Fish farm

[Roflcopter]

sorry if this is in the wrong fourm,but this topic is an "idea".Heres the story,i have retired from my job and have come upon the idea of fish farms.I have the land,money,and time to build one.Has anyone had a fish farm before or still have one?What would the size need to be?To give an idea,i am planning on raising walleye,LMB,SMB,oarfish(yes im aware that they can grow 20 feet)and many more to come.But do u MFKers think its worth a shot

 

[mike dunagan]

where is up north?

 

[Roflcopter]

why should i tell you?j/k im in Ohio

 

[Oddball]

Such n endeavor may prove unviable. More hatcheries close annually than are started up and see success. Gamefish farms are subsidized by the govt and survive through tax incentives and govt restocking contracts. If you live in an area with a large sportfishing demographic you may have a chance provided you have many hectares of ponds at your disposal.
Privately owned aquaculture farms are geared towards the pet industry, panfish species such as sunfish, and secondary species such as mosquitofish culture for anti mosquito programs.
I suggest doing alot of research first. Check out Fish Farming magazine, Northern Aquaculture magazine, etc. to see what you're facilities will require. Then check out suppliers such as Aquatic Ecosystems to see what the setup and maintenance costs will be.

 

[Havey]

Was the oar fish part a joke? Is that a deepwater salt fish.

 

[Roflcopter]

yes,i do live in an area of large sportfishing demographic.That was partially the other reason for building one.It would be very helpful.i have sketches and parimeters if i was to make one.

 

[jtrotter77]

I think he meant paddle fish.
I hope so anyways.
Also Oddball hit the nail on the head. If you are set moneywise and loosing money wont hurt you and its just out of love of the hobby I say give it a shot but I would start real small and see if it seems it will go somewhere. If so then expand if not you can use what you have for your own fish or sell the equipment. (if starting small I suggest you check out Aquatic Ecosystems. If breeding fish is what you want to do I suggest you take the money you were going to spend on having the ponds built ect.. have a building built. and set up some breeding ponds for various fish for the pet trade. Cichlids ect... You can set up large pools,breeding ponds. and have others set aside as growout pools. Anyways you get the idea. There are lots of ways you could go with that endeavor and there is a lot larger demand for aquarium fish. You may not sell 500 at a time as say you would bass fingerlings however you may sell 50 at a time on more regular basis and there are lots of various forums to sell aquarium fish on. Not near as many forums to sell pond stocking fish to.

 

[ddyerfamily]

I also live in Ohio.
I think it is too cold here.
If I had the money I would move to warmer climate.
Most fish farms are south U.S. or South America ect........
They also have the ability to collect and breed far far better species including saltwater fish.(you could catch wild cichlids )

Agree with previous posts about breeding aquarium fish Indoors.
Would be best and warmer....I hate the winters here !
I had a horse and hated doing the daily chores to care for the horse,
Outside in the Ohio winters......you know.

I have read about indoor facilities with concrete pools and preordered ready made fish farming tanks.(hard plastic)
Around here that equals many Walmart swimming pools ..

 

[fishdance]

An ornamental hobby fish keepers forum like this is the wrong place to get this type of advice. I suggest you try some aquaculture sources. There are many facets to fish farming such as ornamental, food, sport fish etc and these can be further specialised into hatchery, growout, saltwater, niche markets or simply trading (wholesale or retail). I belong to a few Australian Industry groups which isnt helpful for you but I am confident there will be others more relevant to you.

 

[Roflcopter]

I also live in Ohio.
I think it is too cold here.
If I had the money I would move to warmer climate.
Most fish farms are south U.S. or South America ect........
They also have the ability to collect and breed far far better species including saltwater fish.(you could catch wild cichlids )

Agree with previous posts about breeding aquarium fish Indoors.
Would be best and warmer....I hate the winters here !
I had a horse and hated doing the daily chores to care for the horse,
Outside in the Ohio winters......you know.

I have read about indoor facilities with concrete pools and preordered ready made fish farming tanks.(hard plastic)
Around here that equals many Walmart swimming pools ..

Maybe I'll do a chiclid breeding ponds.Maybe try to re-create some of there natural habitats.Maybe setup in an indoor breeding pond for rays.Thats what im goning to do.Setup a pond indoors for rays!!!And SOME native fish.