Location Funding Institution Principal Investigator(s)
Hawaii $99,880 Oceanic Institute of HPU Fabio Soller, Ph.D and Zhi Yong Ju, Ph.D.

Overall Project Goal
The overall goal of this project is to develop cost-effective feed formulations using locally sourced ingredients with varying physical characteristics (i.e. sinking or floating pellets), and to evaluate these feeds in a carnivorous fish (‘moi’ - Polydactylus sexfilis) and an omnivorous fish (‘Nile tilapia’ - Oreochromis niloticus). For the omnivorous fish (Nile tilapia) the diets’ formulation assessed will be based on local feed developed from previous CTSA-funded research.

Objectives
1. Conduct biochemical analyses of local ingredients to assist in feed formulation and to update the local feed ingredient database
2. Develop two (2) cost-effective feed formulations for a carnivorous marine fish (e.g. moi) and two (2) formulations for an omnivorous euryhaline fish (e.g Nile tilapia) using local ingredients (Tables 1 and 2)
3. Optimize feed processing conditions to produce floating and sinking feed at commercial scale at OI’s Feeds Research and Pilot Production Facility;
4. Compare experimental diets to a control diet by evaluating moi in floating net cages at the University of Hawaii at Hilo’s Pacific Aquaculture & Coastal Resources Center (PACRC), and tilapia performance in tanks at American Samoa Community College (i.e. growth, survival, and product quality), all with three (3) replicates;
5. Evaluate fish performance data, feed efficiency data, and economic data from moi trials in cages in Hawaii and Nile tilapia in ponds in American Samoa;
6. Organize a workshop for local farmers and other industry stakeholders to share result.