How to breed sturgeon at home. Growing sturgeon at home

To sell sturgeon caviar today, you don’t even need to create active advertising. Due to the abundance of useful vitamins and trace elements in it, this product is in great demand among buyers.

The process of breeding sturgeon does not require any special knowledge and skills from you, you just need to purchase good equipment and take a responsible attitude to the business. Modern innovative technologies greatly help the farmer to make life easier, and if you invest well in the purchase of the necessary equipment, you can save some money on the wages of hired workers who will serve the farm. In any case, the decision is made by the entrepreneur himself, based on the size of the starting capital.

Business registration

You need to be prepared for the fact that sturgeon breeding is a troublesome business and there will be no profit at all for about a year and a half. This is due to the long period of growth of the fish, and only when it reaches a certain age, the fish will begin to work “for you”. Up to this point, you should take the time to register an entrepreneur.

In order to be able to run your own business, first of all, you need to enter your subsidiary plot with the OKVED code of the list of permitted activities in the register and obtain permission from Rosprirodnadzor. After paying the necessary fees and providing documents, the entrepreneur receives the right to conduct a legitimate business of growing and selling sturgeon.

Business Profitability

Many start-up entrepreneurs are interested in whether sturgeon cultivation at home is profitable and whether the business will bring profit. Let's make simple calculations: in order to get a ton of fish for sale, you need to buy about one and a half thousand fry, the price of each of which is 10-12 rubles.

• In total, the cost of buying young animals is about 15-20 thousand rubles.
• Fish food, expenses for lighting and heating for the entire period of growing fry will cost about 100 thousand more, so the cost of a kilogram of fish is 120 rubles.
• Restaurants and all kinds of shops are ready to purchase sturgeon at different prices (400-500 rubles/kg), so the net profit in the end will be at least 300 rubles.
• This is 300 thousand rubles a year, if you sell at least 100 kilograms of meat per month.

A novice businessman should be prepared for the fact that sales volumes will be somewhat less at first, but in general there is room for development.

You can hire auxiliary workers on the farm, whose main duties will be to monitor the purity of the water in the pools, cleaning and feeding the fish (if this process is not automated), as well as sorting the grown fish. If you have a room of up to 30 square meters, it is annually it is possible to grow 2-3 tons of sturgeons per year and at the same time spend no more than a couple of hours daily on work.

Farm arrangement

The technology for growing sturgeon is relatively simple, but there are several mandatory steps in creating a business:

1. selection and purchase of containers for growing fish;
2. purchase of all necessary materials and equipment, purchase of feed;
3. obtaining permits from veterinarians and sanitary and epidemiological stations;
4. purchase of sturgeon fry, fish care, feeding and cleaning the pond;
5. product sales.

Since it makes no sense to organize a whole farm to begin with, you can only make a small container with water, where to put the fry. A depth of just a meter is enough, and the diameter of the pool is 2-2.5 meters.

The entrepreneur gets the opportunity to service such a pool on his own, so there is no need to spend money on the wages of maintenance personnel and renting a large land plot for the pool. You can further reduce labor costs by purchasing automatic fish feeders.

The conditions for growing sturgeon imply the settlement of pools at the rate of 1 sq. meter per 50 kg of fish. The main difficulty at the stage of creating a business is that it can be difficult to get fry.

Initially, you can buy specialized food, and then learn how to cook it yourself. A prerequisite is that it should contain a balanced amount of fats, phosphorus, protein and other useful components. As soon as the fry reach a weight of about half a kilogram, they can already be sold to restaurants and shops.

Necessary equipment

First of all, you need to find a room with an area of ​​​​at least 50 square meters, conduct electricity, water supply and sewerage. Then buy such equipment for growing sturgeon:

• fish feed distributors. The best choice is automatic, because they save time and energy on feeding fish;
• pumps for pumping water in the pool. They should not work at full capacity, because they fail very quickly. Therefore, it is so important to correctly select them according to technical characteristics;
• oxygen generators, which also come in several types and have different costs. They provide the fish with vital oxygen, so you need to invest in these devices;
• sterilizers and filters, which will purify the water in the pool from debris, fish waste and particles of uneaten food. A lot of attention should also be paid to this, because dirty water in the pool is a direct road to the death of the entire sturgeon population and financial losses;
• measuring instruments, which will allow you to control the quality of water;
• incubators for the maturation of fish eggs and hatching of larvae. But here it is important to decide from the very beginning whether the sturgeon will be sold and grown in an incomplete or full cycle. If incomplete (fry are purchased and when they reach a certain age they are immediately sold to stores), then an incubator is not needed.

Feeding fish is carried out only with high-quality food, because this directly affects how quickly the fish grows and whether it will be healthy at the same time. You can buy expensive foreign brands, if the size of the initial capital allows, purchase local feed or cook them yourself.

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The Russian sturgeon is one of the most numerous representatives of the genus Acipenser. This fish can be successfully bred on your mini-farm using recirculating water supply systems - RAS (they allow not only to speed up the process, but also increase productivity) or in an artificial pond. With knowledge of breeding technology and maintaining optimal conditions, based on this idea, you can create a highly profitable business.

How to grow sturgeon at home?

The sturgeon inhabits the basins of the Black, Azov and Caspian Seas, the rivers flowing into them, creating local fish stocks. The body of the individual has an elongated, spindle-shaped shape, the snout is short, blunt. Coloration can vary greatly, as a rule, it is grayish-black, grayish-brown.

Breeding sturgeon at home is possible only if optimal environmental conditions are provided. You can create them in an artificial pond or by equipping a closed water supply installation. For the installation of the latter, you will need a land plot with a room or an insulated frameless hangar. The area should not be less than 30 m², the best option is 100 m². It is necessary to conduct electricity, water supply, sewerage to the building, provide heating (this can be done with your own hands).

But when creating a sturgeon reservoir, special attention should be paid to the layout of the soil bed, the provision of good water supply and the possibility of water discharge. It is good if the land plot will have a natural depression or the shape of a ravine with a gentle slope, a slight longitudinal slope. If in winter it will not be possible to maintain the optimal water temperature, then the sturgeon should be moved to the pool and returned to the pond only in the spring (a few days before this, it is necessary to increase the salinity of the water - up to 5%). In addition to these options, sturgeon can be bred in thermal sedimentation tanks near power plants. This makes it easier to maintain optimal temperature conditions. The growth rate of the fish stock is uneven, but on average they gain 500 g in 6-8 months.

To turn sturgeon breeding into a profitable business and do it legally, you need to legalize your activities. Owners of home fish farms work under the second group of taxation on a single tax. Classifier of types of economic activity (KVED) - freshwater fish farming, aquaculture. SES will not check the home farm, but for the veterinary service you need to prepare a certificate of form No. 1 for planting material, a certificate for feed and know that a water sample will be taken. In order to obtain the conclusion of the veterinary inspection, allowing the trade in sturgeon, you need to provide a few kilograms of products for analysis. will not be carried out, since from January 1, 2016 until the end of 2018, scheduled inspections of organizations, individual entrepreneurs in the field of small business are prohibited.

Commercial sturgeon breeding has begun to develop actively over the past 10-15 years. For the first time, this was done in countries where natural resources are limited (USA, Western Europe). Opening a fish farm is a profitable enterprise, because in many regions it is very limited, and the implementation is seasonal or spontaneous. There are many examples of successful implementation of this business idea in Russia.

Advice: to reduce the effect of stress factors - the use of feed that is not characteristic of fish, the impact of fish manipulations (weighing, sorting), - it is advisable to include probiotics in food.

Equipment for breeding sturgeon at home, price

The recirculating water supply installation consists of the following parts:

1. Pools for sturgeon (one costs about 14 thousand per 3 m³, they will need 4-10 pieces). They look like containers made of fiberglass and other materials, sometimes with viewing windows. Pools should allow you to quickly clean the water, see the herd well and not create traumatic situations (uneven rough surface, sharp corners).
2. Pipelines (about 5 thousand rubles).
3. Filtration system and pumps (100-500 thousand). It includes oxygen generator, mechanical and biofilter, UV unit. Needed to remove excess feed, feces from the water.

Also, at home, an emergency sturgeon life support system, a water treatment unit (for disinfection, temperature regulation, water saturation with oxygen) can be installed. There are ready-made fish-breeding modules on sale. The price (depending on performance) varies from 200 to 750 thousand rubles. Electricity consumption averages 3.7-5.5 kWh. In addition to the basic components of the system, you will need containers for transportation, disinfection of equipment, tables, cages, trays for breeding fry and hatching larvae, fish barriers, and foam traps. An artificial pond for breeding sturgeon also needs to be equipped. Mandatory components: filters, pump, UV lamps.

Experienced fish farmers say that to create a home farm, it will take about $3,000 to purchase equipment and an average of $1,000 to purchase fry and feed.

Advice: it is quite possible to make some equipment for breeding sturgeon with your own hands (pool, biofilter, heating system). Manufacturing instructions can be found online at specialized forums, websites, and in specialized literature.

In order to minimize risks and clearly understand the stages of development of a sturgeon farm at home, it is worthwhile, where all the nuances, necessary costs will be taken into account and the expected profitability will be calculated.

Do-it-yourself food for sturgeon fish

The speed and quality of fish growth directly depend on nutrition. Special equipment will help you accurately dose each meal at home, and special filters will purify the water from food debris and waste products in time. All processes in recirculating water supply installations are automated, and sensors control the hydrochemical parameters of water. Most beginner fish farmers prefer to provide adults and young fish with dry granulated feed. But you can make them with your own hands.

Advice: the optimum temperature for breeding sturgeon is 20-22°C.

There is no consensus on what proportions and composition of feeds are the best. Every experienced fish farmer has his own opinion on this matter. But the optimal nutrition schedule has long been developed. Fry should eat up to 12 times a day, adults - 6, preferably at the same time, then the frequency of food intake is reduced. The daily rate is calculated according to special feed tables, for example, according to Ponomarev. Food is given in small portions, following the palatability. It is important to know that different foods have different particle or granule sizes:

• starting (for larvae, young animals);
• production (for commercial sturgeon).

They must contain a sufficient amount of protein, fat, fiber, lysine, phosphorus. With experience, nutrient mixtures can be made independently. Underyearlings (young growth) of sturgeons feed on brine shrimp, tubifex, oligochaetes, daphnia zooplankton. After gaining weight more than 35 g, they begin to give starter feed. At the initial stage, it is better to use industrial products. Over time, adults can be fed nutrient mixtures made by oneself at home. They are prepared from minced fish, special flour, egg powder, yeast and premix (a mixture of dietary supplements, vitamins, minerals to enrich food). Also, different recipes often include wheat, peas, and soy sprat. The diet can be enriched with silkworms, brine shrimp, chlorella.

It is convenient to organize a fish farm in a country house or in a village, where there is a territory of the required size and the necessary conditions. In addition to this option, there are other opportunities to start, for example, to do, vegetables, strawberries in a greenhouse,.

Is it profitable to breed sturgeon at home?

Before opening your fish farm, it is important to determine the target market. The sturgeon is considered an industrially valuable fish. It makes it possible to obtain products such as:

• meat (raw, ice cream, salted, dried, smoked);
• caviar;
• glue (swimming bladders are used for manufacturing);
• food product vyazigu (dorsal string).

As a rule, sturgeon is grown at home to a weight of 500-600 g and sold. This product is relevant for owners of restaurants, shops, supermarkets, wholesale organizations, it can also be successfully sold on the market. Due to the downward trend in sturgeon stocks, prices for fish farm products are growing every year. In America and European countries, the market price for 1 kg of sturgeon meat is $18-22. In the domestic market, the cost of sturgeon starts from 500 rubles. According to experts, a fish farm with a capacity of about 5 tons per year gives the owner a profit of up to 2.5 million rubles, and profitability can reach 50-60%. In addition to meat, fish farmers successfully sell caviar and fry.

If the owner is not in a hurry to return the invested funds, then it is more profitable to keep the sturgeon for caviar. According to fish farmers, for 1 kg it will be possible to gain $ 700-900. If necessary, the RNKB bank can issue "For business development" in the amount of 500,000 to 70,000,000 rubles. (maturity - 6-60 months).

It is possible to create a profitable sturgeon farm by installing a recirculating water supply. It makes it possible to provide optimal conditions for the rapid growth of sturgeon in artificial conditions. The cost of a ready-made technological project for breeding, for example, 5 tons per year (including consultations and visits of specialists for setting up, launching the system) is not cheap. But you can create it with your own hands at home. Breeding sturgeon in recirculating water supply systems can greatly accelerate the growth of fish, reduce mortality compared to natural conditions.

The main conditions are compliance with the technology of sturgeon breeding in a closed water supply cycle, optimization of the temperature regime. It is these parameters that provide favorable conditions for productive consumption, the use of feed, an increase in the rate of growth and development, and oxygen consumption. It is important to remember that significant temperature fluctuations inhibit the growth of young animals. Also, for the intensity of production at home, the parameters of the stocking density of individuals and the saturation of water with oxygen, the stability of hydrochemical parameters are very important.

It is possible to increase the efficiency of artificial reproduction of sturgeon by changing the timing of obtaining reproductive products and breeding larvae and young. Therefore, mini-farms should be equipped with special temperature-controlled modules. It is desirable to keep the broodstock and breed young animals in water with high salinity.

In addition to meat, the farm owner will be able to sell caviar. But the process of its cultivation has its own characteristics. It is necessary at an early stage to determine the sex and allocate females to a separate herd. Under RAS conditions (unlike natural ones), the process of their maturation occurs faster due to the year-round content in water with an optimal temperature.

Modern technologies make it possible to create automated sturgeon production at home with minimal losses and good profit. A fish farm must be equipped with equipment that will create the most comfortable conditions for sturgeon breeding. Knowledge of technology and a preliminary search for a sales market will turn a business idea into a very profitable business.

Today, sturgeon caviar does not need advertising in order to find stable markets. This is a storehouse of useful vitamins and minerals for the human body. Prices for it are consistently high, which makes it possible for entrepreneurs who are engaged in fish farming to receive a steady income. We will devote this article to growing sturgeon at home.

• How to start breeding sturgeons at home?
• Technology of breeding fish for caviar
• How to earn faster?
• What equipment to choose for a sturgeon farm?

In general, the process of growing sturgeon requires deep knowledge of technology, good equipment, and the desire to devote most of the time to this business. Recently, innovative technologies have been invented that make the work of the farmer easier, but their implementation requires large investments. Here the decision is made directly by the entrepreneur.

How to start breeding sturgeon at home?

Since usually initially it is not about organizing a full-fledged sturgeon farm, one container of water is enough. The depth of such a pool is usually about 1 meter, and the diameter is from 1.5 to 2.5 meters. An entrepreneur has the opportunity to maintain such a pool on his own, and about 1 ton of sturgeons can be grown in it per year. In addition to the tank itself, you need to purchase a pump, filter and compressor. They are necessary to provide aeration and filtration in the pool. To reduce labor costs for caring for fish, you can purchase an automatic feeder. The water temperature should be maintained at + 18-20 degrees.

Inhabit pools at the rate of 1 sq.m. area per 60 kg of live fish. A feature of growing sturgeon at home is the difficulty in obtaining fry. For breeding purposes on a small scale, they are usually purchased. They feed sturgeons at the bottom of the reservoir. This satisfies the conditions of their nutrition in the natural environment. You can buy food at first, and eventually learn how to cook it yourself. It must contain the exact proportions of proteins, fats, lysine and phosphorus. The fry that are launched into the pool weigh no more than 5 grams. They grow unevenly. About 20% of the herd gain weight rapidly, due to which in the future they "win back" most of the food for themselves.

Such a small reservoir is suitable for growing sturgeon for sale as a fish delicacy. Sturgeons are grown before they reach 500-600 grams and are sold to wholesalers for sale or to restaurants.

Technology of breeding fish for caviar

Breeding sturgeon for caviar is a longer and more laborious process. In nature, the female begins to spawn only at the age of 15. In conditions created by man, this happens for 5-7 years. Pools for growing fish for caviar will need at least six. They are installed in a separate building or a heated greenhouse. Sometimes a basement is used for this purpose. Since under natural conditions the sturgeon lives at the bottom, it does not need bright lighting at all.

Experts say that to start a business you need no more than $ 4,000. Many entrepreneurs are attracted by this amount of investment. But, unfortunately, not many linger in this business. Sturgeon breeding, for the purpose of breeding caviar, scares businessmen with its long-term. If you start with the specified amount and develop the business on your own, then you can reach full payback only after 10 years. But after this time, the farmer can count on 30% of the net profit from the amount of initial costs. Another feature of the business is that black caviar produced on sturgeon farms never falls under the prohibitions of the law.

How to earn faster?

There is a practice of acquiring grown fish or adults. It allows you to reduce the payback time, but also requires large investments in the acquisition of the herd. An adult fish costs about 5 thousand rubles per kilogram, and a three-year-old young fish costs 1 thousand rubles. To form a herd that brings 1 ton of caviar, you will need to invest 100 million rubles. In addition, there is a danger of fish dying during transportation, and no one can say for sure how it will take root in new conditions.

What equipment to choose for a sturgeon farm?

One of the new technologies that helps to organize the cultivation of sturgeons in a relatively short time is the use of RAS (recirculating water supply installations). There are many types of such equipment. It differs in the design of the pools and their number, and is intended for growing fish on granulated feed. Usually the round shape of the pools is used. Before entering the pool, the water is purified in several stages. It creates a circular motion. The main principle of operation of the installation is based on the following processes:

• mechanical cleaning
• Biological treatment
• Maintaining the temperature
• Oxygen saturation
• Disinfection.

They can be interchanged or combined. A prerequisite is their placement in a heated room. Sturgeon farms using RAS are easily automated. This reduces the labor intensity of the sturgeon breeding process, but does not deprive the fish farmer of the obligation to regularly monitor the herd.

The advantages of equipment with closed water supply installations include:

• Possibility of creating intensive water exchange, oxygenation and powerful filtration. Thanks to this, a dense landing of fish is possible.
• Saving production space, as the pools are located quite compactly.
• Possibility of constant visual control.
• Automation of care and feeding processes.
• Elimination of the influence of unfavorable natural factors on sturgeon.
• Minimize the causes that contribute to the occurrence of diseases in fish.
• Significant savings in water and feed, which reduces the cost of production.

Compliance with technology and sanitary standards on the farm allows the entrepreneur to grow an environmentally friendly product and confirm this with the relevant documents.

The sturgeon breeding business is a promising area in Russia, despite the high risks and long payback period. If there is a clean reservoir and experienced fish farmers, it can be organized in open ponds. Market players claim that it is with these components that it is most difficult now, therefore they prefer to organize closed sturgeon farms.

Sterlet is a fish from the sturgeon family. The fish reaches a weight of up to ten kilograms, and up to sixty-five centimeters long, there are more, but this is in rare cases. The stocks of this fish are greatly reduced in the seas and oceans, so now it is bred in artificial reservoirs and industrial conditions. There are lovers who grow sterlet at home. Some entrepreneurs consider this a profitable business.

Cultivation of sterlet in artificial reservoirs, conditions and requirements for its maintenance

There are ready-made artificial reservoirs, but an ordinary pool is also suitable for sturgeon breeding, only it needs to be thoroughly cleaned. The pool is filled with rain or plain water. The water temperature should be around 20-21 degrees - this is the most favorable temperature for sterlet. There should be enough oxygen in the water, at least five mg/l. Also periodically the water in the pond should be changed for twenty-five days. From clean water, individuals grow faster. To breed sterlet with caviar, you will need much more effort and time. And the pond or your pool will have to be expanded. The first thing to start with is to buy grown fish fry. You can buy them in farms where fry are specially grown. They are more resistant to external environmental influences and human interventions. You need to feed young sterlets several times a day with daphnia crustaceans and insect larvae. Feed should not be very much, follow the norm.

In Russia, artificial breeding of fish of the sturgeon family is practiced, including sterlet in the factory and in the usual. In the second method, eggs already fertilized are lowered into special containers - boxes, they are placed in reservoirs, where they are already developing. The development of larvae is affected by external conditions, and many die. In this regard, the method of growing eggs in the factory is the most favorable. In the incubation workshops, the eggs are in special containers, where they are washed by a stream of water and are in constant motion. With the help of an electric pump, water is poured into it, which passes through the heater and then enters a special device. Waste water goes down into the reservoir. Usually workshops or fish farms are located near a reservoir or pond.

Breeding requires special equipment, the so-called RAS. This is a special type of pool, which provides for the timely supply of water with oxygen of the required concentration, as well as water purification. Such equipment is used in conditions with a harsh climate, since the water temperature is also regulated. Under such favorable conditions, the sterlet develops well and gains a lot of weight already in the first year.

Breeding fry

To begin with, larvae are grown, which were formed from fertilized eggs. Then the larvae are released into a ready-made reservoir, where there is vegetation, so that they can find food for themselves there. The larvae should be released when the heat subsides in the late afternoon. They need to be grown in this pond until they are two or four months old, then the fish fry survive in large numbers. The pond where juvenile fish will be grown is filled with water in advance, at least three days in advance. Water is fertilized with manure, mowed grass and saltpeter. During the rearing of fry, every five days you need to check the composition of the water and for contamination. The fry feed on zooplankton (it should be at least 3 g / m3), they quickly gain weight under favorable conditions.

Sometimes there is a problem about moving fry. They need to be moved in water tanks, where there is a sufficient concentration of oxygen and a favorable environment for their transportation. This should also be taken into account when breeding fish.

Cultivation of sterlet is a very painstaking work. If you want the offspring to be as early as possible, you must observe favorable conditions for their cultivation. Do not forget that this will require not only time and your strength, but also financial costs.

Cultivation of sterlet in cages. Today, the sterlet is considered one of the most valuable freshwater fish. Its cultivation in artificial reservoirs (in ponds, cages, pools) has become the most profitable production line of the fish farming industry in recent years.

Biological features

Under natural conditions, the sterlet is common in the largest freshwater rivers of Russia: the Volga, Yenisei, Kuban, Ob, Don, Danube, Lena, Dniester, Kolyma, Indigarka. This fish is also found in the Ladoga and Onega lakes, much less frequently in the Azov and Caspian Seas. On the territory of its range, it forms the Siberian and European geographical race.

The sterlet lives in the bottom layers of water bodies, feeding mainly on the larvae of mayflies and chironomids. For the winter, it lies in the bottom pits, practically not eating. Males reach sexual maturity at 4 years of age, and females - by 5-9 years. During the spawning period, females spawn up to 140 thousand eggs, the incubation period of which lasts from 6 to 11 days. The larvae are born in calm bays with a moderately silty bottom. The main food for them is oligochaetes and small larvae of chironomids.

Cultivation of sterlet in artificial conditions

The sterlet develops well in artificial conditions - in cage farms installed in closed reservoirs, but at the same time it needs to provide certain conditions of detention. The fish are calm. In the daytime, it mainly stays in the lower layers, and at night it rushes to the surface of the reservoir surface.

As a representative of sturgeons, the sterlet is open-bubbly. Therefore, it is advisable to breed it in open cages so that it has the opportunity to approach the surface and swallow air. In winter, it stops rising for oxygen. This biological feature must be taken into account when constructing summer and wintering cages.

The success of growing sterlet fry in cage farms significantly depends on the preliminary accustoming of fish to eating artificial feed. She collects food from the walls and bottom of the cage, ignoring it in the water column. Therefore, when calculating the optimal planting density, it is not the volume of water that is taken into account, but the surface area of ​​the cage. Subject to the proper conditions of detention from 1 m2, it is possible to obtain up to 16 kg of marketable sterlet.

Settlement of producers

To breed sterlet in cage farms, producers are purchased in the areas of its fishing. After transportation, they immediately begin to cull injured and damaged individuals, launching healthy, full-fledged fish into pre-prepared cages.

After settling, the sterlet has a rather problematic period of adaptation. Getting used to an artificial food base takes a very long time. At first, the fish feed only on live food, to which it is accustomed in natural conditions: worms, insect larvae, etc. Gradually, the lack of live food forces the sterlet to switch to an artificial food base.

Many individuals initially refuse the new diet and feed on growth microorganisms from the bottom of the cages. As a rule, they are not enough for the full development of fish, because of which, in the first years of keeping in cages, the sterlet practically does not develop and does not increase its mass. Most of the individuals get used to eating artificial feed only after a year and a half. Since then, their active development has been noted.

During the period of forced transition to artificial feed, the survival rate of sterlet is very low - from 10 to 35%. To shorten the period of adaptation, 5-7% of “training” fish, commensurate in size, which actively consume artificial food, are placed in cages with acquired spawners. In this case, the planting density is increased to 10 kg/m2. Thanks to this neighborhood, the transition of the sterlet to a new diet can be reduced to 3 months, which will ensure its greater safety.

Sterlet spawners are kept in cages all year round. Their stocking density and feeding regime vary depending on the time of year. In the summer season, it should be up to 3 kg / m2, and in winter I increase it to 15 kg / m2.

In summer cages, sterlet are fed three times a day with wet granulated feed based on low-value local fish. The amount of feed should be about 5% of the fish's own weight. It is brought to the bottom, closer to the corners of the cage and away from the drain window in the center. In addition, sterlet spawners are supplemented with raw chopped zebra mussel every 3 days in the amount of 2.5% of the weight of the fish. Twice a month, the remains of uneaten zebra zebra are cleaned. In wintering cages with keeping conditions as close as possible to natural, sterlet is not fed.

Producers of sterlet in cages develop slowly. Their average annual growth is 15-25%. The maturation of individuals imported from industrial mother water bodies, as a rule, begins 2-3 years after the moment of settlement. At the same time, it is noted that the maturation of females is not annual, but that of males is friendly and active.

Cultivation of producers

In more developed fish farms, sturgeon spawners are grown independently in cages from underyearlings, forming a broodstock over time. In this case, the sexual maturity of males occurs at the age of 4, and females - after another 2 years.

When growing sterlet spawners in cages, they use the same feed as for imported sterlet. The stocking density of remontant young stock and spawners in summer cages should be up to 10 kg/m2, and in winter cages - 18 kg/m2.

As a rule, the dead weight of spawners during the period of keeping in summer cages increases by 30%, but in winter it decreases by 17%.

The productivity of cage sterlet weighing 1 kg is up to 32 thousand eggs. Spawners start to spawn when the water warms up to 10°C. In central Russia, this happens no earlier than the end of May. Acceleration of the process can be achieved by keeping fish in the warm waters of power plants in winter. Thanks to this, the spawning period for spawners begins 2 months earlier, i.e. in the beginning of April.

Approximately 14 days before the establishment of spawning temperatures, feeding of sexually mature individuals is stopped. A week later, the females are separated from the males in separate cages. They can be easily distinguished visually by their rounded abdomen.

When establishing constant water temperatures of more than 10 ° C, manufacturers are injected. The dosage of the pituitary for pre-vaccination is 2 mg/kg, and for the second, the main one is 12 ml/kg. After that, the females are placed in trays with running, clean water and a light bottom, and the males are left in the old cages.

After 2 days, the females mature for spawning. This is established visually by the presence of separately scattered eggs along the bottom of the tray. By carefully straining small portions of caviar or by partially opening the abdominal cavity in females, caviar is obtained. Male sperm is obtained only by careful straining. In personal cage farms, unlike on an industrial scale, the use of the full ripping method is impractical.

In the process of pumping eggs, females are regularly checked at 2-hour intervals. The procedure is repeated up to 10 times. That. in total, the whole process takes about 20 hours.

The extraction of caviar by partial ripping of the trouser wall of females consists of several stages:

Removing the fish from the water, wiping it with a towel, fixing the female upside down on a special V-shaped stand;

Making a 5 cm incision, passing 1 cm to the left of the center line along it - retreating 3 cm from the anus, heading towards the head;

Caviar, together with ovarian fluid, is selected with a teaspoon into a dry, clean container, at the final stage, the female is tilted on a stand so that the remnants of caviar are drained;

The incision is sutured with stitches every 5 mm, securing them with a triple knot;

During the week, the operated females are kept on a regular diet, carefully monitoring the condition of the sutures;

At the final stage, the females are ready to return to the main cages and switch to the main diet.

The caviar obtained in this way is subject to dry fertilization. For these purposes, eggs taken from 3 females are fertilized with the milk of 3-5 males.

For peeling eggs, a suspension of chalk, lime or talc is used, but the use of special devices for peeling fish eggs operating on compressed air is much more effective.

Purchase of caviar

In addition to independently obtaining caviar, it can be purchased year-round at spawning plants, however, as well as larvae and fry weighing up to 5 g. Most of them are concentrated in the southern regions of the country. But under the conditions of the middle zone, the main limiting factor in the incubation of eggs and the rearing of larvae is the factor of the temperature regime of water. In the lower reaches of the Volga and Don, the April water temperature can reach 19°C, while in the warmest springs the water in the reservoirs barely has time to warm up to 10°C, and in cold springs - only 1°C.

Egg incubation

At water temperatures below 10°C, the mortality of game and larvae increases significantly. So, at a sufficient temperature (10°C or more), an increased activity of larvae is noted. They become a "candle", rapidly moving along the plane of the bottom. At water temperatures of 6-8°C, only selective of them are able to maintain activity, and at less than 3°C, they lie on the bottom and barely move.

For this reason, when eggs are brought from the southern regions to private cage farms in the middle zone, where the water is less than 6C, the survival rate of larvae does not exceed 4%. Therefore, in order to guarantee the production of fry from caviar, the temperature conditions for its maintenance should be artificially increased to 15°C or more.

After 3 days, the larvae, after resorption of the protective gall sac and discarding of the melanin plug, switch to exogenous nutrition. At industrial-scale sturgeon hatcheries, larvae are transferred to feed on zooplankton and oligochaetes or on natural food, planted in ponds.

When growing sterlet larvae in cages, it is necessary to take into account the factors of the negative impact of the wave break, in which they are thrown onto the stacks of cages, as a result of which they dry out and die. The threat is also posed by gas formation due to phytoplankton photosynthesis on sunny days. When the food base is deficient, the larvae capture these bubbles with carbon dioxide, which fill their oral cavity. As a result, they are deprived of the opportunity to eat.

With this in mind, it is advisable to grow sterlet larvae in cage pools with running water, with the possibility of controlling the temperature regime and the degree of aeration.

During the transition of sterlet larvae to exogenous feeding, the optimal concentration of zooplankton in the aquatic environment is 50-100 mg/g. This contributes to the successful adaptation of 90% of the larvae to a new diet.

After switching to this mode of feeding, the larvae begin to actively consume zooplankton. With an increase in live weight up to 3 g, only plankton becomes insufficient for good nutrition. From that moment on, they are transferred to artificial feed.

Initially, dry zooplankton is used, distributing it in lumps weighing 50 g at the bottom of the water basin. This must be done up to 8 times a day for a week.

Raising fry

Appeared fry begin to feed crustaceans, loosely bound by agar (up to 0.5% of the feed weight). Gradually, dreisser and minced fish are introduced into the feed mixture with an increase in the proportion of agar to 0.8%. Sterlet fry finally adapt to a new feeding ration only after a week and a half. Subsequent transfers to other food bases are less painful for them.

At the final stage of growing fry in pools, the cost of live feed will reach 10 kg and the same amount of agarized feed (per 1 kg of live weight gain). As a result, their planting density will be up to 5 thousand/m2.

From the moment the sterlet fry reach a live weight of 4-5 g, they need to be transplanted into cages. It is desirable to do this while maintaining the usual aquatic environment, smoothly bringing it to the temperature of the reservoir.

After transplantation, the fry are fed 6 times a day in the amount of 40-70% of their live weight. It can be distributed along the bottom or placed in specialized feeders. During this period, it becomes possible to feed them daily with minced boiled fish in the amount of 3% of their own weight.

After the weight of sterlet fry reaches more than 7 g, they are transferred to feeding on wet granular feed (up to 1.5 mm in diameter) based on fish of low-value species. But sterlet fry also need to be accustomed to this gradually. First, they are fed the usual agar food with 6% admixtures of hydrolytic yeast with compound feed, gradually increasing the proportion of new components.

As a result of the final transition to good nutrition, sterlet fry begin to develop actively. So, for 54 days of feeding with agarized feed, they add 2 g of live weight, and at 158 ​​days of age they already weigh more than 40 g. the same conditions of detention only up to 15g. At the same time, the survival rate of sterlet fry grown from eggs in cages tends to be 90%.

During the growing period in artificial reservoirs, sterlet fry are susceptible to many diseases. In most cases, it is affected by proteocephaluses, which cause a number of diseases: argullosis, diplostomozol, trichodiniozyme, etc.

Wintering cages

Sterlet underyearlings overwinter in cages and natural reservoirs. When transplanted into wintering cages, underdeveloped, weak individuals weighing less than 15 g are culled. If necessary, preventive treatment is carried out.

Wintering cages for sterlet should be located in the upper layers of the reservoir, which have good aeration. At the same time, it is necessary to observe a sufficient planting depth to prevent freezing of fry. Permissible planting density is 1 thousand/m2.

In principle, sterlet fry overwinter equally successfully both in cages submerged under ice and when accessing the surface of a reservoir. In winter, the survival rate of underyearlings weighing more than 18 g reaches 90%. As a result of a long wintering (more than 200 days), a one-year-old sterlet can lose up to 25% of its own weight.

Taking into account the heterogeneity of sterlet underyearlings reared in cages, for the safety of small individuals it is rational for them to equip wintering cages on heated waters with local power plants. In "greenhouse" conditions, underyearlings have the possibility of continuous development. As a result, in the spring it is possible to obtain juveniles weighing more than 50 g.

Cultivation of sterlet

The reared sterlet and individuals of older age groups are kept in cages all year round. For the summer period, so-called "feeding" cages are used. The recommended fish stocking density in them is up to 10 kg/m2. Further, as the mass of fish increases, they are gradually seated in other cages.

One-year-old young animals are kept on wet granular feeds or on high-protein granulated feeds of industrial production. Sterlet over 2 years of age, transferred to artificial feed, actively feeds and develops intensively.

The relative weight gain is maximum in 2-year-old sterlet, averaging about 364%, and minimum in 8-9 individuals. In 5-6-year-olds, there is a temporary decrease in these indicators for the period of mass maturation, but at the end of the spawning period, they rapidly gain weight again.

Characteristics of the winter content of sterlet
different ages in cages

Fish age	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Length of stay, days	209	201	211	222	200	196	211
Mass initial / final, g
Weight loss per season, g	-	20,5	35,4	14,2	12	16,9	-
Average daily weight loss, mg	-	101	592	174	512	403	620
Survival,%	98,8	92,9	94,3	99,2	100	98	83

In the climatic conditions of the middle zone, a decrease in the intensity of sterlet development is noted in mid-July. A sterlet weighing about 300 g is considered to be a commodity standard. Such individuals can be obtained within 3 years using large, healthy planting material.

Based on an increase of 1 kg of live weight, the cost of feed for a two-year-old sterlet is up to 5 kg, and more mature individuals can exceed 10 kg.

In general, the sterlet of all age groups is characterized by a high survival rate. Often in summer this figure reaches 100%, and in winter - more than 90%.

Sterlet of older age categories has increased resistance to diseases. This is due to the presence of a thick layer of mucus and a strong skin. With good aeration of the reservoir, the sterlet successfully endures wintering in cages of various configurations.

Sterlet is considered the most valuable fish species, which makes its breeding extremely attractive for business. The most accessible ways of breeding sterlet are the conditions of private cage farms. Based on the experience of successful fish farms, it was found that the combined cage method of growing sterlet provides maximum efficiency: in summer in open reservoirs, and in winter in heated waters.

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