Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Raising Alantic Cod commercially

An interesting story in yesterday's Wall Street Journal about attempts to commercially raise Cod.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122505921558870179.html

Bing

Interesting. Cod Farming. Oil from Algae. Raising BSF. What an unusual world we live in.

Don't forget the propane powered toilets.

It seems to me that the problem is too many people. Farming overfished cod just transfers the burden of overfishing down the food chain one link so that you now have overfished sardines,menhaden, herring, etc to be converted into food for the farmed fish. Farming fish will only work in the long run if you can convert cereal grain sources to usable fish food in some fashion. As far as I know catfish and tilapia are the only omnivores that are farmed large scale.

Has anyone read the book, "Cod?"

And I'd add to this that recent studies have shown that fish raised on primarily grain based diets tend to have a large amount of build-up of harmful arachidonic acid and Omega-6 fatty acids in the tissues.

Unfortunately, we just aren't "there" yet in terms of using grain based protein sources as feed. It can assist in producting large amounts of fish, but that fish isn't as healthy. In fact, some studies claim that farm raised fish can be WORSE for your health than red meat!

"In fact, some studies claim that farm raised fish can be WORSE for your health than red meat! "

Wow...references?

So farmed catfish and Tilapia may not be that lovely stuff alot of people think it is.

In Asia, most of Tilapia the USA imports are grown under, or with, sewage effluent. Human, poultry (chicken, duck, geese), and hog waste are the most widely used "feed". While it is very natural and generally safe, the perception this gives the consumer is why the USA can not compete in the Tilapia market. The dangers in this practice are the heavy metals and chemical used to feed the "host" animal.

If you ever have tilapia that tastes like Sh++, now you'll know why!

Carp is the most widely farmed fish in Asia, IIRC.

I would like to chime in as a promoter of black soldier fly larva technology. Catfish have been successfully raised on a diet consisting of 25% BSFL. Meal made from BSFL is roughly equal to Menhaden fish meal and of course we generate enough organic waste to raise a significant quantity of them. The technology exists to convert the 12% of landfill that is from food waste into high quality animal feed.

The answers are all around us but won't be realized until there is the political will.

Or necessity is the mother of invention. I wouldn't count on the government too much.

I really didn't mean that the government would find logical solutions, more that it would need to stop subsidizing old and destructive methods.

I assumed that broodstock tilapia would be kept outside in dirt ponds(fertilized with manure of course)...but that actual growouts would be raised in concrete tanks to prevent them from getting that muddy flavour? I think using human waste(which I sure hope is not done in the USA!) at least would be an excellent way to pass on certain parasites too.

GW: Any reason why only 12% of catfish feed can be made from BSF? What is the rest of it? What constitutes the natural vegetarian portion of the diet of catfish?

Critterguy, the 12% I referred to is the percentage of landfill that is food waste. It's that resource that could be converted into BSFL and then fed to animals. The idea would be to collect food waste before it reaches the dump, not after.

I meant to post a link to this test of BSFL as fish food: LINK

Hey Critterguy - I haven't forgotten about you. I'll dig up some info for ya on this in the next few days. I've been a little busy with work recently and haven't had a chance to gather the info yet. It really is some interesting stuff though.

Here is the reason I will not eat farm raised salmon anymore: U of Albany Salmon study It seems any fish high on the food chain (salmon, cod, tuna) collect dangerous compounds and heavy metals which we, in turn, build up in our bodies if we eat them to often. The lower the fishes' food is in the food chain, the less build up of these compounds. Wired magazine had a great article about it, but I can't find it on the web.

When eating Steelhead from Lake Erie, some recommend cutting out the lowest strip of bellymeat and discarding it, believing that the heavy metals and other nasties are concentrated there.

That sounds almost like hanging freshly caught fish heads up, then when it gets cold, and the mercury has gone down like a thermometer, cutting the tails off with the mercury in them.

There may be something to that. Heavy metals often concentrate in fat, and fish store fat in their bellies. (What a coincidence.)

I was always taught the same thing Sunil, the belly meat is the extra fatty nasty part anyway.

Any sushi chefs reading this probably feinted.

The diet and heavy metal intake can be controlled in farm raised fish.

If the soil, water, and food in the pond have no heavy metal, the salmon or cod will have no heavy metal. It seems to me it would be easy to find feed with no heavy metal. In fact, it's probably illegal in feed.

Short lived fish are less problematic than long lived fish, which can accumulate more heavy metals.

If I remember correctly that is called Bio magnification. The same thing happens with Pesticide use. Think DDT and the problems it caused with the Eagle population (weak, deformed eggs) way back when.

GW,
Your idea sounds pretty interesting. It's amazing how much food this country throws away.

Still waiting on Weissguy for his references.

I'm talking of FR tilapia/catfish(which are fed mainly vegetarian diet so not so much chance of biomagnification). A shame Merkins aren't into carp...they are as low on the food chain as they can get.

Farm raised Atlantic salmon actually have more PCB's than WC salmon. The food WC and FR fish of these types eat is probably quite similar(where do fish pellets come from? Yes, from fish meal...made from fish...which are likely the ones the wild salmon are feeding on). Medications+being around human industry probably adds to toxins.(for example, farmed catfish can get a "gasoline" off flavor if diesel accidentally finds it way into ponds)

Actually I just found it.

Interesting stuff. It seems to mention mainly Tilapia, however.
http://www.scientistlive.com/European-Food-Scientist/Food_Safety/Some_fish_may_be_harmful/20716/
Also, it seems to suggest this is due to the feed...would black soldier flies solve this problem?(perhaps they have a lot of omega 3's?)