Photo by Doug Yoder 



Workshop participants heat-shock fertilized eggs 



Wildlife Resources Commission. (All 

 fish culture operations require per- 

 mits.) Fishery biologist Bill Smith says 

 the commission will consider the 

 species you want to raise and the 

 potential effect on nearby natural 

 watercourses. If you divert water from 

 a stream or river, you must return 

 water to that watercourse. And, the 

 commission wants to be sure none of 

 the cultured fish can escape into the 

 natural watercourse and possibly in- 

 breed with natural stocks. 



Now, you're ready to decide what 

 sort of operation you want. Do you 

 want to set up your own hatchery and 

 raise fish to the fingerling size? Or do 

 you want to buy fingerlings and raise 

 food fish? 



If you're going to sell the fingerlings 

 as "trained-to-feed," you'll need pools 

 where you can teach them to eat a pel- 

 leted food. Trained-to-feed fingerlings 

 command a higher price, says Rouse. 



You may opt to sell your excess fin- 

 gerlings, retaining enough to raise as 

 food fish. In that case, you'll need 1- to 

 5-acre ponds constructed for seining 

 and draining. A large farm pond with a 

 sufficient source of water would suf- 

 fice. If the pond is too deep for seining, 

 you may be able to float net pens and 

 keep the fish contained. 



To get maximum production from 

 the ponds, you'll need an aeration 

 system to maintain the oxygen levels 

 in the water. And you should invest in 

 an oxygen-monitoring kit. 



The fish will have to be fed two to 

 three times a day, either manually or 

 with an automatic feeder. The feed for 

 the fish is perhaps the greatest expense 

 you'll encounter — as much as 40 to 50 

 percent of your costs. Depending on 

 the feed conversion rates, it may take 

 as much as 25,000 pounds of food to 

 yield 10,000 pounds of fish. At 20 to 25 

 cents a pound, the feed costs could add 

 up to $6,250. All factors considered, 

 Hodson estimates hybrids can be 

 raised for about $1 per pound and may 

 bring from $1.50 to $2.50 depending on 

 where you market them. 



It takes about two growing seasons 

 to produce marketable 1- to 1 1/2-pound 

 fish. By seining his pond, an 

 aquaculturist could begin selectively 

 harvesting toward the end of the 

 second season. When the remaining 

 fish reached the desired size, he could 



harvest by draining his pond. 



Your job is not completed when you 

 harvest the crop. Gary Van Housen, 

 Sea Grant's seafood marketing 

 specialist, has some advice for poten- 

 tial aquaculturists. "A lot of 

 aquaculture operations have either 

 ignored marketing or not given it the 

 consideration it deserves. If you have 

 the knowledge of raising fish, put at 

 least some time into researching the 

 market for your fish." 



Van Housen believes there is a 

 potentially strong market for hybrids. 

 He points to a 1981 National Marine 

 Fisheries Service survey that indicates 

 people in the mid-Atlantic region con- 

 sume more fresh fish than people in 

 other areas of the country. Add to that 

 the popularity of striped bass in these 

 same states, and the hybrid looks like a 

 winning product. 



Now define your market even more. 

 Will it be home consumers, retail fish 

 markets or restaurants? Van Housen 

 points to the results of the same sur- 

 vey. It found that of the 29 percent of 

 fish that is eaten fresh, only 8 percent 

 was actually eaten at home. Twenty- 

 one percent was consumed in 

 restaurants. That might indicate that 

 you would want to look at the 



Randy Rouse 



restaurant trade rather than selling to 

 retail fish markets who in turn will sell 

 to home consumers. 



When should you put your product 

 on the market? Van Housen advises 

 aquaculturists to consider seasonal 

 price fluctuations. As a general rule, 

 when landings of striped bass are 

 highest, the price will be low. Van 

 Housen says farmers should look at 

 Continued on next page 



