There are different types of sturgeon caviar fish, some species of this fish are on the verge of extinction due to overfishing. For this reason, to meet the country’s domestic and foreign needs for caviar, many caviar producers have started breeding caviar fish. But caviar cultivation has its own method and certain steps must be taken, following important points. In this article, we are going to introduce you to the method of breeding caviar by mentioning some tips, so stay with us until the end.
What conditions are necessary for breeding sturgeon fish?
Overfishing has caused the reduction of all types of sturgeon fish species in the Caspian Sea and other habitats. Therefore, breeders have decided to mass produce this fish in special ponds, which we will discuss in the following about the breeding conditions of this fish.
Temperature: One of the most important criteria for breeding caviar is the standard temperature. The average water temperature for breeding most caviar fish is 19 to 25 degrees Celsius. It should be noted that in more advanced pools with high oxygen and water flow, the temperature can rise up to 35 degrees. But beyond this temperature, it can be detrimental to farmed fish. Earthen pools are also allowed to increase the water temperature up to 28 degrees if the pool water is changed every 4 days. Temperature changes outside the standard for each fish affect their growth and delay the spawning process.
Water salinity: The water in the ponds for breeding all kinds of sturgeon fish has 10 grams of salt per liter of water.
Acidity: Sturgeon must be placed in conditions with specific acidity for growth and spawning. For this purpose, experts periodically check the water acidity and keep it between 7 and 8.5.
Pool floor plants and disinfection process: To create favorable conditions for sturgeon breeding, special marine plants are grown on the pool floor. Of course, it should be noted that the amount of these plants does not exceed the allowed limit because it disrupts the breeding process. To disinfect the pool from pathogens, up to 2 tons of lime can be used per hectare of the pool.
Oxygen: The gases in the pool water must have a certain ratio. The oxygen in the pool water is 6 mg. Also, the amount of carbon dioxide in these waters does not exceed 5 mg.
Caviar farming at Caviar Shah LLC
One of the dearest questions is, where is the Caviar Shah LLC complex and what is the method of breeding caviar in it? The 10-year-old Caviar Shah LLC complex was built on a 7-hectare land near the Caspian Sea on the Tajen river bed with foreign investment near the Caspian Sea. The choice of the place is only because of very strong water resources, with high quality and renewal, and water and air conditions and very suitable temperature for breeding this species of sturgeon, which is very valuable and endangered. One of the goals of the construction of the Caviar Shah LLC collection has been to help prevent the danger of sturgeon extinction, and in this regard, it has sent hundreds of baby sturgeons to the Caspian Sea. Besides that, the quality of products such as meat and caviar is improved.
Caviar breeding system in CaviarShahLLc caviar collection
Our sturgeon breeding system is semi-closed. It is located in lands with abundant and quality spring water. The breeding water temperature in this system is 19 to 25 degrees Celsius, which is a very suitable temperature for breeding sturgeon fish. Because these fish have good growth and breeding quality at this temperature and they are called warm-blue fish. In the CaviarShahLLc caviar breeding system, fresh water from the well is combined with treated water returned from the ponds and pumped back into the breeding ponds.
Return water purification is done by drum filter, suspended and physical water particles are removed from it and then its biological and microbial pollution is disinfected by ozone device. Our experts constantly control the physical and chemical parameters of water such as PH, ammonia, dissolved oxygen and temperature, and finally the water output from the entire system is re-purified to prevent problems in the environment and natural ecosystem.
Due to the type of semi-closed circuit system and minimizing the water consumption of underground aquifers, in addition to using a very strong and modern filtration system, this complex tries to use high quality food, for this purpose, fish feed from Germany with the name We provide commercial Coppens and Aqua Feed. Therefore, this group tries to improve the quality of the product and increase the amount of production per surface unit up to about 30 kg per cubic meter due to strong filtration systems and quality feed. On the other hand, due to the fact that the quality of caviar is not only related to the cultivation of this fish, it is also related to other factors such as the way caviar is processed and its packaging. For more information on this, see the article “The Beluga Huso Huso-Extraction and Production“. This collection has been extremely careful in these cases to increase the quality of its products to a high level.
The difference between farmed and marine caviar
In the past decades, due to the fact that in the Caspian Sea, species of sturgeon, such as elephant fish, chalbash, ozon broun and qarabroun, were found in abundance. As a result, high quality meat and caviar products were available to the public, so that up to 300 tons of caviar were extracted and entered the international and domestic market. Even the amount of catch was so high that many times the fish meat was left in the sea and only the caviar was harvested. This was a sign of the mismanagement of the officials at that time, so that at one time, other countries started cultivating this fish in order to meet the need for caviar and caviar meat. The fish species had become valuable and endangered. But the authorities of the countries of the Caspian Sea basin have no faith in breeding these fish and have insisted on indiscriminate fishing and harvesting without replacement, which has resulted in a drastic reduction in the population of these valuable fish and their exposure to extinction. Finally, like other countries such as China, Poland, France, etc., in the early 1980s, Iran started breeding sturgeon fish in breeding environments.
source
Comprehensive Sturgeon Research Project Blog – 2022 | U.S. Geological Survey (usgs.gov)
(PDF) Pilot Validation System of Breeding Habitats of Sturgeon Species (researchgate.net)
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