2 questions.

Does anyone near me sell rainbow trout fingerlings?

If I was to hatch some myself, would anyone be interested in buying some?

No suppliers that I know of in Indiana that supply fingerlings, but you could contact Mike Searcy in Cortland that produces trout for consumption only, and see what he can tell you. He purchases eggs and hatches them in a closed system. Probably has the eggs shipped from Trout Lodge in Washington state.

http://www.indianaaquaculture.com/IAAI-Board-Member-Bios/mike-searcy-bio

That said, selling live trout for stocking in Indiana is difficult and expensive. They have to be disease tested, and not only do you have to sacrifice 60 trout per lot you have to fork out about $600.00 per lot, which includes the cost of a vet taking and preparing the samples, and the lab testing. There was a grant once to cover the cost of sampling, and Dr. Jennifer Strasser of BOAH would pick up the live fish free of charge, but that grant money has dried up.

Randy Lang of the INDNR and Dr. Jennifer Strasser of BOAH can answer all you questions.

I considered what you're asking about once for a trout club with eggs from the trophy trout I raise, but they would have required me to slaughter 60 of my biggest trout along with 60 of the smaller trout. That's not only a loss of income from the trout I sell to taxidermists up to $100.00 each, but a $1200.00 health testing expense! And I only had a maximum of about 100 in my flow through pond! NWIH!

You could forego the slaughter of broodfish and more than one lot by not keeping broodfish, and by selling each lot annually. It would still be $600.00 annual health testing expense. A loophole could be keeping the broodfish at a different address/ facility/ water source.

Cecil, I believe if you do not have water co-mingling between the ponds all that is needed is the pond tested that the fish are coming from, not all ponds. I could do a farm test or a species test. I forget which is which, but one is good for 6 months and only requires a few fish, the other is good for a whole year and requires 60 fish of each species.

Last I talked with Jennifer (post grant) the price was half of what you were quoted. Maybe because I'm closer to her? She is training vets to get them certified. Not all vets can do the sample collecting, only certified ones.

Maybe now? Maybe there has been a change? I definitely was told by Randy Lang IDNR few years ago if I produced trout for the Northeastern Indiana Trout Association I would have to have ALL lots of trout on the premises tested (60 fish each lot) especially if eggs and milt came from those fish.

Keep in mind the INDNR has "Special Conditions for Trout and Salmon" even though they have made an exception at least once for themselves (IPN positive steelhead). I believe this should be all under BOAH due the conflict of interest, but I'm sure the INDNR wouldn't want that for obvious reasons.




Last time I tested one lot of fish the cost was just over $300.00, and that did not count the cost of a vet taking samples as the grant was still in effect. Jennifer has now certified some vets and one source in Michigan (John Nelski of Crystal Springs) told me it would probably be another $300.00 to pay a vet to come to my location and take the samples. Maybe he's wrong?


You should send an email to both Jennifer AND Randy and get a clarification in WRITING. Hopefully they don't contradict each other. Make sure you spell out clearly what it is exactly you want to do including egg and fish source etc.

AND most importantly make sure if you get them from another source, even if they are health certified, that once you put then in an earthen holding pond you don't have to retest them. That's another thing Randy and Jennifer told me.

There are a lot of changes for 2016, and I trust the information that I get from Jennifer vs. Randy. Randy told me that I could not use a 3rd party to transport Triploid Grass Carp to Indiana - I had to go down myself and pick them up if I was selling them. We went 'round and 'round about it and he was adamant about it.

So I did and found out the next year that he was wrong.....

I hear ya but considering at least one INDNR biologist is a member here I'll bite my lip! LOL

Wow! Thanks for the information. I did not know there would be so many legalities involved. I'm assuming there would be no problem with raising them in a RAS? Also, it looks like Mike sells fingerlings according to his website? Is this for commercial growers only or is it possible to grab just 50 or 60 for myself. Thanks again for the information.

Didn't see the sale of any live trout but maybe I missed it?

The problem isn't raising them or even selling them for consumption. It's selling them for stocking.


Mike will have a farm tour of his trout facility on February 13th. Contact the IAAI for more info.

I may take the drive down there as I want to bring my trout indoors at some point.

click the link you sent me, then click visit white creek farms at the bottom, then click pricing on his website, it shows fingerlings and juveniles for sale. Thanks again

Interesting.

Perhaps he's paying for the testing or since they are in a closed system he doesn't have to test if the eggs he orders are certified?

I can email him if you want. We know each other.

How far are you from his facility?

I live in Greensburg. His website says he is actually in Seymour. That is only about 30 minutes for me. I would love to buy 50 or 60 to get started. If you happen to talk to him that would be great but don't make any special request on my part, I'm not even done building my system. Actually I might renovate a small 12x16 barn and start a very nice system. Which reminds me, I might have some questions for you about swirl filter / radial drum filters. You seem to have extensive knowledge.

Cecil is the guy that has "been there, done that" in terms of RAS.

FWIW, even if the fish are going from RAS to RAS, if they are coming from out of state, they have to be tested and you have to have a pre-importation permit from the Indiana BOAH.

If they were tested, that's fine, but they have to be tested within the last 12 months maximum, even if from a RAS system.

Last Fall, Jennifer wouldn't let me bring in (legally) YP from a RAS system that had certs from early 2014.

Thanks for the kind words Scott but my experience has been small DIY RAS and I don't have experience with coldwater partial RAS yet. Can't wait to though!

Scott,

The Elkhart conservation club that purchased certified eggs did not have to have the fingerlings tested before planting them in Cobus and other creeks. Of course they weren't selling any and thet weren't going out of state.

Airborne3118,

I'm ashamed to say I have not built or used a radial flow settler. Was planning on it but never got around to it. I use an upflow filter packed with garden fence netting that receives flow from the fish tank via a gravity powered 2 inch PVC siphon. This gently collects suspended solids in the netting without breaking them into smaller particles like a pump would. For settleable solids I have a center drain that is connected to an external standpipe and hose on the floor. I pull a knife gate valve twice a day to flush away settleable solids that collect in and around the center drain.


Got the idea for the upflow filter from Steven VanGorder's book Small Scale Aquaculture. If you don't have it you should get it. It's only $20.00 on Amazon. Would suggest a moving bed biofilter in a 55 gallon drum vs. the RBC in the book. The materials for the RBC alone will set you back $500.00.

Here's a link on building a radial flow settler:

http://www.koiphen.com/forums/showthread.php?141689-DIY-Radial-Flow-Settler

Great. Thanks again for the info. I will look into it.

Cecil, I'd be willing to bet that the egg certification process was good enough for the state to allow them to stock the fingerlings into the creeks. I would also assume that they were stocked within 12 months of the eggs arriving "in state".

Gentlemen,

Mike said the following in an email:

I have checked with Jennifer Stouser on this and because they are hatched
and raised in Indiana waters they do not require testing if sold in the
state. Other states would have their own requirements for transporting to
and through their state. Import of these trout eggs do not require a
pre-entry permit because they are eggs and not a live fish.  Randy at the
DNR had said that they would still like to know on an annual basis  (when
sending in for haulers permit) what we are doing but with the court ruling,
that isn't even happening until there is new legislation written.
I do plan on having testing done twice a year once I figure out who and
what is involved. It would just be GMP.


Looks like the IDNR has it's hands tied due to the termination of the Fish Hauler's and Suppliers Permit? Perhaps there is more to the story and jurisdiction is going to BOAH? I would welcome that due to the conflict of interest.

It appears changes have been made and are underway in my state of Indiana based on the drop of the fish hauler's and suppliers permit. Here is some info I got from a source at Purdue.

"The absence of a permit has to do with a court settlement stemming from the Pen Deer operation in the state.  Basically they made it so DNR has no jurisdiction on farm animals / captive animals of which fish is included.  As of right now, DNR is trying to work legislation through the state legislature to reinstate some sort of permitting session."