How to grow salmon at home?

salmon and trout farming

Yes, I remember those times when salmon was a luxury for many people. But today it is quite rapidly transforming, and in many countries it has long been turned into the most common everyday food. And all this happens due to the intensive development of Atlantic salmon mariculture. Pond fishing is one of the most popular fish farming industries. It is the cultivation of red fish that has long competed with conventional fishing.
Consider breeding red fish using salmon as an example. Gourmets believe that the best salmon is the one that grew in the cold fjords off the coast of Norway. Today, catching this fish in the wild has become almost legendary for a long time. Indeed, in Norway itself, where fish farming is very common, 70% of salmon is grown in ponds. In Russia, the technology of breeding red fish in ponds is not very popular, since there are still many reserves in the North and Baltic Seas.
Salmon fish are distinguished by their elite dietary meat and, moreover, by their red caviar. Strange as it may seem, but 80% of this delicacy is supplied to Russia from the Far East. That is why the creation of salmon farms remains a young and promising area of ​​farming in the future. Today, by drawing up a well-thought-out business plan for breeding salmon fish, you can earn a considerable income.
Converting wild ponds into fish breeding grounds is not easy. Future farmers will either have to privatize them or rent them. It should be borne in mind that salmon are very sensitive to environmental changes. Plus, in order to popularize such types of fish farms, it is necessary to introduce initiatives, hold competitions between existing farms. In other words, show the state your capabilities. And it, in turn, can attract investment.

In total, there are 20 species of trout, but most often in our climatic conditions 2 species are bred:

• pestle (stream),
• rainbow; Several highly productive subspecies are popular: the deep-sea Canadian camloops and Donaldson's trout, their growth rates are 2 times higher, and their fertility is higher by all 30%.

Both species are predatory, which is reflected in their diet: beetles, dragonflies, frogs, small fish varieties (verkhovka, ide, minnow).

Growth can be characterized by the following numbers:

• up to a year, the mass of fry does not exceed 30 g,
• the weight of one-year-old fish is from 100 to 125 g,
• weight of 2-year-olds - from 200 g.

In Russia, salmon (salmon) farming is not yet developed, since the technology of its cultivation involves the use of laboratories and other rather expensive technologies. But trout farming is gaining momentum.
For pond breeding of trout, sufficient areas and regulation of temperature regimes of water are required. It is important to note that trout, like all salmonids, feeds well and grows in winter and summer. The fish productivity of trout ponds reaches 1000 centners per hectare. The most common species for cultivation are rainbow and brook trout.
For trout fish farms, the best are springs with a constant water temperature (springs, streams, small rivers). Trout farms are divided into full-system and non-full-system.The first ones breed trout from their own producers. At the same time, the farm must maintain its own production herd aged 4 - 7 years and their replacement 1 - 2 years.
The main thing in salmon farming (especially trout and salmon) is the availability of sufficient oxygen in the water for rapid metabolism and growth.

variety of salmon

Having decided to start breeding trout at home, you need to clearly decide where the fish will be kept, there may be several options:

1. Breeding trout in ponds

When creating an artificial reservoir, you can use clay. You need to fill the pond with fresh water, but ideally, you need to ensure the supply of fresh artesian water. A necessary moment is the organization of the "old" water runoff. To do this, you can use treatment systems or initially design special drainage wells. It is difficult to control the temperature of the water, but for the successful growth of fish, it is necessary to prevent the temperature from dropping below 1.5 ° C.

2. Breeding trout in salt water

The difference from the previous version is that salt water is used. It is recommended to gradually switch to seawater. In fish in such water, the metabolism in seawater increases, therefore, growth rates are accelerated.

3. Breeding trout in swimming pools

To save yourself the trouble of building a trout pond at home, you can purchase a special pool (h

Trout will not breed on their own in captivity, so you will have to engage in artificial insemination. This can take place according to the following scheme:

1. during the spawning period, the best mature producers are selected, they are placed separately;
2. when the eggs of the females are ripe, it must be separated, for this the female is wrapped in a clean cloth and the eggs are carefully squeezed into a clean container;
3. then strain the sperm onto the eggs, gently stirring it (a bird's feather is suitable for this);
4. add a small amount of water;
5. leave the eggs alone for 5 minutes, during which time fertilization should occur.

It is necessary to take into account that if eggs are removed from immature females, the percentage of fertilized eggs will be low.

In trout farming on a large scale, for a more comfortable collection of eggs from females, selected producers are given anesthesia. They also practice the use of various stimulating solutions to increase the proportion of fertilized eggs, for example, Hamor's solution.

We also bring to your attention a short video on this topic. Enjoy your viewing!

The article was written after communicating with the well-known ichthyologist Lauren Rousstof, who visited the Kamchatka Territory to exchange experience. It does not highlight the moments of salmon breeding at home, in indoor pools and farms. The story will focus on how the forces of scientists from different countries and in what ways the extinction of many fish species was prevented.

For millennia, salmon fish, including salmon and trout, have been abundant in the northern hemisphere - in cold-water lakes, streams, rivers and the high seas. But over time, due to human activities, including intensive fishing, this picture has changed: salmon have disappeared from many reservoirs, while in others their numbers have sharply decreased. However, thanks to recent advances, man has managed to weaken this trend. These achievements were made possible by the remarkable genetic adaptability of salmonids and the ability of fish farmers to use it to their advantage.

More than sixty species of the salmon family include thousands of subspecies. Each subspecies is adapted to specific environmental conditions. This variety of subspecies provides fish farmers with a huge gene pool from which the necessary traits can be selected, such as size and shape, growth rate, color, taste and quality of meat, ability to exist in fresh or salt water, time and pattern of migration.

Properties of salmon

Using these properties, fish farmers have achieved significant results. Let's take a look at some of them.

1. Salmon can constantly live in the very cold water body where
they were released by fry, and return to spawn after a certain period of being at sea only in it; this means that they can be infused both into reservoirs new to them, and into those where they once lived.

2. There is already a real possibility of adaptation of some salmon species to year-round life in fresh water, although in natural conditions they spend part of their life in the sea.

3. Certain salmon species can be successfully bred using aquaculture techniques.

Distribution of salmon

Farmed salmon are now shipped in large numbers to release sites in North America, Japan and Siberia. Salmon have been successfully relocated to Chile. In the fiords and straits of the Chilean coast, there are abundant reserves of plankton, which the settlers can feed on. In the not too distant future, carefully selected stocks of salmon released off the southern tip of South America are expected to migrate to the Antarctic coastal waters, where they feed on summer krill swarms.

The salmon introduced into the Great Lakes have perfectly adapted to life in fresh water, which seemed impossible to many. Along the rocky shores of Scotland and Norway, fish farmers raise large salmon and rainbow trout in fenced-off areas of sea bays, fjords and floating trails.

The natural distribution of salmonids was well known before humans began to influence them. Representatives of the Sal genus, that is, noble salmon, or salmon, and brown trout lived near the shores of the North Atlantic and in the adjacent parts of the Arctic Ocean. Rainbow trout, or steelhead salmon, and Clarke's salmon lived near the shores of the North Pacific Ocean. Loaches, representatives of the genus Salvelinus, were found off the coast of both the North Atlantic and the North Pacific Ocean, as well as in the waters of the Arctic Ocean basin. Six species of Pacific salmon (genus Oncorhynchus) were initially restricted to the shores of the North Pacific Ocean from Taiwan to California, including the Bering and Okhotsk Seas and adjacent parts of the Arctic Ocean.

All salmon fish hatch in fresh water and spend at least the first weeks of their life there. All three genera of salmonids have anadromous species: they migrate into the sea, often over great distances, before returning to spawn in their native rivers. The noble salmon returns to spawn many times during its life; Pacific salmon return only once and die after spawning. Some salmon species remain in fresh water for life.
The relict populations of sima and red, or sockeye, live in lakes that have been disconnected from the sea for millennia.

The ability of migrating salmon to return to their native waters is truly legendary. They swim upstream against the current for many kilometers, jumping out of the water to overcome waterfalls and fish passes, and find their way unmistakably. Scientists have found that fish are able to recognize "home" (homing) through the sense of smell, and for the fish to feel the "home factor", just a few of its molecules per billion cubic meters of water. This factor, acting on the olfactory organs of fish, is generated by stones, soil and organic matter of the reservoir.

First breeding attempts

Who was the first to try to grow salmon at home is not known, scientists have found a number of records of attempts to reproduce salmon in Finland and Russia, but the required result was not obtained.

Officially, the first attempts at artificial breeding of salmonids were undertaken in Germany even when the mere fact of these fish having an amazing "sense of home" was known. In 1763 g.found that if eggs taken from a female are fertilized with the sperm of a male, after incubation in cold running water, fry hatch from it. The first experiments were carried out with brown trout (Salmo trutta) and noble salmon (S. salar). In 1804, the United States began to cultivate salmonids, use artificial spawning and incubation of eggs. These experiments were carried out with one of the American char (Salvelinus fontinalis).

The first pacific salmon nursery was built in California on the McCloud River in 1870. As in previous breeding experiments, they were savagely harvested in their natural spawning grounds to provide the nursery with starting material. For many years, all fish hatcheries set up along the Pacific coast from California to Japan have done just that. The nurseries were intended only for the incubation of eggs, and they did not deal with the problems of feeding and rearing juveniles, which were released completely unprepared for life in an environment full of dangers. In general, these early attempts did little for salmonid reproduction and, in fact, often undermined natural fish stocks.

In 1895, in Washington state, on the Calama River, a tributary of Columbia, a fish hatchery was built specializing in the cultivation of chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), the largest of the Pacific salmon. In this nursery, methods were developed to ensure successful spawning, hatching of fry, their rearing, release into the river, recapture for spawning in the nursery, and obtaining eggs for the next generation - a set of measures that made it possible to restore salmon stocks. The main goal of the program (salmon farming) is to obtain excess caviar and transfer it to other nurseries to create new salmon herds.

In 1901, a fish hatchery was established on the small Green River, which flows into Puget Sound near Seattle. Chinook salmon caviar for this nursery was taken from a nursery on the Kalama River. After a short period of adaptation, the Chinook salmon took root well and began to return to the nursery in such quantities that large surpluses of caviar soon appeared. The Green River Nursery has become a source of Chinook salmon eggs for many other nurseries in the Puget Sound area, including (since 1949) a pilot nursery at the University of State. Washington. The Chinook salmon, as well as the previously resident rainbow trout, Clark's salmon and coho salmon, have provided the university with its own salmon herds and created an opportunity for research.

For a long time, many experimenters tried to come up with various recipes for chemical compositions for introduction into the water where young salmon live, in order to more reliably attract them to the reservoirs where they were released. But scientists at the University of Piece. Washington soon realized that there was no need for this: those substances that are naturally present in the water of reservoirs are quite enough. Special studies were started with chinook salmon, the purpose of which was to increase the number of fish returning to the reservoir after a 2-3 year stay in the sea in comparison with the number of fish returning after a 4-5 year absence. The work carried out under this program has yielded very good results. In accordance with another program, it was supposed to accelerate the growth of young coho salmon by using a special diet and maintaining a certain water temperature. Under such conditions, salmon could develop to the smolt stage and leave the sea in 6-7 months, whereas this usually occurs after 18-30 months. These methods have now become the basis for the commercial farming of salmonids in the United States, Canal, Chile and France.

Chinook salmon, brought to the university nursery, had to adapt to conditions significantly different from those usual for this species.Instead of returning to large deep rivers such as the Sacramento, Columbia, Fraser or Yukon, as many of its relatives do, the Chinook salmon returning from the sea "home" to the university reservoir, enters the narrow Puget Sound, turns left, falls into the shipping channel of Lake Washington and passes on either through the shipping locks or through a fish passage along the southern coast, then after a 5.5-kilometer journey through a densely populated industrial area stretching along the shores of Lake Union, turns left again, ascends a small fish passage and enters university collector.

The water attracting fish is pumped from the shipping channel to the collector, from where it returns by gravity back to the channel. This tiny trickle is home to many generations of university-bred salmon. The university chinook salmon has adapted to these unusual conditions so well that the fish returning from the sea each fall yields 10 to 20 times more eggs than are required to support the herd - even though they are intensively caught by sports anglers and fishing vessels all the way. followings.

Chinook salmon is not the only fish that has been increased in numbers using the described method. There are also successful breeding programs for coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), pink salmon (O. gorbuscha), chum salmon (O. keta), salmon (Salmo salar) and rainbow trout (S. gairdnerii).

Coho salmon are they grown artificially

Coho salmon have long lived in a vast area from the Arctic to central California. Since he prefers to spawn in small rivers, where the juveniles then grow up. When they return home, the fish scatter into thousands of spawning grounds that can be accessed from the North Pacific. Thus, in the course of evolution, many unique herds or subspecies of coho salmon have arisen.

An adult coho salmon returns to its native river from feeding grounds in the ocean in late autumn, when the level rises and the water temperature in the rivers decreases due to rains. During the long winter months, coho salmon caviar lies protected by a layer of gravel. Fry hatching occurs in March and June. In summer, juvenile coho salmon feed on aquatic insects in the same rivers where they hatched. In the fall, when adult fish return to their spawning grounds, fry born in spring feed alongside them, eating aquatic organisms displaced by adult fish digging nests for eggs. The fry also eat eggs that are not covered with gravel immediately after laying.

Young coho salmon remain in their river for the second winter, spending this period actually in a state of hibernation. In the second spring, juveniles in the southern part of the range reach the smolt stage: due to physiological changes in the body, the fish acquire the ability to migrate to the sea. Without these physiological changes, salmon, whose blood salt content is about 12%, would be dehydrated if it got into sea water, the salinity of which is 30-32%. Coho salmon remain in the sea for one and a half years and at the age of three they return to spawn, thus starting a new cycle. In colder parts of its range, coho salmon take 2.5 years to reach the smolt stage; after spending 1.5 years in the ocean, the fish return to their place of birth at the age of four.

The results described above were made possible by research in recent years regarding salmon nutrition. Special diets were created, including the necessary amounts of easily digestible protein, fat, trace elements and vitamins. Until now, fishmeal was the main source of protein, but the quality of this product, sourced from Peru, was often poor, and supplies from the northern hemisphere became increasingly expensive and irregular. Substitutes have been used with more or less success: yeast, plant and bacterial protein.A program for the disposal of waste generated during fish processing was also implemented.

To maintain the water temperature necessary for the growth of salmonids in fish hatcheries (8–12 ° C), heat generated by power plants or other industrial enterprises can be used. Fry smoltification can be accelerated by maintaining a certain water temperature in the nursery. The benefits of this acceleration are clear: exposure to destructive temperature extremes in winter and summer can be avoided; the release of smolts can be carried out before the water level in the reservoir reaches critically low summer levels; shortening the period of the fry stay in overcrowded water bodies reduces the possibility of fish disease; the shorter the growing time, the lower the feed costs and the closer the spawning period.

Breeding in Japan

In the developed countries of the northern hemisphere, due to the destruction of forests, plowing of land and the creation of urban industrial complexes, a large number of natural spawning grounds and incubation sites for eggs were destroyed. A number of countries have turned to artificial breeding of salmonids, hoping in this way to compensate for the losses caused by the destruction of their natural habitats. Over the past 20 years, the Japanese have made great strides in breeding chum salmon in nurseries. Almost all chum salmon currently caught in Japanese territorial waters are of artificial origin.

Although there are a number of artificial breeding methods for many species of salmon and trout in North America and Europe, none have been applied with the same care and dedication as the Japanese did, using a method borrowed from New England back in the 18th century; never before have there been such impressive results. Nevertheless, based on all the experience gained so far, a new concept for salmon farming has emerged, the so-called ocean farming. It differs from previous methods in that fry remain in the nursery until they reach a state that ensures their optimal survival in the ocean. Only then are they released into the sea, where they feed and mature until the time comes for them to return to their native shores. The new method could have a huge impact on the evolution and conservation of salmonids. However, it should be borne in mind that positive results are possible only with a good organization of the entire system; otherwise, both the ecosystem and the economy of salmon fisheries could be harmed.

Interesting

Many researchers of salmon biology believed that chum salmon and especially pink salmon cannot live in fresh water and die if they do not enter the sea. Therefore, they learned, not without surprise, that pink salmon fry, released in small quantities into Lake Superior, turned into adults in three years. Usually, pink salmon leaving the sea returns to the rivers at the age of 2 years, and such a 3-year cycle is clearly unusual for it. There is little doubt that fisheries in the Great Lakes will do well with the addition of a new herd.

Attitude to the problem in different countries

Some experts consider the situation with the noble salmon very critical, but now there is hope that the future will not be so bleak. Iceland has managed to stabilize and even increase the number of salmon returning to the rivers of that country; a policy is being pursued primarily aimed at protecting salmon resources, rather than supporting commercial fisheries, which, unfortunately, is the case in Europe and North America and Russia.

Salmon returning to Iceland to spawn are owned by farmers who own land along the river banks. However, farmers are only allowed to use the old nets in the lower reaches of four of the 250 Icelandic rivers and only in three coastal locations. Such catch provides approximately 40% of the annual catch in the country.The rest of the catch comes from sport fishing with rods and spinning rods. Permits for both industrial and sport fishing must be obtained from the farmers who own the land. Salmon fishing is strictly controlled by the government to ensure that the required number of salmon reaches the spawning grounds.

The program for the protection of natural salmon stocks also includes the artificial rearing and opening of rivers for the passage of fish, which were previously inaccessible to them. The state experimental farm in Kellafjordur has achieved accelerated rearing of noble salmon by using water from underground hot springs, controlling the time of daily light exposure of juveniles in order to improve nutrition and growth of fry, creating brood stocks for populating rivers that have become available for salmon, and adding to pools where fry are reared, salt water to speed up the smoltification process. After the creation of special fish-passing structures, it became possible for salmon to move along rivers, previously inaccessible to them. The government also supports commercial salmon farming.

In Western Europe, salmon numbers have been significantly reduced from pre-industrial levels, not only due to unintentional destruction of habitats, but also due to fish interception at sea, when salmon are caught in the drift nets of one country, “ belonging to "another country. In Scotland, Ireland, Norway and Canada, entrepreneurs are trying to improve the supply of salmon to their markets by raising fish to maturity in sea basins and floating cages.

Genetic research

Of all salmonids, rainbow trout has the greatest genetic diversity. From its original range along the eastern coast of the Pacific Ocean, it spread itself or was settled almost throughout the entire globe. Even tropical reservoirs that lie high above sea level abound in this fish.

In addition to being of great interest to sport fishing, rainbow trout is an important industrial product. Under natural conditions, rainbow trout only spawn in spring. Now trout herds have been bred, capable of spawning almost at any time of the year, which increases the efficiency of industrial production of this fish.

Rainbow trout breeding work has been carried out since 1932 at the University of the State of America School of Fisheries. Washington. The goal was to obtain in large quantities strong, healthy individuals suitable for settling lakes and rivers and for use in industrial farms. At first, trout reached maturity and weight on average 680 g in the fourth year of life. During the first spawning, females spawned 400–500 eggs. Now some males of the hatched herd reach a weight of 680 g already in the first year of life. Females, reaching maturity in the second year of life, weigh an average of 4500 g and lay 10,000 eggs each. Although the rate of increase in the average body length of fish sampled sequentially over many generations slows down, their average weight continues to increase. The result is large, dense fish (so-called high-bodied fish) with improved meat quality. I think these results are comparable to the achievements of poultry farmers raising wide-breasted turkeys.

Crossbreeding of closely related breeds or subspecies of plants and animals often leads to heterosis (a manifestation of "hybrid vigor"). Salmon are no exception in this regard. Interracial mating between steelhead salmon (anadromous rainbow trout) and non-migratory rainbow trout have produced hybrids that can grow faster than migratory salmon but slower than non-migratory trout. Obviously, the dominant growth factor was transmitted by crossing, at least in part, to the steelhead salmon.Moreover, the hybrids seem to retain the ability to migrate into the sea, where they grow very quickly. When they return, having reached puberty, local anglers can take up the exciting sport, as the hybrids have retained the ability of trout to grab bait.

The selection of salmonids can, in a relatively short time, affect their shape, size, behavior, taste and quality of meat, in the same way that selection over 1500 years has created dairy and beef cattle. The further evolution of salmon species is now in the hands of man, who begins to use his capabilities with enthusiasm. This raises many interesting problems. One of them is the preservation of the genetic diversity of salmonids by providing conditions for the thriving of wild stocks. Another is the use of the enormous adaptability of these wonderful creatures by breeding steel, capable of mastering both new habitats and those from which their ancestors were displaced as a result of human activity.

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Salmon is a delicious fish with red meat and exquisite taste. You can organize your business by raising salmon and supplying fish to the market, to a restaurant, by establishing relationships with partners. To do this, you need to provide the fish with the necessary care. Most importantly, the very first thing is a body of water. Most often, an artificial reservoir is used for breeding salmon; natural ones are not welcome here.

A ditch specially dug for this purpose is suitable. The bottom should not be left as it is, it is also not necessary to cover it with sand. The ditch needs concreteso that the bottom surface is flat and smooth. In addition, it will make the ditch more visible.

The parameters of the ditch are different, depending on the number of young animals and their age, which you are going to release to a new place of residence. In length it can be 20 meters (with a small farm), or maybe a hundred. The width is more or less standard, one and a half meters. In depth - about a meter. Take water from the main canal.

Please note that the place from where you supply water should be located opposite the hole that releases water, that is, at the other end of the channel. Both openings must be protected by shields, on the supply there is a valve. It is not uncommon for these holes to become a pass into the channel for unwanted guests - small fish. Various animals, garbage. Your fish can also escape from the channel.

To avoid this, you need to install both there and there metal meshwhich will prevent the media from mixing. Youngsters are released rather densely. If these are one-year-old fish, then you can settle up to one and a half hundred per square meter. Their weight at this age is 10, 15 grams. If they are two years old, then the density should be less, of course.

There is one more thing to consider when setting up a salmon canal. Young fish often get overheated, they cannot stand bright sunlight. Therefore, across the channel, at intervals of 15-20 meters, it is necessary to install shields that will protect the fish from bright sunlight. Juveniles will gather under such impromptu canopies if they start to bake.

An important point is salmon nutrition. Salmon is a rather whimsical fish in food; any fish food that can be purchased at a zoological store will not suit it. The most popular ready-made dressing for salmon is KRT-6. In the diet of fish, it can be up to 70%. Fish also need fresh and non-living feed. Live food - worms, for example - are dispersed, if possible, evenly over the entire surface of the canal.

For non-living feed, special devices are needed - slate boards. You attach them to the inner walls of the channels. So that it is convenient for the fish to get food. You simply spread the food itself on this plate. The consistency must be appropriate. What can you feed fish, besides KRT-6? In the diet of salmon, it is important to have spleenso grind it into minced meat. And "serve." You also need to give such minced meat from fresh fish. In total, such a diet should leave 30-35 percent of the daily feed rate.

If you want the fish to eat a variety of foods, add cod caviar, minced salmon liver, and feed yeast to the feed. You can also lay out food on special tables in the pool.

Every day, in the morning, check for dead fish in the channel. If there is (and they are almost always), immediately remove them with a special net. Also remove any leftover food from the water. That is the necessary minimum of sanitary standards that must be observed when breeding salmon in artificial conditions.

Spawning in salmon it occurs in November and December. It is desirable that the temperature is not lower than 5 degrees in water, then the eggs will ripen in 80 days. If it is cold close to zero, then they can develop within two hundred days. Too hot water also should not be - they will simply die.

Delicacy fish, which is not available to an ordinary fisherman, is always highly valued in the market and has a stable demand. Trout is one such delicacy. The price in stores for this type of salmon can reach 900 rubles! That is why raising trout at home can be a great way to make money.

Experienced farmers prove that trout farming is a very profitable business. Today we will give an example of a trout farming business plan and give some advice from the professionals.

Trout farming is the most profitable direction of fish farming

Trout species

There are two types of trout: brook and rainbow. The brook is found in cold mountain rivers that flow into the Baltic, Caspian and Black Seas; in natural conditions, the fish can reach 12 kilograms. When breeding trout in an artificial reservoir, you should be patient, for the first three years the trout will not even spawn. Spawning usually begins after 4 years of life, between October and November.

Rainbow trout appeared in Russia only in the twentieth century, having migrated from North America. This type of trout got its name because of the iridescent scales. The main problem of breeding this species of trout is that breeding difficulties arise in an artificial reservoir. Therefore, fish farmers have to artificially fertilize females.

Remember: Caviar extraction is a time consuming process, it requires a lot of experience and additional knowledge. Therefore, it is better for novice fish farmers to buy fry. It can immediately be released into a reservoir with large fish.

Rainbow trout migrated to Russia from North America

Where to begin?

Before you go to buy trout fry and feed for them, you need to visit several fish farms, see how the fish are bred there, talk to the owners so that you have an understanding of how this business is run.

After getting to know the fish farm, you need to go to the tax office to register your business. In order to breed trout, it is enough to open an individual entrepreneur, with the OKVED code 05.02 - Fish farming.

Only after that you can go to buy fish livestock, for this you need to visit a fish farm that breeds trout. There you will buy fry and you will be able to get advice on its care and nutrition.

Breeding methods

Today, there are several options for breeding trout:

• breeding in a pond;
• cage culture;
• installation of a closed breeding.

To breed trout in a pond, you need to find a suitable reservoir or build it yourself. This type of breeding is the most unprofitable. The fact is that trout does not grow well at low temperatures; it will take at least 5 years for it to go on sale. Plus, there is a high likelihood of fish being stolen by local poachers and selling it for a small amount.Unlike cage breeding, one guard may not be enough to monitor a large body of water, and hiring additional personnel will be expensive. Catching fish from a reservoir for fertilization will also not be easy, this is usually done by experienced people who will also take a tidy sum from the owner. Usually, with pond breeding, the owners hope for a chance, they will be lucky - they will receive several tons of trout in 4-5 years, with no luck - they will abandon this business and do something else.

The cage method means the cultivation of trout in a fenced part of the reservoir, in cages. The frame for the cages can be metal containers or dividers stretched on stakes. Fish farmers consider this type of trout breeding to be the most profitable. Firstly, only a part of the reservoir is required for breeding, and the remaining area can be used for other purposes. For example, it will be possible to offer paid fishing for amateurs. Secondly, less costs are required for hydraulic structures than in pond breeding. You can also save on electricity, since forced water exchange is not required in the cages, it is created by the fish themselves by their movement.

However, cage production has its drawbacks, otherwise other types of trout farming would not be relevant. The first and main problem is the pollution of the reservoir, which contains the fish. This is due to the density of fish stocking and active feeding. Because of this, cage culture is not possible in drinking water. Theft of fish from cages is considered a second problem. The businessman needs to initially resolve the issue with the protection of their cages. For this, a watchman is hired, who must be periodically checked independently.

Growing trout in cages is considered the most profitable

The next breeding method is the use of a recirculating water system (installation of a closed water supply). This is a great option for a household with a small amount of fish. Despite the large initial investment, RAS is considered the most promising salmon farming model, even on an industrial scale.

RAS creates the most comfortable conditions for the growth of trout. The principle of its operation lies in the circular movement of water between the elements of the system, which provide the life support of the fish. The installation consists of pools, pump, generators and filters.

A closed water supply installation is considered the most promising trout breeding model.

Pools should be able to cleanse the vital activity of fish, be perfectly visible and exclude sharp protrusions. The pumps are responsible for the movement of water in the installation. Ozone and oxygen generators are responsible for oxygenation of water and ozonation. Filters purify the water entering the RAS.

The main advantages of RAS are:

• Full control over the growth of trout: feed dosage, health assessment, timely cleaning.
• No dependence on the weather, the ability to adjust the water temperature. This will allow the cultivation of unique fish species that live in warm climates.
• No pollution to the environment.

The biggest disadvantage of installing is their price. Experts estimate the cost of an installation for a small farm for 10 tons of trout per year at 3.5 million rubles! To do this, a businessman will first have to build a hangar with an area of ​​250-300 meters, connect all communications to it, purchase fry and feed. You also need to have a small margin of funds for unforeseen expenses.

From 10 tons of trout, the revenue for trout will amount to 3-3.5 million, but before that, you first need to raise fry and find distribution channels. But, despite the laboriousness and cost, the trout breeding business is considered the most profitable in this niche.

Purchase of feed

Trout prefers to eat live food. Fry often do not mind swallowing various beetles, mosquito larvae, dragonflies and flies. Grown-up individuals can move to small fish.All of this can be found in farms or from suppliers of fishing shops that are engaged in the preparation of fish feed.

In addition to live food, trout feeds on dry food in the form of granules, which allow you to adjust the dosage. Such food is stored in a warm dry room for no more than 1 year.

It is very important to feed the trout in moderation, as obesity can slow down the maturation process. Young animals usually eat about 10 times a day, eating dry food, older fish (5-8 months) eat no more than 6 times a day, and yearlings no more than 3 times, but their food should consist of a dough-like mixture and live food.

Sales

The problem of marketing at a certain stage of business development arises with each fish farm. Not all stores are ready to take live fish for sale, and some even require paying for placing the goods on the shelves. Live fish requires special care, aquarium and constant cleaning. In addition, against the background of the crisis, the demand for gourmet fish is falling, which means a decrease in purchases by large supermarkets and shops.

The transportation of the cargo most often also falls on the shoulder of the fish farmers, since the owners of the shops do not take responsibility for the safety of the fish, and this is an additional cost.

Live fish require special care, aquarium and constant cleaning

Expenses and income

The price for trout planting material is kept in the region - 250-400 rubles per kilogram. The cost depends on the weight of the fish, the smaller the trout, the more expensive it is. Because a kilogram of small trout will bring more adults in the future. Of the total purchased volume of trout, 10 percent must be taken into account for losses. And the rest of the fry after three years will be kilogram fish, each of which will cost at least 150 rubles. It is cheaper, of course, to buy fertilized eggs, but at the first stage this should not be done, because inexperienced fish farmers will not be able to grow them. To start making a profit from the first year, you can buy 200-300 grams of trout and get your first income much faster.

The cost of feed is on average 200 thousand per year, the purchase of fry will take 300 thousand. For smooth work, you will definitely need assistants, two or three people. Costs per year for wages are - 300 thousand. For the purchase of equipment - from 1 to 3.5 million. The total maximum cost in the first year of operation is 4.3 million.

Income from the sale of trout starts from 3-4 years of breeding. Annual income from 10 tons of fish ranges from 3.5 to 4 million rubles. However, in addition to selling trout to shops, it is possible to organize paid fishing and receive a stable income for every hour a fisherman spends on the territory of the reservoir. This type of fish sale helps to save on transportation and catch of trout, and gives up to 10 percent of the annual turnover, i.e. 300-400 thousand rubles. In such a scenario, the business payback will be 3-4 years.