Another very interesting thought that backs up what experts like Lusk tell us -- fish convert food at about 2:1. This was like a "I could'a had a V-8" moment.
This year I'll again feed about 350 pounds of pellets to my fish. Based on last year, I expect that I will take out about 175 pounds (live weight) of fish. Duh! These will be for our dinner table and as gifts to friends. It will provide 50- 75 lbs. of edible meat. The feeding doesn't include all the natural forage, like tadpoles, frogs, bugs, and natural nutrients.
The harvest will include adults grown from native pond offspring and the addition of purchased trout and catfish. The trout and catfish should grow at least 50%, but hopefully 100% before harvest.
At my current average of $0.40 a pound for pellets, that comes out to about $0.80 per pound of live fish. My trout and catfish cost $1.75 each for about a 1 lb. fish from the hatchery. Add a $40 tank of gas to that for each type of fish -- $80. It takes a couple of gallons of gasoline in the riding lawnmower to trim around the pond every two weeks in the summer. It takes several gallons of diesel fuel to bushhog and do bank cleanup with the bigger tractor and backhoe.
From my calculations -- if I were selling fillets, they would have to sell for $20 - $30 per pound.
Since this is a hobby, that is fine. I can't even begin to put a price on the enjoyment from my fish and pond -- plus knowing that my fish are probably pretty healthy and safe.
It is about the same for our chickens. But, it doesn't make sense to eat my chickens. They are better off dying of old age. The eggs and fertilizer are far more important. A delicious fully cooked rotisserie chicken at Costco is $4.95. If that were my chicken, I'd have over $20 invested in it.
Cecil has it right on many fronts. We need a "rant forum." (Sorry for this long ranting post.) Secondly, if any of us should become crazy enough to ever try and raise fish commercially, they need to be sold for something other than food.
Ken
