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INVESTIGATOR: McNulty, S.; Butts, IA, AN.; Chiles, SA, .; Roy, LU, .; Kelly, AN, .; Abdelrahman, HI, .

PERFORMING INSTITUTION:
AMERICAN SPORT FISH HATCHERY MANAGEMENT GROUP LLC
8007 TROY HIGHWAY
PIKE ROAD, ALABAMA 36064

PRODUCTION OF LARGEMOUTH BASS FOR THE FOOD FISH MARKET USING COMMERCIAL SPLIT-POND SYSTEMS

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: SummaryLargemouth bass (LMB) production for the foodfish market is growing in the US. Traditionally, LMB producers in the US have relied on traditional earthen ponds as their primary production system for culturing this species. Yearly, LMB producers in the southeastern US using traditional earthen ponds as the primary productionunit are plagued by low survival, slow growth, poor food conversion ratio, losses to bird depredation, water quality problems, and several disease issues. LMB producers believe these production-related obstacles inherit theculture in traditional earthen ponds, have translated to reduced efficiency and profitability of domestic LMB farming operations, and are further inhibiting the growth of thisaquaculture sector.Our goal is to determine if the use of a split-pond system (SPS) will be more profitable. The use of SPS has been demonstrated in research settings but it needs to be investigated on a functioning fish farm on a commercial scale. The SPS uses roughly 20% of the pond for fish production and the remaining 80% for water treatment. As a result, feeding is more efficient and water quality is improved. The advantages of the SPS for LMB production can revolutionize the production of this expanding food fish species in the US. This project will evaluate the production performance, water quality, fish health metrics, and the economic feasibility of raising LMB in SPS compared to traditional earthen ponds.

OBJECTIVES: The two main goals of this project are to demonstrate that split pond systems (SPS) are more profitable than traditional earthen pond production for large-mouth bass (LMB) and that the systems lend themselves to expansion and commercialization.Technical Objectives1.) Evaluate production performance of LMB raised in commercial-scale SPS compared to traditional earthen ponds2.) Evaluate water quality and fish health metrics between LMB cultured in commercial-scale SPS andtraditional earthen ponds3) Using enterprise budgets, compare the economic feasibility of raising LMB in commercial-scaleSPS andtraditional earthen ponds