Percid Culture in the US
Yellow Perch, Perca flavescens
Walleye, Sander vitreous
by
Jeffrey Malison
UW-Madison
UW-Stevens Point Northern Aquaculture
Demonstration Facility (NADF)
Coolwater Farms, LLC
600 km
Lake Mills State Fish Hatchery
RAS at NADF
Coolwater Farms, LLC
Yellow Perch Markets
Toronto
Green Bay
Detroit
Milwaukee
Toledo
Chicago
Rochester
Buffalo
Erie
Cleveland
Commercial Harvest of Yellow Perch
from the Great Lakes 1889-2005
Millions of lbs.
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
1900
1920
1940
Year
1960
1980
2005
Prices of Yellow Perch 1990present
¾ Wholesale in the round (100-150g)
$5.50 - 7.50/ kg
¾ Wholesale fillets (20-40g)
$15.00 - 20.00/ kg
(40-50% fillet yield)
¾ Retail fillets
$26.00 - 36.00/ kg
¾ Product substitution into the market: legal (e.g., cod),
illegal (zander)
Yellow Perch Aquaculture:
1980s - early 2000’s
RESEARCH - Establish basic production methods
¾ Broodstock management and spawning
¾ Pond management, fingerling production
¾ Fingerling feed-training
¾ RAS technology for grow-out
Yellow Perch Aquaculture:
1980s - early 2000’s
Numerous failed RAS businesses,
> $30 million losses 1990-present
¾ Lack of economic / technical information
(e.g., prices, density, water quality)
¾ Promotion of unproven systems / technology
Establish Production Parameters
and Costs for Yellow Perch Grow-out
(2002-2005)
¾
Flow-through
¾
Net Pen
¾
RAS
¾
Open pond
Initial
Size
(g)
Stocking
Density
Feeding
(# x
Regime *
1000/acre)
5
20
1
5
20
1
5
25
1
5
25
1
5
50
2
20
15
1
20
15
1
20
15
1
20
15
SR
20
15
2
20
20
1
20
25
1
20
25
1
20
25
SR
50
15
1
50
15
SR
50
15
2
Overall mean ± Standard error
Survival
(%)
Weight
Gain/Fish
(g)
Weight
Gain/Acre
(Lbs)
99.2
93.0
77.1
90.9
82.6
86.0
71.5
92.8
74.5
65.5
84.6
99.9
86.1
67.3
85.7
66.5
85.9
82.9 ± 2.6
51.7
54.8
44.2
58.5
54.9
50.3
56.9
57.9
65.5
62.4
49.5
37.1
52.2
71.5
57.2
78.7
69.7
57.2 ± 2.5
2257
2133
1.25
1812
3063
1.45
4813
1.48
1369
1162
1728
1456
1140
1685
2040
2010
2263
1.81
1336
970
1225
1910 ± 223 1.50 ± 0.12
Feed/Gain
Breakeven cost for 2 year grow-out
Production (lbs/ac/yr)
Feed to gain ratio
Category
Production costs
Item
fingerlings ($0.07/in)
feed
3000 approximate see text
1.5
Unit Unit cost No. of units
each
lb
$0.21
$0.33
$0.33
926,775
127,940
121,295
1st year cost
2nd year cost
$194,623
$42,220
Total cost
% of total
cost
% of operating
cost
$194,623
43.7
54.4
$82,247
$1,000
$920
$20,000
$21,000
18.4
0.2
0.2
4.5
4.7
23.0
0.3
0.3
5.6
5.9
$319,790
71.7
89.3
$5,803
$188
$5,991
1.3
0.0
1.3
1.6
0.1
1.7
$32,187
7.2
9.0
$357,968
165,811
$2.16
80.3
100.0
$40,027
herbicides
fuel (mower, ATV)
electricity
labor (unskilled)
($7.50 + 25% fringe)
gal
kwh
hr
$2.30
$0.09
$9.38
200
111,111
1,120
$500
$460
$10,000
$10,500
feed
labor
electricity
lb
hr
kwh
$0.33
$9.38
$0.09
2,160
96
13,000
$713
$900
$1,170
$500
$460
$10,000
$10,500
Overwinter costs
$713
$900
$1,170
Total production costs
Sales/Marketing costs
ice
pickup charge
lb
mile
interest on operating capital
for 555 days (1.52 years)
%
$0.07
$1.25
82,906
150
$5,803
$188
Total sales/marketing costs
Miscellaneous
6.5
Total operating cost
Production (lbs)
Breakeven operating cost per lb.
Annual ownership costs
total annual depreciation
(investment/useful life)
$3,588
$3,588
$7,177
1.6
$25,355
$2,000
$3,000
$10,000
$25,355
$2,000
$3,000
$10,000
Total annual ownership cost
$50,709
$4,000
$6,000
$20,000
$87,886
11.4
0.9
1.3
4.5
19.7
Total annual cost
Production (lbs)
Breakeven total cost per lb.
$445,854
165,811
$2.69
100.0
interest on investment
r.e.taxes
insurance
repairs
Breakeven Costs for Yellow
Perch Grow-out
SYSTEM
Flow-through
Net pen
RAS
Open pond 1 year
Open pond 2 year
Cost/kg
$12.10*
$10.56*
$15.10*
$6.60
$5.92
¾ Wholesale in the round
*$9.00 + fingerlings
*$6.34 + fingerlings
*$12.60 + 20% owner.
$5.50 - 7.50/ kg
Yellow Perch Fingerling Costs
SYSTEM
Flow
Net Pen
RA S
O pen po nd – 1 year
O pen po nd – 2 year
% O F TOT AL COS T
25
40
30
76
45
Current Aquaculture Production
of Yellow Perch
Fingerlings
~50 producers - Nebraska, Dakotas,
Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, Northeast, Carolinas
7,000,000 - 15,000,000 fingerlings/year
For grow-out and private pond stocking,
no stocking of public waterways
Grow-out
Ohio, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Michigan, Northeast
< 500,000 kg/year
Yellow Perch Aquaculture
Research Needs
¾ Fingerling Production - reduce costs, improve efficiency
¾ Grow-out - improve growth rates and production efficiency
¾ System-specific improvements
Yellow Perch Aquaculture
Research Needs
¾ Fingerling Production - Out of Season Spawning
Photothermal manipulations have had some limited
success (Dabrowski, Malison, Goetz/Binkowski)
Yellow Perch Aquaculture
Research Needs
Fingerling Production - Indoor Tank Culture
¾ Not commonly practiced, little research
¾ Problems - small gape, undeveloped digestive system,
scoliosis, lack of swim bladder inflation
1. Formulated diets
2. Artemia - formulated diets
3. Greenwater (algae, rotifers?) - artemia - formulated diets
Yellow Perch Aquaculture
Research Needs
Fingerling Production - Pond-Tank Culture
¾ Commonly practiced, highly variable production
¾ Pond Stage 4-6 weeks, 5-30 mm TL
Fertilization: Organic, inorganic, combination?
How does fertilization affect potential food organisms?
Identification of best initial food: algae, rotifers, small
cladocerans, ostracods, or ???
¾ Tank Stage 2 weeks
Feed training environmental variables
New diets, flavor enhancements (krill)
Yellow Perch Aquaculture
Research Needs
Grow-out - improve growth rates
¾ Monosex female production:
Methyl-testosterone treatment of fingerlings,
subsequent use of sperm from genetic females
(awaiting drug approval) Malison
¾ Genetic selection
2 groups (Goetz/Binkowski and Wang)
conducting population genetics and performance
testing; development of microsattelites and cDNA
libraries
Yellow Perch Aquaculture
Research Needs
Grow-out - improve production efficiency
Nutrition studies (Brown, Dabrowski, Garling)
Protein / Amino Acid / Lipid requirements
Trout diets commonly used (e.g., 40% protein, 10% lipid)
Yellow Perch Aquaculture
Research Needs
System-specific improvements
RAS: Increase efficiency of ammonia / nitrite removal
Pond: Weed control, increase harvest efficiency
Yellow Perch Aquaculture
Outreach Needs
¾ Education
¾ Dissemination of ACCURATE Information
Walleye Aquaculture
• Popular Sport- and Food-fish
• Large Production of Fingerlings
for Sport-fish Enhancement
• No Food-fish Production (lower
price than yellow perch due to balanced
supply/demand)
Walleye Aquaculture
Walleye Aquaculture
Fingerling Production
• Generally conducted in ponds
Up to 35 mm TL:
High density (~100,000 / ha)
Fertilized ponds (different methods than for yellow
perch) Cladocerans, other plankton, then insects
Up to 250 mm TL:
Low density (~20,000 / ha)
Supplemental forage fish
Walleye Aquaculture
Fingerling Production
• Some intensive tank culture
Larger fry than yellow perch, formulated larval foods
Resolution of swim bladder inflation problem
(Summerfelt)
Out-of-season spawning (Malison)
Walleye Aquaculture
Potential for Grow-out?
• Document Production Parameters and Costs
• Use / combine recent technologies
• Fast growing hybrid (S. vitreous f. x S. canadense m.)