Abstract
Fish farming of Atlantic cod is important for preventing the decline of wild stocks, but ensuring young fish are healthy and grow well remains a challenge, particularly concerning early diet and preventing physical defects like skeletal anomalies. This study investigated a new early feeding strategy for Atlantic cod larvae, aiming to see if specialized live feeds (barnacle nauplii and plankton eggs) combined with two experimental dry feeds could improve overall fish quality, focusing on growth, survival, organ development, and skeletal anomalies. A control group (COM) and two experimental groups (D1 and D2) were used, using different live feeds and dry feeds with different vegetable versus marine fat composition. Although the control group showed slightly better final growth, the D1 feeding protocol resulted in dramatically healthier fish, reducing the occurrence of skeletal anomalies from 91 percent (COM) down to 52 percent and significantly reducing severe anomalies like scoliosis. This specialized diet also sped up the maturation and development of internal organs, such as the digestive tract and liver, compared to the other groups. These results highlight that optimizing early nutrition is crucial for producing high-quality cod juveniles, offering valuable insights for the sustainable growth of the aquaculture industry.