Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Help Smallmouth bass for restaurants.

Hello.

Here only Smallmouth bass is allowed.

So if I wanted to produce Smallmouth bass for restaurant how many years would it take to produce Smallmouth bass big enough, (I suppose 3-4 pounds) for sale to restaurant.

And in addition to pellets which would be the most prolific fish to feed these bass, the Golden shiner or the Pumkinseed or other.

I know the Smallmouth bass are not very prolific some years, that is why I would only go to restaurants.

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I am selling Black Bass (Largemouth mostly) to a restaurant. The consumer wants a dressed on-the-round (gutted, de-headed, and de-scaled) that weighs about 1 lb which means with a Largemouth Bass a live-weight of just under 1.5 lbs. The larger fish in the 3 to 4 lbs range is larger than a serving size, the desired size I see locally. Growth really slows down once our bass hit about 1.5 lbs, so economics of production favor smaller fish too. As soon as you start using live forage, your production costs are going to skyrocket. I recommend you use a fish formulated for carnivorous species with a protein content in the range of 38 to 44% crude protein that is really low in terms of carbohydrate content. You are likely to have trouble finding a supplier that can provide feed you need that is economical on a small scale. We are certainly having the issue. Volume needed to get price down is on the order of tons per batch purchased.

If you use the typical salmonid diet, then you are likely to get into winter mortality issues related to problems caused by carbohydrate processing changes imposed on the liver.

Be cautious guys. In many states the sale of any gamefish (most all pond fish other than CC) is prohibited including to restaurants. The exceptions are registered aquaculture facilities (hatcheries and commercial growers). Be sure to check about this in your location.

I have to deal with that sort of crap all the time and work to educate people on the facts. My fish are farm-raised, not fish of the state. They are approved for culture and sale in my state and most others in the midwestern US. Most any fish species from a cultured source can be sold as food-fish. Key is showing they are from a cultured source if requested by fish and game folks, which is easy to do if you have a combination of aquaculture permit and proof of origin for stock on the farm.

JimW is as usual absolutely correct. If you want to grow fish for the restaurant trade /use you have to use pellet feed for economics to make money. A local fish farm plus some Indiana Amish fellows grow LMB for mainly the oriental food Canadian delivery. The local farm uses Zeigler Silver Protein 40% fat10% with vitamin enhanced package. Not sure what the Amish use to feed the bass.

Hello.

Thank you Mr.Cody and Mr Wetzel.

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