Basic Fish Nutrition Take 2
Let me try to explain the basics of fish nutrition in a way that everyone can understand.
Protein
Proper levels of protein are needed to grow muscle and tissue. Protein will never make your fish fat. Ever.
Protein digestibility is simply the percentage of protein that the fish can actually turn into muscle and tissue. Whole fish meal and soy meal are examples of ingredients with a very good protein digestibility percentage.
Energy
Energy is used to swim, chase prey etc.. Excess energy is stored in the liver and around the fish's internal organs. When fat is stored around the internal organs you would call it a fat fish. Their is nothing wrong with fat fish who will end up on the table or in another fish's gut. One the other hand if your goal is longevity you want a normal amount of fat stored in the fish's liver.
So how do they get fat?
For my purposes here I will treat sugar and starch as one.
The uptake of starch occurs in the fish's digestive tract. Starch is not stored. If the fish's energy requirements (swimming etc ) are not met by its starch intake then fat is used for energy. If the fish's energy requirements (swimming etc ) are met then excess starch is passed. In this case the energy from fat is stored in the fish's liver.
Is that a fair explanation Mr. West?
