To test the availability of soybean meal as a protein source and to increase its effectiveness in the diets for the fingerlings of red seabream, some feeding trials were conducted. Two different types of diet, steam pellet and soft dry pellet, contained various levels of soybean meal, were used. The growth, feed efficiencies, and body compositions were examined after the feeding trials. Results of the experiments suggested that dietary protein level could be reduced from $52{\%}$ to $47{\%}$ by elevating dietary energy level from $13{\%}$ to $21{\%}$ with lipid. The best results of growth and feed efficiencies were achieved by the diet that containing $47{\%}$ of crude protein and $20{\%}$ of crude lipids. The growths and feed efficiencies showed no difference when $20{\%}$ of fish meal in the experimental diet were substituted by soybean meal. Therefore, $20{\%}$ of fish meal could be substituted by soybean meal without reducing growth rates or feed efficiencies of fingerling red sea bream.