1. Food Fish Aquaculture Cortney Ohs, Ph.D. University of Florida Indian River Research and Education Center School of Forest Resources and Conservation Program in Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences

2. Topics to Cover Food fish – Hybrid Striped Bass – Catfish – Tilapia

4. Source: US Dept of Agriculture; 2005 1 Includes clam seed 2 Hybrid striped bass, largemouth bass, carp, and sturgeon 3 Includes baitfish, crustaceans, and other aquatics

5. Food Fish in Florida

6. Limitations to Food Fish in FL One company producing food – High shipping costs of feed ingredients No large scale processing facilities – Sell local, live, whole on ice, or transport to processor

7. Hybrid Striped Bass Striped Bass female X White Bass male = Original Cross or Palmetto Bass White Bass female X Striped Bass male = Reciprocal Cross or Sunshine Bass

8. Phases of Production Hatchery – Indoor, spawning controlled by hormone injections Phase I – Larvae stocked into fertilized ponds and grown for 30 – 60 days, harvested, size graded, and feed trained Phase II – Feed trained fish stocked into ponds at 1-3 inches and harvested at 8-10 inches Phase III - Phase II fish size graded, restocked, and grown to market size

9. Production Systems Ponds, Net Pens, Tanks

14. Marketing Live Fresh on ice

17. Hybrid Striped Bass in FL 2007 Production 4 producers 562,000 pounds total production 40,000 pounds sold live for $3.25/lb 522,000 pounds sold fresh for $3.00/lb

18. Hybrid Striped Bass in FL Production trends similar throughout US Some farms are expanding their production capabilities Increase in demand Steady price for two decades Increase in production costs

19. Nature’s Catch - Clarksdale, MS

20. Kent Sea Tech - California

21. Design of Cages

22. Cages

23. Catfish Production - Stages Broodfish maturation Hatchery and fry production Fingerling production Foodfish production

24. Broodfish Maturation

25. Fry Production

26. Fingerling Production

27. Feeding Catfish Ponds

28. Harvesting

29. Catfish in FL 2007 Production 12 Producers - all located in the panhandle 500 A of ponds Production of 6000-8000 pounds/A Larger fish produced 2+ lbs Harvested fish are live hauled to a S. AL processing facility Price decreasing and feed prices increasing Increasing grain prices are devastating industry

30. Mozambique Tilapia Red Tilapia Commonly Cultured Tilapias Blue Tilapia Nile Tilapia

31. Males dig and defend a nest Females incubate eggs and defend the fryReproduction

32. Incubating Eggs Yolk-sac Fry Eggs can be removed from females: Mouth Brooders

33. 40 days after stocking brood fish 18 days after stocking brood fish Fry can be harvested:

34. Tilapia Production in Asia

35. Feeds low on the food chain – lower protein requirement Accepts wide range of feeds Resistant to poor water quality, disease and handling Good flesh quality Fingerlings easy to produce year round Advantages of Tilapia Culture

36. One hatchery and a few small producers Production costs are too high U. S. producers can’t compete with producers in tropical climates for processed tilapia Most tilapia are sold live or fresh on ice Fresh filets are imported from Central and South America Frozen whole tilapia and filets are imported from Asia Tilapia Culture in Florida

37. Marine Species Variety of species — cobia, flounder, pompano, black seabass, snapper, baitfish

38. Contact Information Cortney L. Ohs, Ph.D. University of Florida Indian River Research and Education Center 2199 S. Rock Road Fort Pierce FL 34945 (772) 468-3922 ext. 130 cohs@ufl.edu http://irrec.ifas.ufl.edu/aquaculture/