Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Largemouth bass (LMB - Micropterus salmoides) production for the foodfish market is growing in the US. Traditionally, LMB producers in the US have relied on traditional earthen ponds as their primary production system for LMB culture. LMB producers in the Southeastern US use traditional earthen ponds as the primary production unit and are plagued by low survival, slow growth, poor food conversion ratio (FCR), losses to bird depredation, water quality problems (i.e., low dissolved oxygen), and disease issues.Producers of Largemouth Bass (LMB) believe that production challenges associated with traditional earthen ponds have led to decreased efficiency and profitability in domestic LMB farming operations, thereby hindering the growth of this aquaculture sector.Implementing a split-pond system (SPS) for Largemouth Bass (LMB) culture can address numerous inefficiencies reported by commercial LMB producers using traditional earthen pond systems. In this Phase II proposal, a modified 3-cell SPS design for LMB will be used as a commercialization tool to increase production. The advantages of SPS for LMB production can revolutionize the production of this expanding food fish species in the US. This project will optimize densities and feed management strategies to evaluate production performance, water quality, and economic feasibility of raising fingerling to stocker LMB for the foodfish market in commercial-size modified 3-cell SPS.
Animal Health Component
50%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
0%
Applied
50%
Developmental
50%
Goals / Objectives
Year 1Objective 1a - Evaluate optimal stocking densities of LMB raised from fingerlings to stockers on growth, health, and waste basin performance in classic SPS.Objective 1b - Evaluate the effects of different stocking densities of LMB raised from fingerlings to stockers on water quality, soil quality, and waste basin performance in classic SPS.Objective 1c - Evaluate the effect of different feeding regimens on the production performance of LMB raised from fingerlings to stockers in a modified 3-cell SPS design.Objective 1d - Evaluate the effect of different feeding regimens on the economics of LMB production in the modified 3-cell SPS.Year 2Objective 2a - Evaluate the effect of an optimal stocking density on the production performance of LMB raised from fingerlings to stockers in a modified 3-cell SPS design.Objective 2b - Evaluate the effect of an optimal stocking density for LMB on water quality and pond bottom composition in a modified 3-cell SPS design.Objective 2c - Evaluate the effect of an optimal stocking density on the economics of LMB production in a modified 3-cell SPS design.
Project Methods
Objective 1a - Evaluate optimal stocking densities of LMB raised from fingerlings to stockers on growth, health, and waste basin performance in classic SPS.Four SPS used in Phase I will be utilized for a density growth trial to determine the optimal density for the production of LMB in SPS. A fifth SPS will be constructed in Phase II to add an additional pond to this effort. These SPS were built in-house by creating levees to split traditional ponds with a 15-foot-wide section cut out to install a paddlewheel. The paddlewheel pushes water from the production side to the waste side. The water then returns through a screened 12" pipe. Water exchange is estimated for these systems at 30% daily exchange of the fish culture basin. A pond liner was installed beneath the paddlewheel to prevent erosion. A 1-hp surface aerator is run on a timer on the production side. Feed-trained LMB fingerlings (2" to 3") will be sourced from our farm to stock traditional and SPS ponds at increasing densities (~5,000, 7,500, 10,000, 12,500, and 15,000 fish per production cell standardized by production cell size). Ponds will be sampled monthly throughout the trial (4 months) to track growth and fish health m metrics. At the end of the production cycle, production cells will be harvested by seine to determine total yield, survival (%), weight gain (%), FCR, and size variation.Objective 1b - Evaluate the effects of different stocking densities of LMB raised from fingerlings to stockers on water quality, soil quality, and waste basin performance in classic SPS.Throughout the production cycle for Objective 1a, from stocking to harvest each split pond will be sampled at the outflow of water from the fish basin (designated F samples) into the waste basin, at the inflow of water from the waste basin (designated W samples) into the fish basin, and at the opposite end of the waste basin (designated O samples). Before starting the production trial and at the end of the production trial, sediment core samples will be taken in the fish culture and waste treatment basins to evaluate sediment quality (soil organic matter, soil pH, cation exchange capacity, soil minerals) at different stocking densities. Standards methods will be used to analyze total ammonia nitrogen, nitrite-nitrogen, total alkalinity, total hardness, Secchi disk visibility, and chlorides. Water temperature (°C), DO (mg/L) concentration, pH, and salinity (g/L) will be measured in situ using a YSI Professional Plus multiparameter portable meter at dawn and dusk daily at each of these sampling locations. In addition, the water temperature will be monitored in each pond at 1?h intervals using HOBO® TidbiT v2 water temperature data loggers.Objective 1c - Evaluate the effect of different feeding regimens on the production performance of LMB raised from fingerlings to stockers in a modified 3-cell SPS design.For Phase II, three additional SPS will be constructed. These three systems will be a modified 3-cell SPS design (Figure 5). Specifically, three separate 1/4 acre production cells (total production area of 0.75 acre) will be attached to a single 1-acre waste basin cell. Hence, each modified 3-cell SPS will be 2 acres, and there will be three for an increase in 9 total water acres. In Year 1, we will explore different feed management strategies within the production cells at a fixed density (10,000 fish per production cell). The different feed management strategies will include using an automatic feeder, hand feeding 4×/day, and a hybrid automatic feeding (2×/day) and hand feeding (2×/day). The different feed management strategies will be randomly assigned to production cells within each modified 3-cell SPS. Feed-trained LMB fingerlings (2" to 3") will be sourced from our farm to the modified 3-cell SPS. Feed-trained bass will not be stocked until they reach 50 fish/lb. The fish will be tempered to pond water, fed for several days, and then stocked. Feed will be offered to fish via three automatic fish feeders (Texas Hunter LM175) that feed multiple times per day. Fish will be fed a LMB feed (48% protein, 18% lipid) from Skretting. We will start with a 5.5 mm pellet and move up to 9.5 mm by the end of the season. The ponds will be dyed to prevent zooplankton blooms as in Phase I. Monthly sampling will be carried out according to protocols outlined in Objective 1a. At the end of the production cycle, production cells will be harvested by seine to determine total yield, survival (%), weight gain (%), FCR, and size variation.Objective 1d - Evaluate the effect of different feeding regimens on the economics of LMB production in the modified 3-cell SPS.An enterprise budget analysis will be employed to evaluate the economics of the three feeding strategies detailed in Objective 1c. Production records to be used include cell-specific data on size at stocking, stocking density, survival, harvest size, feeding rate, feed conversion rates, and gross yield, and will be collected under Objective 1c. Data will be averaged across replicate cells for each feeding strategy. Standard capital budgeting techniques will be employed following Engle et al. (2010), and on-farm data will be used to define variable and fixed costs. Inputs and expenses will be tracked throughout the production cycle. Variable costs will include fingerlings, feed, electricity, chemicals, labor, equipment maintenance, interest on operating expenses, etc. Fixed costs will include depreciation of equipment and buildings, interest on capital investments, insurance, legal fees, permits, accounting fees, and property taxes. Depreciation and interest on the initial construction costs of the SPS will be added to the annual fixed costs in the budget. To calculate annual depreciation, the costs incurred will be spread across the useful life of these systems (straight-line method). Net returns, breakeven prices, and breakeven yields to cover total costs will be calculated. Feed efficiency, a ratio of total feed costs to pounds of fish produced, and labor efficiency, a ratio of labor costs to pounds of fish produced, will be calculated and compared across the three feeding strategies. Sensitivity analyses will be developed to assess the effects of varying yields, cost of labor, and fish and feed prices.Objective 2a - Evaluate the effect of an optimal stocking density on the production performance of LMB raised from fingerlings to stockers in a modified 3-cell SPS design.In Year 2, we will explore different densities within the production units (5,000, 7,500, or 10,000 fish per cell). Production stocking densities will be randomly assigned. Feed-trained LMB fingerlings (2" to 3") will be sourced from our farm to the modified 3-cell SPS. Feed-trained LMB will not be stocked until they reach at least 50 fish/lb. Ponds will be sampled monthly throughout the trial (4 months) to track growth according to the description in Objective 1a. Objective 2b - Evaluate the effect of an optimal stocking density for LMB on water quality and pond bottom composition in a modified 3-cell SPS design.The three additional SPS constructed in Year 1 will be used again in Year 2. The same water quality and soil sample procedures and methods will be used for Objective 2b as in Objective 1b.Objective 2c - Evaluate the effect of an optimal stocking density on the economics of LMB production in a modified 3-cell SPS design.A standard budgeting approach will be employed to evaluate the economics of LMB production in the modified 3-cell SPS. Year 2 will evaluate the economics of different stocking densities described under Objective 2a. The same procedures and methods will be used as described in Objective 1d.