.34 ± 0.08), protein efficiency ratio (2.95 ± 0.05), protein retention (40.61 ± 0.04%), survival growth rate (2.37 ± 0.04%/day), and survival rate (100 ± 0.00%).