SBIR-STTR Award

Largemouth bass (LMB - Micropterus salmoides) production for the foodfish market is growing in the US. Traditionally LMB producers in the US have relied on traditional earthen ponds as their primary production system for culturing this species. Yearly LMB producers in the Southeastern US using traditional earthen ponds as the primary production unit are plagued by low survival slow growth poor food conversion ratio (FCR) losses to bird depredation water quality problems (i.e. low dissolved oxygen) and several disease issues. LMB producers believe these production-related obstacles inherent to culture in traditional earthen ponds have translated to reduced efficiency and profitability of domestic LMB farming operations and are further inhibiting growth of this aquaculture sector. The culture of LMB in a split-pond system (SPS) can ameliorate many of the inefficiencies documented by commercial LMB producers using traditional earthen pond systems. The proposed SPS for LMB has adapted SPS technology used by the US catfish industry to solve the inherent limitations of low oxygen and waste treatment of traditional earthen ponds. The SPS confines LMB to a smaller area (fish basin 15-20% of total pond area) in a pond. As a result energy-efficient aeration and water circulation are improved over the entire culture area. The advantages of the SPS for LMB production can revolutionize the production of this expanding foodfish species in the US. This project will evaluate the production performance water quality fish health metrics and the economic feasibility of raising LMB in SPS compared to traditional earthen ponds.