Michal Wojno's Graduate Defense Seminar

A Graduate Defense Seminar will be presented by Michal Wojno, a PhD candidate in the Environmental Science Graduate Program (ESGP), on Friday, August 15, at 8:30 a.m. in 333 Kottman Hall. He will present Improved Diet Utilization of Intensively Cultured Fish to Address Environmental Sustainability -- Amino Acid Requirement in Carp (Cyprinus carpio).

The world production of freshwater fish is dominated by Cyprinids with annual production around 24 million metric tons in 2010.  This number  includes common carp production of 3.4 million tons compared to salmonids production of 1.9 million tons. However, only 2-3% of cyprinids are cultivated intensively, while the vast portion of the production is still being carried out in a traditional semi-intensive pond culture with use of low cost feeds. Therefore, the intensification of carp culture requires optimization of nutritional requirements for that species to improve growth rate. This includes an optimal balance of macro- and micronutrients in the diet as well as their enhanced bioavailability.  This will allow for better feed utilization and ultimately reducing nutrient discharge and the impact of carp farms on the environment. In addition, feeding strategies should be modified to avoid waste (reduction of nitrogen and phosphorus discharge) and to maximize protein accretion. The challenge is particularly great when diet formulation needs to limit fish meal use and be replaced by plant proteins. Therefore, the main goal of the present work was to improve diet utilization of intensively cultured carp and address environmental sustainability by examining amino acid requirement.

Dissertation Committee:
Dr. Konrad Dabrowski, Advisor, School of Environment and Natural Resources
Dr. Nicholas Basta, School of Environment and Natural Resources
Dr. Roman Lanno, Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology
Dr. Michael Lilburn, Department of Animal Science