RECORD KEEPING IN FISH FARMING

A fish farmer without record keeping is like a hunter without aiming and will waste bullets without achieving any thing. In any business the keeping of accurate
records is a must. The keeping of records in
aquaculture is no different and may be even
more important than in other types of
agricultural enterprises. In an economically
viable aquaculture enterprise, the critter may be smaller and in a wet environment,
but the producer is no different from a large
scale feed lot operator in the Mid west. There are many production measures that
are the same but have different terms. Fish
are moved into the system, they are graded,
sampled for growth and sold. Death loss is a
familiar term in the cattle business. Mortality
is the equivalent in aquaculture. Stocking rate or space requirements are measures used to
determine how many cattle may be placed in
a certain area. In aquaculture the term is
loading. It is not determined by number but
by the weight per gallon of water. Cattle are
fed a specific diet to meet their nutritional needs based on size. The feeding of fish is not
only based on the nutritional needs of the
size of the fish. The size of the feed is also
related to the size of the fish. Air quality,
while not a major issue in most cattle
operations, is an important issue in swine and poultry houses. The water quality for the
aquaculture operation can and does change
from one day to the next, from morning to
afternoon. These changes can affect the
productivity of the fish. Records are tools for management. Records
can also help a new producer learn about the
productivity of an aquaculture system. They
help others evaluate the performance of the
system and how it can be improved. In the
case of an unforeseen disaster, records can provide information on losses that can be
used for tax or insurance purposes. Several forms have been developed to help
the producer keep account of the aquaculture
system by hand. The Daily Fish Production
Report and the Monthly Totals\Averages
have also been converted to a spread sheet
format to provide a way to “do the math” and evaluate trends over time. Forms for Use with Tank or Raceway
Systems Water Quality Chart: This form is used to keep data on a daily
basis that affects the environment of the fish.
Measurements should be taken in the
morning one day and afternoon the next for
water and air temperature and oxygen
readings. Alternate readings among the different tanks each day. Use a well loaded
tank one day and one that has less total
weight the next. Rainfall and barometric
pressure should be taken at the same time
each day. Morning is a good time. Tank Calibrations: The water flow through a tank or raceway is
critical to the productivity of an aquaculture
system. It delivers needed oxygen and takes
away waste and ammonia. To use this form,
use a five gallon bucket and a stopwatch to
time how long it takes for water flowing out to fill the bucket. Do this three times. Find the
average and divide it into 300 (5 gallons
times 60 seconds) to get gallons per minute.
If a different size container or a different
time is used multiply the size of the container
by the amount of time the water was collected to get the numerator for the
equation. Monthly Fish Handling: It is recommended that on a monthly basis
the fish in each tank be sampled. Sampling
requires the taking of samples of fish from
the tank and placing them in a bucket of
water (use about 15 pounds of water). Weigh
the fish and the water and subtract the weight of the water. Count the fish as they
are dumped back into the tank. This process
should be repeated no less than three times
per tank. Divide the number of fish counted
back into the tank by the weight of the fish to
get fish per pound. This figure can be used to find out the size of the fish and the loading in
the tank. Grading (separating smaller and
larger fish) is also required from time to
time. Fish being moved because of size
should also be weighed and counted. This
form can be used to keep track of fish movement during this process, which is then
recorded on the Daily Fish Production Report. Daily Fish Production Report: One of these forms should be kept for each
tank. It should be changed each month. The
information collected on feed fed, fish
movement, and mortality provide a basis to
begin to evaluate the productivity of the
system. Information is kept on each tank because of the differences in size and loading
that affect feeding and the movement of fish.
The beginning inventory is taken from the
ending inventory of the previous month. The
ending inventory is based on the changes that
occurred in the tank during the month, such as the sale of fish, the movement of fish in or
out of the tank, and mortalities. Monthly Totals/Averages This chart can be used to evaluate monthly
changes in the system. Take the totals from
each of the tanks and transfer the
information onto this form. Feed conversion
can be calculated by taking the pounds of feed
and dividing it by the pounds of net gain or loss in each tank. An average for the month
can then be calculated. The average size of
the fish in the system is calculated by taking
the total number of fish in the system and
dividing it by the total pounds. This form is
designed for a ten-tank system but could be used for more or less. Mortality Reference Table: The table is useful when recording
mortalities on the Daily Fish Production
Report. Measure the length of the fish and use
the figure to the right to record the pounds. Record keeping is very important in fish farming because it helps the farmer to know the improvement in cultured fish and expensis and made and gain outcome in his/her fish farming business. For help and consultancy call 08032861326.

Share this: