Technology keeps catfish jumping - Case Study
OVERVIEW
Andy Jones compares the catfish industry to the jagged graph of a heartbeat displayed on an EKG machine. The peaks and valleys of that pulsating line are a vivid metaphor for the fluctuating fortunes of a seasonal business dependent on live animals and a dynamic market.
Jones is in a good position to make the connection. As a secondgeneration catfish farmer, he’s seen firsthand the highs that come with booming demand and the lows of a devastating fish kill. His father, Austin, started Bear Creek Fisheries in Moorhead, Mississippi, USA, in 1982, and after receiving his master’s in agribusiness, Jones officially joined the family business he’d worked in since childhood.
That was more than a decade ago. Since then, Jones has continually looked for ways to protect the physical health of his stock and the economic health of his farm. And as one who’s never shied away from technology, he’s found that while manpower is important, advancements in automated pond management have put him ahead of the game.
CHALLENGE
Bear Creek Fisheries specializes in fingerling production. Every June, Jones fills 100 ponds with young fish hatched by his brood stock. They’re fed through the summer and fall until they’re six to eight inches long and then sold to as many as 200 food fish producers to raise until they’re ready to harvest in about a year’s time.
Jones says they might raise 50 to 75 million fingerlings a season. At that volume some mortality is inevitable, but Jones shoots for at least a 75 percent survival rate. In a rough year, it’s been as low as 60 percent, and in his best year, 84 percent made it.
That’s impressive when you consider the many threats young catfish face – namely oxygen depletion, disease and predation from birds.
“Herons, egrets, pelicans, cormorants – the birds eat you alive,” says Jones. “But the biggest challenges are loss of electricity, which can cut out the aerators, and disease.”
During the day, the fish thrive on oxygen produced through photosynthesis. But when the sun goes down and the temperature drops, oxygen levels fall, and it’s up to electric-powered aerators to agitate the water and keep them stable. An undetected electrical outage or equipment failure can be catastrophic.
Oxygen monitoring is also critical to disease prevention. While Jones wants to feed his fingerlings as much as possible, he doesn’t want to stress them out and make them sick.
“These fish are like babies – susceptible to everything until they build up the antibodies they need to survive,” he says. “We’re feeding them as much as we can, but you don’t want them getting that Thanksgiving undo-your-pants feeling. If we can have the aerator kick on to keep the oxygen at 6.0 or 5.0, that keeps them feeling good, so they’ll want to eat the next day.”
Catfish farmers typically rely on staff to continually monitor their ponds and make sure that aerators are running when they’re needed and turned off when they’re not. The time and cost to keep eyes on an operation the size of Bear Creek is huge, and one undetected outage can mean the loss of $100,000 or more in a matter of a hours.
Long hours and high risk are part of the job, but like any business owner trying to improve and expand, Jones was open to new ways of doing things.
-
Most popular related searches
Customer comments
No comments were found for Technology keeps catfish jumping - Case Study. Be the first to comment!