Aquaculture

[Arborethic]

I've had a passing interest in aquaculture for many years. I've raised fish for recreation, such as bream/bass in our farm ponds. But a couple of years ago I built a new pond and as soon as it had enough water in it, I stocked Channel Cats and Georgia Hybrid Bream (this fish gets up to 3.5 pounds is one of the best tasting freshwater fish there is!).

The pond was large enough to stock 700 Channel Cat fingerlings and 100 of the Hybrid Bream. The fish were fed daily and we only had a handful of fatalities. When they got up to eating size, we pole fished for the Bream, but I'm too short on time to wait on Catfish to bite.

I installed an easily managed trot line by pounding four T-posts into opposing banks of the pond. I used heavy gauge wire to attach 2 inch diameter harness rings to each post. I then threaded a long braided 1/8" nylon line through the rings and followed by pulling the trot line through. A cylinder of foam was used to roll up excess line. The trot line itself is the type with pairs of beads affixed to the line. You use a snap (looks like a big safety pin) to dangle the hook off the line. The beads keep if from sliding up or down th line.

When I want to harvest some catfish, I bait anywhere from 2-20 hooks with cheap stinkbait, pull the line out across the water and lower it about a foot into the water. The next morning I might have fifty pounds of fish on line. That's where those snaps come in handy. I just unsnap the hook, line, and fish from the trot line and drop them in the tractor bucket or a barrel. The hooks are then more easily removed while cleaning the fish. To keep it simple, we fillet the fish with an electric filleting knife.

We use floating fish food, which is fed in a floating ring. I took a 100' lenght of black poly pipe and bought one male-male connector and two stainless steel hose clamps. Assembled, that gave me a 30 foot diameter feeding ring, which was anchored near shore with a piece of quarter inch nylon rope. It has saved us a lot of feed wastage when the wind was blowing. No need to fatten up the local racoons!

Over the past two years, we've eaten about 100 pounds of catfish, and given away as much. But I still have a LOT of catfish left, perhaps three or four hundred. I suspect that they have polished off the remaining bream, because the catfish are pretty large now, about 6 or more pounds each. Next time around, I believe I'm going to build some floating cages so that we can sell them locally all at one time.

My next aquaculture project may be SHRIMP! Yep, I was amazed to discover that this is a growing industry. You don't even need a pond, you can use a relatively cheap above ground pool.

http://county.ces.uga.edu/habersham/aqua/upstrom.htm

[seedspreader]

Why not netting on the bottom of the pond before you populate it? Ever thought of Tilapia?

[Arborethic]

Strong netting is fairly expensive, and I'd have to get into the water to wrassle fish out...no way could I pull several tons of them out, even with the tractor. Fish also get tangled in the netting and die. It is important to remove dead fish ASAP...on the bottom I wouldn't see them.

Some of the commercial operations just drain their ponds (most are only 4 feet deep). I built my pond with long term drought in mind, so it is 23 feet deep. A neighbor who raises on a commercial scale, installed posts in the floor of his pond, below the surface, to hang up the nets of thieves! He raises a crop to about 1.5-2 pounds, drains the pond, then laborers throw the fish into skid buckets that a bulldozer drags out.

I've considered Tilapia, but have more confidence in the types of fish I've worked with over the years for the larger scale efforts. I have considered them for cage raising as a test. I've eaten Tilapia and they're pretty good.

[seedspreader]

Originally Posted by Arborethic

Strong netting is fairly expensive, and I'd have to get into the water to wrassle fish out...no way could I pull several tons of them out, even with the tractor. Fish also get tangled in the netting and die. It is important to remove dead fish ASAP...on the bottom I wouldn't see them.

Some of the commercial operations just drain their ponds (most are only 4 feet deep). I built my pond with long term drought in mind, so it is 23 feet deep. A neighbor who raises on a commercial scale, installed posts in the floor of his pond, below the surface, to hang up the nets of thieves! He raises a crop to about 1.5-2 pounds, drains the pond, then laborers throw the fish into skid buckets that a bulldozer drags out.

I've considered Tilapia, but have more confidence in the types of fish I've worked with over the years for the larger scale efforts. I have considered them for cage raising as a test. I've eaten Tilapia and they're pretty good.

Yeah 23 ft is a little deep. If it was a standard catfish pond, nets would still be best (not one big net, but I am sure you knew that).

I have seen the pond netted into different zones for harvest (vertically).

[Hovey Hollow]

Actually, looks like the shrimp need about the same temps. Anyone know the most economical way to heat a swimming pool?

[cowgirlone]

I raise shrimp. Fish will wipe out your juveniles if they are not protected.

Edited to add, If you do a search for Shrimp in this section, it will bring up past discussions about raising freshwater shrimp. Shrimp farming has worked out great for me here in Oklahoma!

[gobug]

If I recall correctly, I got this link in this forum; the Mahan's use a 55 gallon barrel to raise catfish. Their system uses table scraps to raise worms and the worms to feed the fish:

http://www.survivalplus.com/foods/page0007.htm

Cowgirlone, I recall the thread and some of your photos when you got started with the shrimp. I think I will go back and read it again, also. Do you have any updates?

Hovey, check Ebay and search for "solar swimming pool heater". There are always several of the same or similar panels for sale that I've seen go for $100-175. I've been watching lately because I've been thinking about using one to heat water on my mountain property. I don't know if they are suitable for this application. I asked a couple sellers if they could be used for potable water and never got an answer. It may be a good way to heat an above ground fish tank.

Here in Denver, a commercial fish farm called me for help with a fly problem. They grew bass as a fresh fish for the restaurant industry in the area. It was impossible to use any pesticide, so I brought fly strips. While I was pondering where the flies were reproducing, feeding time happened. Each of the ten 20,000 gallon tanks had a wooden stair to a small platform where the feeder would empty a large bag of feed. The water roiled as the fish swarmed the bait. Some feed ended up on the gravel below and I instantly saw where the flies were breeding. Case solved with simple clean-up.

Gary

[Arborethic]

Originally Posted by r.h. in okla.

Arboretchic, we had a lady nearby who managed a fish pond much like you have but only she charged a fee to anyone wanting to fish the pond. She charged X$ amount per pound of fish caught and kept on a stringer. She also put in a campground nearby and charged a camping fee also. Most of us local people thought she was nuts, "People aren't going to pay for fishing" is what we thought. And she didn't get much support from us locals as we have plenty of lakes, creeks, and ponds to catch our fish for free. But this lady stayed very busy as a lot of her customers weren't the locals but groups such as Boy and Girl Scouts, family reunions, employee picnics, plus a bunch of people from the city would come out and camp out for the weekends or a vacation week.

This lady had one huge catfish pond about 2 acres an several small trout ponds. You had to check which trout pond to fish out of as they were in different growing stages.

I myself thought the fishing fee was feasible as compared to going to the lake. When you add in the gas for your boat and your vehicle to pull the boat, plus all the snacks and drinks you take along and compare that with going to her pond and catching a fish dinner in about 30 minutes time, you could end up spending less per fish by paying her a fee.

Thanks for the suggestion, and the insight. I haven't looked at fee fishing very closely. I guess what put me off is having so many strangers just 'dropping in'. I'm in and out a lot now, but if I ever retire that might be just the ticket....especially if I add the five-eight acre pond/lake I'm considering down in the bottom.

[Arborethic]

Originally Posted by hovey1716

I have thought about using our above ground swimming pool for some aquaculture during the off season, but I wasn't sure what to grow. Tilapia is my favorite fish, but they require high temperatures and I'd bet it would be pretty expensive to keep an outdoor pool heated high enough. Anyone have any suggestions? I'm gonna have to go back and read the link about shrimp, I didn't know you could farm them. Hmmmm...........

The Georgia Hybrid Bream might work for you. I think (but haven't checked) that they can tolerate lower temps than Tilapia. One strategy would be to purchase a small lot, maybe 25-50, and try to grow them out in one season. The only 'problem' we've had with large harvests of fish is the fairly limited time you can keep them frozen. Some literature says 6 months; some, 3 months. I'd rather err on the conservative side when it comes to eating spoiled fish! LOL...

[BobK]

Originally Posted by Arborethic

The Georgia Hybrid Bream might work for you. I think (but haven't checked) that they can tolerate lower temps than Tilapia. One strategy would be to purchase a small lot, maybe 25-50, and try to grow them out in one season. The only 'problem' we've had with large harvests of fish is the fairly limited time you can keep them frozen. Some literature says 6 months; some, 3 months. I'd rather err on the conservative side when it comes to eating spoiled fish! LOL...

If you vacuum pack your fish it will easily keep 6 months or a weebit more...but why bother when you have them right out your door?

[dheat]

Have you considered aquaponics? It's kind of a cross between aquaculture and hydroponics. Very symbiotic. Go here for more information.

Regards,

Doug

[Hovey Hollow]

One reason I wanted to use the swimming pool is that it is right next to the garden. Backwash from the filter could be dumped onto the garden........great fertilizer!