Sturgeon Help!!
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Those are some fatty ovaries! Do you ever work with Peter Steinbach? We used to fly him in from Germany for consultations. One day I hope to consult!
We have seen fat like that in a small fraction of our fish. I have always wondered if it could be reduced by sustained exercise, as fat is the primary fuel for aerobic muscle.
We have seen fat like that in a small fraction of our fish. I have always wondered if it could be reduced by sustained exercise, as fat is the primary fuel for aerobic muscle.
We tried to fight fat and did not feed the obese fish for 4 months or more, but unfortunately this did not lead to any results other than the death of some weakened specimens
We came to the conclusion that strongly obese fish are not suitable for healing and are rejected from the broodstock.
At present, we have few such fish, since after 3 years of cultivation we began to make artificial wintering at 10 degrees Celsius and reduced the percentage of feeding and fat content of feed.
We came to the conclusion that strongly obese fish are not suitable for healing and are rejected from the broodstock.
At present, we have few such fish, since after 3 years of cultivation we began to make artificial wintering at 10 degrees Celsius and reduced the percentage of feeding and fat content of feed.
I spoke with our consultant about this before, and he mentioned that dietary fat actually helps remove fat from the body, particularly body fat from carbohydrates. He couldn't remember exactly why though.
There is an increasing amount of research being done on exercise in aquaculture. I'm actually about to give a presentation on it. Since lipids are the primary fuel for sustained swimming, I would be surprised if it couldn't help. It improves lipid mobilization in the tissue, so it may work for getting the fat out. Since we are a RAS farm, our largest, oldest fish usually get the slowest moving water since they eat less and need less oxygen. For that reason they tend to get fat. These are fish that we still have because they never produced eggs, but maybe increased fitness could help some of them. When the owner of a Chinese sturgeon farm came to visit he said "those fish look fat, maybe you can make them swim more". There was some interest in testing this but the farm was sold and the interest went away. I would still like to see if it works though!
We did this experiment for 6 months and kept obese fish in round pools with high water flow, we hoped that they would swim in a circle against the current, the result of which would decrease the amount of fat.
Unfortunately the fish did not care, they kept at the bottom and did not want to swim)))
Here, they solve both the temperature and flow problems by running natural streams through the sturgeon farms. High water flow has been shown in many fish to induce growth, and I believe it's true for sturgeon, too. The water never gets too warm in these farms yet they grow like hell.
P Pomatomus : If you are in FL, how high are the prices you can sell the sturgeon/caviar at? It would seem that the costs of chilling the water are very high, and most farms in Florida usually stock subtropical/tropical fish.
P Pomatomus : If you are in FL, how high are the prices you can sell the sturgeon/caviar at? It would seem that the costs of chilling the water are very high, and most farms in Florida usually stock subtropical/tropical fish.
Very interesting. My fish biology professor noted this behavior in Gulf sturgeon when the water velocity was above the Ucrit. Maybe it was too fast! Who knows. I'm glad you looked into it though - that is good information!
We sell both wholesale and retail, so the price can vary. We also have different grades that go for different prices. Our retail price for 1oz is $95 and the deal gets better as you buy more. Wholesale prices are lower. Yes, chilling costs are high but we only have to chill our large systems for 5-6 months out of the year. We make up for it by growing the fish faster (at higher temperatures) and we go from fertilized eggs to caviar fish in 4-5 years. Honestly, I think the idea is good but we could maximize our profits if we were a little further North, maybe in North Florida or somewhere in Georgia. That would allow us to keep relatively warm water with less chilling costs.
