To start a business such as sturgeon breeding, a mini-farm is best suited. Sturgeon caviar and sturgeon meat are in stable demand, and competition is still low. Sturgeon is unpretentious, to grow it, you do not need a large amount of special knowledge.
Varieties of sturgeon
What are the subtleties of sturgeon breeding? A mini-farm can become a profitable venture, as the sturgeon is listed in the Red Book and is not caught in natural reservoirs. This deficit amid the popularity of meat and caviar creates good conditions for business.
For breeding, quick-growing sturgeon breeds are used:
- Siberian;
- Amur
- white;
- sterlet;
- bester.
Beluga, spike, stellate sturgeon can be bred in fish farms, but they grow and ripen slowly.
Products for sale
What products does sturgeon breeding provide? The mini-farm will not give eggs in the first 6-8 years. In order to pay off the costs of keeping fish, farms sell sturgeon meat. It could be:
- live fish;
- smoked fish;
- canned sturgeon;
- soup sets;
- liver;
- squeal.
For smoked production fish and canned food will need additional production. But processed products will cost more. The ultimate goal of the farm is to obtain caviar.
Prospects
How promising is sturgeon breeding? The mini-farm can pay off in 2-3 years after the start of work. About three thousand dollars will have to be spent on the purchase of equipment. For feed and utilities - $ 500, about 1,000 for the purchase of quality fry. In general, the initial cost will cost about 5 thousand dollars.
How expensive is sturgeon breeding (mini-farm)? The price of equipment can be reduced if you make the part yourself or order a small company.
The income from the sale of one sturgeon averages $ 6. Accordingly, a small farm can bring 3.5 thousand dollars a year, and this is at the initial stage, excluding caviar production.
The natural loss of fry can be up to 30%, this is the norm for captivity. In the natural habitat, only about three percent of fry survive and grow up to puberty.
By the age of six months, the sturgeon can gain mass in half a kilogram. At this age, fish can already be taken to restaurants, as it is ideal for making portioned dishes. Peer fry grow unevenly. Dominant fish get more food and gain weight faster.
The first production cycle ends when even the weakest fry reach the desired mass. This happens after about 8-9 months. After this, you can get your first income and purchase a new batch of fry.
The mini-farm will be controlled by SES. Water samples are taken twice a year, and sturgeon will be checked. You will need to submit documentation for fry and feed. At the initial stage, the business will require serious investments, the payback period will be quite long. The entrepreneur will begin to receive serious profit after the fish have reached maturity.
Ultrasound
How to organize sturgeon breeding (mini-farm)? A business plan starts with costs. What is required to start a business?
- Equipment.
- The room.
- Reservoirs.
- Malek.
- Feed.
The farm can be organized in its own courtyard, but then you will have to build the main and auxiliary premises. Breeding sturgeon (mini-farm) at home in small areas is impossible, as equipment and pools take up a lot of space.
Sturgeon loves running clean water.It is difficult to organize suitable conditions in a natural body of water, so an ultrasound will be more convenient.
UZV is an installation of closed water supply, fish farming modules for growing fish. The ultrasound consists of:
- reservoirs;
- filters for water purification and compressor;
- oxygen generator;
- UV lamps for disinfecting water;
- heaters;
- pipelines;
- sensors.
Water in the ultrasound system is in constant motion. It is filtered and enriched with oxygen, and then returned back to the tanks. Part of the contaminated water is discharged into the sewer, part is evaporated, so you need to constantly replenish its volumes.
Nutrition
A very important point in fish farming is nutrition. Food should be selected carefully, because the health and growth rate of fish depends on it in many respects. The food should not become sap and dissolve in water, as sturgeons live and feed in the lower layers of water. Granules of high-quality feed do not lose their shape for more than half an hour. Pay attention to the composition of the feed: it should contain all the substances necessary for fish.
For fry and adult fish, different granules are needed. Every 10 days, sturgeon is sorted by size and fed in different containers. At first you need to buy special food, but over time you can learn how to make it yourself.
Buying fry
It is from the fry that breeding of sturgeons begins (mini-farm). The cost of one fry is 2 euros. After the equipment is installed and the food is cooked, it is time to buy fry. It is quite difficult to breed sturgeon on your own, so you will have to buy them on large farms in the first couple.
The weight of the fry for sale is 5 grams. The further growth of fish depends on the quality of the fry, therefore, procurement must be treated carefully. Kids need to be fed 6 times a day, six-month-old fish - 4 times a day.
Adult fish and fry do not tolerate transportation. Compliance with the temperature regime and additional enrichment with oxygen will be required.
Offspring
Usually, fry are bought at large fish farms, however, sturgeon breeding on a mini-farm is also possible. In nature, sturgeon begins to breed at the age of ten (in captivity, this period is reduced), but reproductive age also lasts a long time - up to 18 years.
You can buy already adult females, then you will have to wait for eggs not so long, but such individuals will also be expensive. In captivity, due to favorable conditions, offspring can be obtained after six years. In order to stimulate the desire of fish to reproduce, you need a spacious pond.
To grow fry, you need special knowledge and an incubator. Caviar is fertilized artificially and placed in special containers, where it is washed with water and saturated with oxygen. After a week, larvae emerge from the eggs. In a month they will turn into fry. If the cultivation of fry is established, then it will be possible not only to save on purchase, but also to sell them to other small farms.
