INVESTIGATION OF GROWTH AND NUTRITION OF RAINBOW TROUT (ONCORHYNCHUS MYKISS) IN SHERINGAL, DIR UPPER, KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA, PAKISTAN

Abstract

The study aimed to assess the growth and nutrition of Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in a pond at the trout fish facility of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University (SBBU) in Sheringal, District Dir Upper from December 2020 to August 2021. Fifty seedlings were obtained from Madyan trout hatchery in Swat and then transferred to the SBBU, Sheringal hatchery for research purposes. The physio-chemical parameters were monitored weekly. The average temperature ranged from 15.5℃ to 27.2℃, conductivity ranged from 0.04 to 0.06 S/m, dissolved oxygen levels varied from 1.24 to 3.2 mg/L, and pH ranged from 7.8 to 7.9. Initially, the Juvenile fish measured between 2.3 and 3.5 inches in size. In December, the fish were fed powdered food. For the rest of experiment, they were fed pellet food, with the pellet size increasing as the fish grew. At the end of each month, the length weight of the fish was measured. The fish did not grow consistently, as indicated by a slope of 2.1572 for the “B” value, which is below 3.0, indicating the negative allometric growth. The length-weight frequencies were determined monthly, showing continuous changes from one month to the next.