How is the harvest of fingerlings and juveniles done? What are fingerlings in fish farming? What is fingerling production? What is the best time to release the fingerlings? How do you handle fingerlings? What is the ideal size of fingerlings to be released in the pond? What are fingerlings toys? How do you harvest fried tilapia? What is a nursery pond? What is pond based hatchery? What size are fingerlings? What do you feed fingerlings? How do you feed fingerlings to fish?
Harvest And Post Harvest Operation Of Fingerlings And Juveniles
Before transferring the fingerlings through sales or otherwise, make sure that the fingerlings are starved for at least 12 hours.
This will prevent them from being weak and also polluting the water in the container in which they are being transferred by vomiting or excreting. But if you must feed them, feed them either daphnia or artemia only.
Sourcing Your Fingerlings
Prior to stocking your pond, you must have a secured source from where you can get the fingerlings. For a start, there are 4 types depending on their age, growth and cost. This includes:
- Fingerlings – 3 to 4 weeks old
- Post fingerlings – 5 to 6 weeks old
- Mini juvenile – 6 to – 8 weeks old
- Juveniles – 8 to 10 weeks old
The unit price is not static hence it cannot be stated here.
How To Harvest And Count Them For Transfer
First of all, evacuate the water in the pond by 90% through a water discharge pipe or outlet.
Thereafter, use a mosquito net to scoop them and put them into a plastic basin.
Do not use any hard material because the fingerlings are still tender and as such could be easily injured to their death. Follow these procedures:
- Once they are scooped with the net, put them carefully into the plastic basin containing shallow water
- To count them, use a semi-flat plastic or framed mosquito net to scoop the desired quantity and count them one after the other, putting the counted ones in a different container with water. If they are so many you can count up to 1,000 or 2,000, weigh the counted quantity using a tabletop weighing scale to determine the subsequent 1,000 or 2,000. Do this until you are able to determine the total quantity or the quantity meant for sale or transfer
- Depending on the quantity meant for sale or transfer, use a 10 or 25 lit can, half-filled with water to transfer the fingerlings
- To construct the can, cut open the top side of either side of the handle, but do not cut or damage the handle
- One 25 lit can half-filled with water can hold up to 3,000 fingerlings
- If it will take you more than one hour before reaching your destination or the pond which you intend to stock the fingerlings, then you may need to change the water in the can after the first one hour and every 45 minutes thereafter. Remember that you have to change it with a good well, borehole or river water. Do not use the government’s chlorinated tap water
- You can also use a thick transparent polythene bag: fill it with clean water and pump liquid oxygen into it before putting the fingerlings inside it. Thereafter, tie the tip to prevent the water and oxygen from escaping. With this, you can transfer the fingerlings to distant places
- When stocking the grow-out pond with the fingerlings in the can, dip the can in the pond water and let out the fingerlings gradually and thereafter feed them
- If you are transferring to a far distance, it is possible for them to be stressed up before they get to their destination. In this case, a trace element (drug) known as Anti-Stress should be administered into the pond water before the arrival of the fingerlings
In my last series, I taught how to raise catfish fries to fingerlings, you can go and read it for a better understanding.
Article updated 3 weeks ago. Content is written and modified by multiple authors.
