Monday, January 24, 2011

Farming fish on the prairies

Mark McNaughton shakes a handful of pellets across the dark water and watches it start to roil. The placid surface hiding hundreds of sleek tilapia explodes with a slap and splatter. Almost as quickly, the fish slip back down to the bottom of the tank; only the paler ones remain visible, ghostlike under the water.

Here, in a converted hog barn surrounded by acres of snow-covered grain fields, McNaughton and his family raise tens of thousands of the freshwater fish before shipping them live to stores in Calgary and Edmonton. It's unexpected, the idea of raising fish on the bald prairie, but it's not as unusual as it once was, says McNaughton, who also heads up the Alberta Aquaculture Association.

There are 10 fish farms in Alberta, three of which focus on tilapia; the rest raise trout and a few also have carp. Tilapia has been farm-raised for decades and is second only to carp for being the most cultured fish around the world. Read more...

This blog is written by Martin Little The Aquaculturists, published and supported by the International Aquafeed Magazine from Perendale Publishers.
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