Practical Experience with Cage Culture

Practical Experience with Cage Culture

The Viability of Farm Pond Aquaculture

Paul Catanzaro of Chesterfield MA received a grant to explore cage culture. Here is what he learned.
click here to download this document in Microsoft Word format (1.5 MB)

Grant Report – Agreement #10 – G04 - SEMAC

Producer:
Paul Catanzaro
Chesterfield, MA

Tools of the Trade – Producer’s canoe and first cage

Introduction

I am not a typical producer. I do not deal in thousands of fish, but in tens and hundreds. I am, however, a very typical pond owner. Like many people who own a pond, I wanted very much to grow fish for my own food and recreation. Three years ago I set out to turn my “crazy idea” of raising fish into a reality. With the help and support of the Western Massachusetts Center for Sustainable Aquaculture, UMass Extension, SEMAC and the MA Department of Agricultural Resources, I am, as they say, living the dream. Thanks to the assistance of these organizations, I have moved from crazy idea, to experimental pilot project and now to a start-up small business. In the mean time, I have demonstrated that my operation is both economically viable and ecologically sustainable. This report serves as documentation of the results of my efforts turning an experiment into a small business. It discusses the two-year background which led me to apply for the grant as well as my experience and results implementing the grant.

Property Description

I own 15 acres with a pond in the town of Chesterfield, MA. The pond is approximately 100’ at its longest axis and 50’ across. The pond was built in the mid-1950s through a joint effort of the US Fish and Wildlife and MA Department of Agricultural Resources trout pond program. As was typical of the trout ponds built through this program, it is kidney shaped with an original depth of 8-10 feet. The pond was created by building a causeway of boulders across an intermittent stream and then digging out the area behind the causeway. Over the last five decades, the pond has filled in, mostly with run off from the town dirt road, to an average depth of two to three feet. Near the causeway, I am fortunate to have a couple of holes that are four feet deep. Although not ideal, these holes are just deep enough for cage culture.

Looking from the pond inlet to the causeway. The cage bought through the SEMAC Grant is just in front of the causeway. The foreground shows vegetation growing on the sediment bar that has developed over time. The pond’s depth grades from a few inches in the foreground to four feet along the causeway where the cage is located.

View of the pond’s longest axis. Stream inlet is in the top right corner. Cage and causeway are on the left.

Getting Started

The first step in making my dream a reality was to attend a baitfish workshop delivered by the MA Department of Agricultural Resources. It was at this workshop that I first learned of the technical assistance offered by the Western Massachusetts Center for Sustainable Aquaculture. I saved the contact information and when I had moved onto my property, I initiated contact with the center.

My phone call was returned by Keith Wilda and I communicated to Keith my objectives for the pond. Keith agreed to come out for a field visit. During his field visit, Keith explained to me the opportunities to not only raise fish, but to sell them as well. Keith went on to test my water and assess my pond for species suitability. I became a demonstration pond and for the next two years I began to learn about growing fish. As a demonstration pond owner, I was given a cage (4’x4’x4’), fish in the spring when the water rose to a suitable temperature, generally April or May, and feed. I then grew the fish out until the fall, generally September or October. In each of the first two years I was given fish to grow out and then at the end of the growing season, I donated the fish back to the program to use at fishing derbies.

My two years as a demonstration pond gave me the opportunity to try raising fish and to learn the necessary skills to get started. Importantly, it also gave me the opportunity to try aquaculture to see if it was a fit with my goals, time and resources. At the end of the two years I decided that aquaculture was something I wanted to pursue and had gained enough knowledge and confidence to move forward towards a small business.

Current Operation: Cage Culture

Fish cages offer an efficient way to feed and harvest fish. Fish cages also offer cover to protect fish from predators. I paddle my canoe out to the cages once a day, pour feed in, inspect the cages and check for mortality. Approximately once a month, I pull fish from the cage and inspect them to see how they are growing and if there are any health issues. At harvest time, I pull the cage to shore where I can wade in and net the fish to fill an order. Cage culture provides me an efficient way to raise and harvest fish with low mortality.

After my first demonstration year, I retained 20, 12-14” large-mouth bass and released them into the pond. Within a few weeks, all of the bass were gone. I hadn’t even time to wet a line. Future sightings of a three-foot long otter and a blue heron in the adjacent beaver pond left little room for doubt that cage culture was indeed a good fit.

As I will discuss below, there is a minimum number of fish needed to make growing fish financially viable. In order to reach financial viability, it is necessary to increase my production. As a part of my SEMAC grant, I purchased a cage. Because of the shallow nature of my pond (4’) it was important to get a cage that would not rest on the bottom. The cage I bought is 3’ tall (see picture below) and for most of the year provides a minimally adequate space between the fish and the pond. The cage is also rounded which has reduced the amount of feeding abrasions on the fish mouths because of the lack of corners. The extra cage doubles my capacity for raising fish. Depending on the species and their size at the time of purchase, I am able to raise 100-130 fish per cage. This year I put 130, 6-8” brown trout in the new cage in late June.

My pond depth has limited my operation both in terms of number of cages, and therefore fish, but also in terms of my ability to grow fish out. At present I am only able to buy in at a size that will grow into marketable sizes within one growing season. The shallow nature of the pond has made me very cautious to try over wintering fish. As a part of this year’s operation, however, I have kept 20 – 12” brown trout in the cage. I have placed the cage in a 4’ hole which lies in the current that the feeder stream turns into when it enters the pond. I’m hoping that this cage placement will offer me the highest oxygen levels with the lowest amount of ice. The ability to over winter fish would allow me to buy fish smaller and grow them out to larger lengths. It would also offer me the ability to market some large individuals. Time and winter conditions will dictate the success of this trial.

Three-foot high, rounded cage purchased through SEMAC grant. The cage has carefully been placed in a four foot hole in front of the causeway in the current of the feeder stream in the hopes that I will be able to over winter fish in the pond.

Results

Of the 130 brown trout that were brought in to grow out, I had 9 mortalities (or 6.9% of the total). The mortalities were larger fish and may have been due to low oxygen levels. This was the first year that I tried growing brown trout. I was pleased with the results, but must also recognize that because of the cool and wet nature of this past summer, that they may have done better than would normally be the case.

I sampled 30 fish at the point of one of my sales in early October. Of those 30 fish, 27 of them graded out in the 10-12” size class and 3 in the 12-14” class.

One of the difficulties of my current operation is the inability to easily grade fish. This results in a much courser sort at the time of sale and ultimately, most likely, less profit. Next year I am planning on building a simple floating sorting box to give me finer sorts.

Ecological Sustainability: Water Quality

In order to be successful, the operation simply cannot be detrimental in any way to the local watershed. Unlike traditional forms of agriculture that take place in the uplands, there is no opportunity to mitigate impacts through BMPs such as riparian areas when the operation happens in the water. I wanted to see if my operation is having a negative affect on my local watershed. I also want to be able to speak knowledgably about water quality impacts if questions are raised in the future by neighbors or the local conservation commission. To this end, the SEMAC grant bought me a LaMotte Aquaculture Water Testing kit. I sampled water once a month from July through November. Below are the results:

Given the above results, I feel very comfortable that my operation is not having a significant impact on my local watershed’s water quality. However, I do realize that the sampling intensity was very low and that the summer was unusually cool and wet. I will therefore continue monitoring water quality and seek out a more rigorous method for which to do so. The development of my aquaculture operation will be done with water quality as the foremost concern.

Economic Viability

When deciding weather or not to pursue a small pond aquaculture operation it is important to evaluate how much profit you need to make it worth your while. It is very important not to have unrealistic expectations of how much money can be made through pond aquaculture. This is NOT a get rich quick scheme by any stretch!!

Profit on the sale of fish will of course vary according to size and species. It is always dangerous to speak in generalities, but at the same time it is important that people know the ball park income opportunities. I have grown out three species of fish: large mouth bass, yellow perch, and brown trout in my first three years. Given the current market I feel it is possible to gross approximately $600 - $900 per cage of large mouth bass and about $300 - $500 per cage of yellow perch and brown trout.

There is a minimum number of fish, and therefore cages, that are necessary to make a small operation, such as mine, minimally profitable. Cost of small fish brought in to grow out varies greatly depending on the species and size you choose. A permit is $100.00 and feed is approximately $25/cage per year. Other equipment such as cages, nets, graders, waders, slip on tank, aerator, travel costs, reference materials, etc… must also be considered.

I am a sundowner. I obviously have to work a regular job and then do this after hours. Time to feed the fish on a daily basis in minimal (10 minutes/day) depending on the distance from the house to the pond, but it is daily which requires making arrangements if you are going out of town. I estimate approximately 40 hours a season for raising the fish, which does not count picking the fish up to bring them to the pond or delivery of the fish at the end of the season. You must decide if you will count your time towards evaluating your final profit needs. I do not count feeding time, I normally chalk that up to a daily walk for relaxation to feed the fish. I do, however, count my time to pick the fish up and deliver them.

It is very important to remember that growing fish does not make money, selling them does! Marketing the fish is crucial. In this, my first year of selling fish, I made three sales. I sold and delivered fish to a boy scout camp, a rod and gun club, and a private pond owner. This would not have been possible without the slip on delivery tank and aerator that this grant provided me. Without the ability to transport fish it is difficult, and more costly, to bring in fish and near impossible to get your fish to customers. Transporting fish is a serious roadblock to developing an operation. Investing in a tank and aerator can make it difficult to make a profit at the scale at which I am operating. Although, the tank is absolutely critical to the success of an operation it should also be noted that, depending on the size of the operation, it is only used a few times a year. Future projects and growers may want to consider a delivery tank and aerator system that can be shared amongst several producers.

Like any business, pond aquaculture must at least pay for itself and return a reasonable profit for time and expenses. At the very least, I need to pay for my “aquaculture habit”. For my operation and income goals I feel as though two cages puts me close to covering expenses and making a few hundred dollars. Next year I will add a third cage, probably the limit for the size of my pond. The more cages, the more marketing, but I feel it is a critical mass of fish to make the operation financially viable. Without the investment of the SEMAC grant, it would be much more difficult to get going.

Concluding Remarks

Like many landowners, I want to, “do something with my land”. Small scale, aquaculture offers an opportunity to engage your land and produce a local agricultural product. I believe it also has the opportunity to help diversify existing agricultural operations and natural resource income opportunities.

In discussing the SEMAC grant in the context of what led me to it, I hope to demonstrate what it took to bring this novice into a position that makes it possible to pursue a small business. I also hope to help point out opportunities and pitfalls to those looking to start a small pond operation and those that look to support them.

High resolution photos of fish - available until April 9, 2005