Insulin-like growth factor binding proteins (IGFBP) regulate insulin-like growth factor (IGF) signaling, but IGFBP-specific functions are not well characterized in fish. A line of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) lacking a functional IGFBP-2b was produced using gene editing and subsequent breeding to an F2 generation. This loss-of-function model (2bKO) was subjected to either continuous feeding or feed deprivation (4 wk) followed by refeeding (2 wk). During continuous feeding, the 2bKO line displayed faster specific growth rate for both biomass and fork length, higher feed intake, and reduced feed conversion ratio compared to a wild type (WT) line. However, loss of IGFBP-2b did not affect the feed deprivation or refeeding response in terms of weight loss or weight gain, respectively. Several components of the IGF/IGFBP system were affected by loss of IGFBP2b. Total serum IGF-1 in the 2bKO line was reduced to 0.5 – 0.8-fold of the WT line although the concentration of free serum IGF-1 was not affected. These findings suggest that IGFBP-2b might only carry 20 – 50% of circulating IGF-1 while the 32 kDa IGFBP (putative IGFBP-2a) serves as an additional stabilizer of serum IGF-1 (Figure 1). Gene expression differences include reduced abundance of igfbp1a1, igfbp1b2, igfbp5b2, and igfbp6b1 transcripts, and elevated igf2 and igfbp6b2 transcripts in liver of the 2bKO line. Collectively, these findings suggest that although IGFBP-2b is a carrier of circulating IGF-1 in salmonids, the presence of IGFBP-2a and compensatory responses of other IGF/IGFBP system components likely contributed to improved growth performance and nutrient utilization, supporting the significance of hepatic-derived IGFs and IGFBPs as regulators of IGF signaling in peripheral tissue. Collectively, these findings advance understanding of the role of IGFBPs as carriers of circulating IGF-1 in fish and warrant further investigation into the functional role of the putative IGFBP-2a.