Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Many fish farms in Ohio!

I am wondering why there is a good number of fish farms in Ohio. Ohio pond owners are lucky. A few are closer to me than the ones in my own state and carry species seemingly not sold in Michigan - HSB, RES, tilapia. I checked the Michigan DNR websites and can't find any restrictions about a private citizen (me) bringing these species into a private pond with no inlets/outlets.

So, what is driving the business in Ohio? Lots of local pond owners? Ideal weather? Tax incentives for aquaculture?

One word, regulation! Michigan is extremely unfriendly to Aquaculture. It seems to live in a twighlit zone of oversight/licensing. It is technically supposed to be handled by Mdard, however the DNR, DEQ, and health dept also want oversight in licensing. The law and forms are simple enough, species from the list, privately controlled water, and containment. The state is trying to enforce a site plan approval process that would be the same for a single 1/4 acre farm pond or a million dollar facility which if you followed their recommendations would be 10s of thousands of dollars and months/years of planning plus around $3000 per year per species in disease testing.

Ouch!

Thanks for that clarification Dave. Very illuminating.

I think it may also explain why we have so many more posters from Ohio compared to Michigan. Sounds like it is much more difficult to be a hobbyist in Michigan.

I suspect that being surrounded by the world's greatest freshwater resource, the State of Michigan is hyper-sensitive about protecting it. After the last election, the regulation will only get worse.

The only popular pond fish on the Michigan prohibited list is the white amur. The state is very afraid of Asian carp entering the Great Lakes through Chicago, so white amur probably falls in that same category.

Also, much of the water recreation in Michigan is on the Great Lakes or the numerous natural lakes "Up North." Lots of second homes and cottages in the northern lower peninsula. This type of leisure is far more popular than being a pondmeister around here.

Not really the largest:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Baikal