5.

FISH CULTURE PRACTICES

fao.org/docrep/x5686e/x5686e06.htm

5.1 Artificial propagation

5.2 Rearing of fry and fingerlings
5.3 Rearing of fish to marketable size in ponds
5.4 Fish diseases and their control
5.5 Design of fish farms and its significance in management
5.6 Economics of pond culture

Although the basic fish-culture technology of China is largely based on traditional practices,
a number of new innovations and improvements have been adopted. A major breakthrough
in modern times is the artificial propagation of the major cultivated species of carp by the
administration of hormones in 1958. Although this technique was also independently
developed in India at about the same time, it is only in China that it has been possible to
bring it down to the farm level on a country-wide basis and make it a common farm
practice. Traditional Chinese fish culture was based on larvae and fry collected from the
rivers. Hydro-electric and flood control projects implemented after liberation resulted in a
drastic reduction in the availability of fry in rivers and hatchery production became a
necessity. This, and effective extension work through the "three-in-one" (farmer-technician-
party cadre) combination appears to have helped in the farm-level application of artificial
propagation.

5.1 Artificial propagation

The method of induced breeding and hatchery and larval rearing techniques adopted in
China has been described in the report of the FAO Fisheries (Aquaculture) Mission to
China (FAO Fisheries Technical Paper No. 168). The study group observed some
variations and improvements in the technique. The strong point of the Chinese method of
induced breeding would appear to be the selection and rearing of brood fish, which do not
receive the same amount of attention in other countries. In general, female silver carp and
mud carp over three years old, four-year-old big head and five-year-old grass carp, are
selected for breeding. Males can be about one year younger than the females. They are
reared in special brood ponds, stocked at low densities of 100-150 kg/mu. They are fed at
the rate of about 1-2 percent of the total body weight with wheat shoots, grain, corn or meal
cake. Water quality is maintained in the ponds by periodic changes of water, at the
beginning once or twice a month, but increasing to three to four times a month about a
month or two before spawning. Spawned fish receive special care and are reared
separately. The group saw brood fish that had been used for breeding for over 12 years.
Normally five- to fifteen-year-old fish are used for breeding. It was reported that fish which
have been bred a few times are more responsive to hormone administration and can be
bred even by the administration of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) only, except for
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mud carp for which it is generally ineffective and for grass carp for which it is only feebly
effective. The most commonly used pituitary extract is of the common carp, but the silver
carp, big head and grass carp pituitaries are also used. The HCG used is the product
marketed as "gonadotropin for animals".

Fig. 2 Injection of HCG to spawn a seven-year-old brood fish

A new development in induced breeding in China is the use of the LH-RH analogue as an
ovulating agent. In combination with a small dose of pituitary extract, it has been found to
be very effective on all species of carp, the dose required being 1-10 mg/kg of body weight,
depending on the species. Its use is still not very common in China, but the group observed
the breeding of all the species of Chinese carp by the administration of ampouled LRH-A
and common carp pituitary extract. It was reported that the same fish can be bred twice, or,
if weather conditions are favourable, even three times during a season, at intervals of 20-
30 days.

The spawning and hatchery system is simple and fairly easy to maintain, but it has the
disadvantage that the monitoring of fertilization, hatching, and dead and diseased eggs, is
difficult. This may account for the low rate of fertilization (60-80 percent) and hatching (40-
70 percent) reported from some of the centres. It will be useful to make a comparative
study of this system of breeding and larval rearing with other commonly used hatchery
systems and with a system based on the Chinese design but built above ground level with
fibreglass or similar material which will facilitate close monitoring.

Fig. 3 Spawning and hatching pools in the Nanhai County Fish Hatchery, Guangdong
Province

Fig. 4 Cloth tank with eggs for hatching in a hatching pool, Note the circulation of
water in the tank

Fig. 5 Hatching pool in the Gaungdong Provincial Research Institute. Note the
sprinkler arrangement to maintain water circulation and temperature

Fig. 6 A simpler type of hatchery used in Shi Yeh Brigade in Hubei Province

The estimated production of fry in China is over 20 thousand million.1/ Although there are
some large state-owned hatcheries like the Nanhai County Fish Hatchery (in Guangdong
Province) and Paitan Lake Hatchery (in Hubei Province) with a capacity of over 600 million
fry per year, most of the seed production is done in individual communes and production
brigades. The large central hatcheries like the one in Nanhai transport hatchlings by train or
truck to different parts of the country in plastic bags filled with oxygen. Five or six-day-old
larvae are sold from the Nanhai Hatchery at Yuan 3 per 10 000 and 2-3 cm fry at Yuan 19
per 10 000, plus transport charges. A critical study of the cost-efficiency of centralized
hatchery operations as against farm-level seed production, has not yet been made, even
though the opinion has been expressed that the former is much more economical and
efficient.

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 1/Although most of it is produced in hatcheries, it was learnt during a later visit by the group
leader, that some quantities are collected from the rivers. Brood fish raised from larvae or fry
collected from the rivers help to reduce the genetic effects of in-breeding

Fig. 7 Fry raised in rearing tanks at Nanhai County Fish Hatchery being removed for
counting and transport

5.2 Rearing of fry and fingerlings

Monoculture is usually practised for rearing fry to fingerlings. The fry are left in the hatchery
tanks for three to five days before being transported to nursery ponds of 2-3 mu. The ponds
are cleared to eliminate predators and treated to control infections. They are also fertilized
a few days prior to stocking, with organic manures such as "tatsao" which is a traditional
Chinese combination of different kinds of herbaceous plants, with soya-bean meal or soya-
bean curd, and/or rice bran or peanut cake powder. The manures stimulate the growth of
planktonic organisms upon which the young fry and fingerlings will feed. The stocking
density varies from one farm to another, but, in all, the practice is to have a high density at
the beginning to be reduced after a few days. For example, at the Ching Po County Fish
Farm, a density of 100 000/mu is maintained for one week, which is reduced to 10 000/mu
for the following four weeks or until the fry reach the size for transplanting to fingerling
ponds. However, at the Paitan Lake State Fish Farm, the initial stocking density of
hatchlings is 70 000-80 000/mu which is reduced after ten days to 5 000/mu.

The survival rate in the stage between fry and fingerling is not very high in some of the
Chinese fish farms and even the Lin Fu state-owned fish farm and hatchery, with fairly
good facilities compared to commune farms, has only 30-40 percent survival rates.
Hatching rates are high, reaching 80 percent, and 90 percent in many state-owned farms.
However, at the Guangzhou Provincial Research Institute of Aquatic Products and Fish
Breeding Farm, because of the use of poor quality river water, very low hatching rates (30-
40 percent) were reported. Application of manure is carefully controlled so as not to over-
fertilize as this leads to depletion of dissolved oxygen which can kill off all the fry. "Tatsao"
is applied within two to three weeks of stocking of the fry of silver carp and big head at 1
300 kg/mu in ponds stocked at 10 000/mu. If the fry are weak then peanut cake is given at
the rate of 0.3-1.2 kg/10 000 fry/mu, in two or four equal parts two to four times per day. For
mud carp and grass carp fry less fertilization is required and 150-200 kg/mu of "tatsao" is
applied every three days, together with 1.5-2.5 kg/10 000 fry/mu daily of peanut cake or
rice bran. Usually the fry will grow rapidly under this management and attain fingerling size
within three to four weeks.

Fingerlings may be raised in the same fry ponds but the ponds have to be cleaned out and
limed to get rid of pests and prevent disease outbreaks. Great care is taken to select
healthy strong fry for stocking in fingerling ponds. The usual stocking rates in monocultures
are given in Table 1.

Table 1 Stocking Rates of Fingerlings in Monoculture

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 Species Fingerling Stocking Rearing period Approximate Transfer
size (cm) rates/mu (No.) (days) survival (%) size (cm)

Grass 3 20 000 20 80 4.8

carp

Grass 4.8 4 000-5 000 20 80-90 6.0

carp

Big 3 15 000 30 90 6.0

head

Big 6 4 000-6 000 30 90 12.0

head

Mud 3 27 000 30 80 5.8

carp

Mud 5.8 9 000 50 80 7.5

carp

Silver 3 20 000 20-50 90 6-9.5

carp

Silver 6-9.5 800-1 000 30-40 90 12-20

carp

Fingerlings may also be raised in polyculture and in this case different stocking rates are
used. As shown in Table 2, the growth of the fingerlings will differ; the lower stocking rates
producing bigger fingerlings.

Table 2 Stocking Rates of Finger lings in Polyculture

Species Fingerling Stocking Rearing period Approximate Transfer

size (cm) rates/mu (No.) (months) survival (%) size (cm)

1 (a) 8 3 000 July-January 90 12-16

Grass
carp

Big 4.5 15 000 July-January 90 7.8-8.5

head

1 (b) 8 3 600 July-January 90 12-16

Grass
carp

Big 4.5 2 000 July-January 90 14-20

head

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 2 Grass 4.8 3 000 July-March 70-75 9-10
carp

Mud 5.0 70 000-100 000 July-March 70 3.9-5.8

carp

3 (a) 6 5 000 July-January 90 9-12

Grass
carp

Silver 5 25 000 July-January 90 8-9

carp

3 (b) 8 3 600 July-January 90 16-20

Grass
carp

Silver 5 3 000 July-January 90 20

carp

Feeding of fingerlings is done in the same way as for fry. However, more reliance is placed
on artificial feeds like rice bran, soya-bean cake, peanut cakes and wine residues.
Silkworm pupae, crushed snails, and fish meal, are also used with chopped soft grass and
vegetable tops being added for grass carp fingerlings.

A higher survival rate (as much as 70-90 percent) is obtained in the rearing of fingerlings
about 4-5 cm. However, it is stressed that success would depend on the care and attention
to details essential for the proper management of fingerling ponds. These include regular
close observation and care by personnel specially assigned for the purpose, to:

(i) ensure that water colour and quality are right and if fish are surfacing, taking prompt
remedial action;
(ii) guarding against fish escaping owing to broken dikes or overflow of ponds after heavy
rain;

(iii) adequate feeding of the fish;

(iv) cleaning of the ponds, especially the feeding places, by applying bleaching powder to
sterilize the feeding areas in order to reduce the incidence of fish diseases; and

(v) preventing predation by scaring off fish-eating birds, and controlling other predatory
organisms.

5.3 Rearing of fish to marketable size in ponds

5.3.1 Stocking rates

5.3.2 Fertilizing, feeding and pond management

As is well known, traditional fish farming in ponds in China is based on polyculture of

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compatible species of Chinese carps. By judicious combinations of silver carp
(Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) and big head carp (Aristichthys nobilis), which feed on
plankton and generally occupy the surface area, grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) and
wuchan fish (Megalobrama amblycephala), which are herbivores feeding on grasses and
vegetables occupying mostly the middle layers of ponds; and black carp (Mylopharyngodon
piceus), crucian carp (Carassius auratus) and common carp (Cyprinus carpio) living on the
bottom and feeding on detritus or benthic organisms, the Chinese farmer has been able to
obtain very high rates of production.

As is only to be expected, yields vary very considerably between farms. The national
average was quoted as 1 875-2 250 kg/ha (250-300 jin/mu), the production in the southern
part of the country being higher. However, the more advanced communes and production
brigades that the study group visited, reported much higher production. The yield data from
a number of these advanced communes and state farms is summarized in Table 3. Some
of the very high yields are obtained in communes that undertake fish production as the
main "link" or enterprise. A very high level of inputs and constant care of stock are needed
to get high production.

Fig. 8 A view of the Paitan Lake Fish Farm

The combination of species certainly contributes to high productivity. It was noticed that in
some farms the number of species stocked had risen from the traditional four or five to as
many as eight or nine. The new additions, although not yet widely used, are the tilapia, the
white croaker and Plagiognathops microlepis. The production units appear to assume that
the addition of more species would result in higher production and therefore in some places
the study group was asked to suggest species that could be imported for polyculture. It is
not clear that the addition of more species would contribute very substantially to increased
production, as the space and resources of the ponds seem to be more or less fully utilized.
It will therefore be advisable to base any further additions on more critical information on
the ecology and food utilization in the ponds.

Table 3 Yields and Income from Different Types of Fish Farms visited by the Study Group

Name of commune Per caput Water Yield of marketable Fry

income area fish production
(millions)

Average Maximum

(Yuan) (ha) (kg/ha)

A. Communes with fish as the main crop

Jiefang People's Commune 242 66 3 750 22 500 -

Huang Chiao People's Commune 161.16 62 2 940 - 1.5

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 Ho Li People's Commune 210 528 9 855 15 000 -

Sha Chiao People's Commune 140 2 112 2 760 - -

Shihu Production Brigade - Shihu - 77 9 030 13 500 -

People's Commune

B. State fish farms

Ching Po County Fish Farm Fixed 30 5 400 13 875 100+0.3

wages fingerlings

Nanwei County Fish Farm Fixed 29 6 195 - 0.4

wages fingerlings

Nanhai County Hatchery and Farm Fixed 47 - - 600

wages

Lin Fu Fish Farm Fixed 48 3 795 - 40-50 +0.18

wages fingerlings

Paitan Lake Fish Farm Fixed 26 - - 625

wages

C. Communes with fish farming as sideline occupation

Chen Ling People's Commune 363 119 1 500 - -

Chang Ching People's Commune 150 112 4 050 - -

Tang Sha People's Commune - 792 - - -

One of the practices responsible for high productivity is multiple stocking and harvesting of
ponds. Fingerlings of different sizes and species are stocked, and as the fish grow and the
pond becomes crowded, the larger marketable fish are harvested and smaller fish are
restocked. An example of this type of intensive polyculture was seen at the Ho Li People's
Commune experimental fish farm near Wuxi. A 7.2 mu pond of 2.5-3 m depth was stocked
with eight species of fish of different sizes at different times of the year. Intensive feeding
was done with a mixture of crushed snails (13.2 percent), grasses (17.8 percent), rice bran
and commercial feeds (1.2 percent) and fertilized water (67.8 percent), and the pond was
aerated frequently. The total feed applied in the 12 months of the experiment was 827 563
jin and the total harvest of fish was 22 560.7 jin which is equivalent to a yield of 3 133.4
jin/mu or 24 850.5 kg/ha/year. In a second experimental pond of 3.3 mu under similar
management, a yield of 23 175 kg/ha/year was obtained. The results of the first experiment
are presented in Table 4 showing details of stocking and harvesting.

These high yields, although only experimental results, serve to highlight the potential in this
culture method. The average yield from commercial production ponds in this commune is 1
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314 jin/mu or 9 855 kg/ha.

In another practice, described as "multigrade conveyor culture", the ponds are stocked with
different species of fish but all of the same size, and when they reach marketable size, they
are all harvested together and a new stock of fingerlings planted; generally two crops are
raised annually.

The frequency of harvesting and stocking depends on the species, the size of stocked fish
and the acceptable market size. At the Lin Fu State Fish Farm the study group was told that
it took 14 to 15 months from hatching to produce marketable size fish. Hatching was done
in May and rearing of fingerlings took eight months from the end of May to January. The
fingerlings were stocked in January and harvested by June/July at an average weight of
1.5-2.0 jin. Between January and June the fingerlings grow from an average weight of 5
jin/10 000 fry to 200-300 jin/10 000 fry.

5.3.1 Stocking rates

In most of the fish farms visited by the study group very high stocking rates are followed, as
can be seen from Table 5.

5.3.2 Fertilizing, feeding and pond management

Because of the high rates of stocking, very heavy fertilization and feeding are adopted in all
the farms. Fertilization is invariably with organic manures, the most important of which is
pig manure. The integrated type of farming in China (see pages 29-32) facilitates easy
utilization of farm manure. About 75 000 jin of pig manure is used to fertilize 1 mu of fish
ponds per year. Over and above this, some 50 jin of aquatic plants or 70 jin of grasses, are
applied every day to feed grass carp. The "fertilized water" which consists of residues of
bean curd and other wastes from food processing industries, is also used to fertilize the
water at the rate of some 200 jin for every jin of silver carp. Crushed snails are provided at
the rate of 40 jin for every jin of black carp to be produced. Poultry manure may also be
applied where available at the rate of about 1 t/mu of pond area per year. Besides these,
many farms utilize sewage also for fertilizing ponds. Latrines are still built on ponds for
direct fertilization in certain parts of Guangdong Province, but in many other areas the
group visited, direct application of sewage and pig manure has been replaced by controlled
fertilization with fermented excreta.

Table 4 Stocking and Harvesting Record of a 7.2 mu Experimental Fish Culture Pond in Ho
Li People's Commune, Wuxi, in 1977

STOCKING HARVEST PERCENTAGE

Fish Species Month Number Weight No . Total (Jin) Weight Weight

(Jin) /mu stocked (%) harvested (%)

Silver carp Jan. 1 275 547 177

Jan. 1 292 984 179

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 Aug. 3 374 887.5 468

Total 5 941 2 418.5 824

Big head Jan. 425 96 59

Jan. 425 339 59

Aug. 450 -* 63

Total 1 300 435 181 7 310** 45.5 32.4

Black carp Jan. 434 935 60

Jan. 440 230 61

Jan. 2 343 85.5 325

Total 3 217 1 250.5 446 3 205.5 20.0 14.2

Grass carp Jan. 450 850 63

Jan. 539 340 75

Jan. 3 060 42.5 425

Total 4 049 1 232.5 563 3 218.7 19.6 14.3

Common carp Jan. 850 312 118

June 850 -* 118

Total 1 700 312 236 1 775 5.0 7.9

Wuchan fish Jan. 5 000 464 694

Jan. 2 000 67 278

Total 7 000 531 972 2 640.3 8.5 11.7

Crucian carp May -* 36 - 1 481.3 0.6 6.6

Tilapia May 4 250 35 590

mossambica

July 3 000 15 417

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 Total 7 250 50 1 007 2 288.1 0.8 10.1

Others - - - - 641 - 2.8

TOTAL 30 457i 6 265.5 4 229 22 560.7 100.0 100.0

* The average size of these fingerlings was 2.5 cm long, but numbers not given
** Total harvest of silver carp and big head

Table 5 Stocking Ratios and Stocking Densities of some Fish Farms in China

Fish Lin Fu State Shihu People's Brigade Paitan Lake Ho Li People's

Species Fish Farm Hunan Province Fish Farm Commune
(Experimental)

Silver carp: 45 58.6 60 38.5

wt (%)

no./mu 250-300 250-300 - 114

Big head: wt 20 17.8 7

(%)

no./mu 60-80 100-150 15 25

Grass carp: 20 11.3 20 19.6

wt (%)

no. /mu 60-80 80-100 78

Black carp: - - - 20
wt (%)

no./mu - - - 62

Common 5 3.5 - 5
carp: wt (%)

no./mu 30 40-60 - 33

Wuchan - - - 8.5
fish: wt (%)

no. /mu - - - 135

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 White - 8.8 - -
croaker: wt
(%)

no. /mu - 1 200-1 500 - -

Tilapia: wt - - - 0.8
(%)

no. /mu - - - 140

Crucian - - - 0.6
carp: wt (%)

Others: wt 10 - 5 -
(%)

Fig. 9 Cut grass held in an enclosure for feeding grass carp

Fig. 10 Aquatic plants being ground in a grinder and conveyed to a boat for
distribution in fish ponds in Chang Chuang Production Brigade of Wu County. The
boat is made of ferrocement

Fig. 11 Snails crushed on board a boat for feeding black carp

Fig. 12 Latrine built on a pond for direct fertilization in Nanhai, Guangdong Province

In some farms, aquatic plants and grass are ground before being introduced into the ponds,
but this is not a widespread practice. Often a good percentage of the fodder decomposes
and fertilizes the pond. In addition, an appreciable proportion of the grass eaten by the
grass carp is excreted undigested or only partly digested, providing readily used fertilizer.
With all this the pond becomes highly loaded with organic matter, giving rise to tenuous
environmental conditions requiring constant attention to prevent gross pollution and
consequent fish mortality, particularly under unfavourable weather conditions. Cognizant of
this, many communes organize special training courses in pond management for farmers
before the onset of the summer and rainy seasons, when such mortalities generally occur.

Some advanced communes, like the Ho Li People's Commune, have done preliminary work
in the preparation and testing of compounded feeds. There is very little expertise in feed
technology in the country at present and so the traditional methods of feeding and fertilizing
are continued with only small improvements.

When water conditions deteriorate in ponds, especially when dissolved oxygen deficiency
occurs, clean fresh water may be pumped in or, where aerators are installed, they are
operated for extended periods. The use of aerators of various types has now become very
widespread in most parts of the country, except in certain areas in the south, such as
Guangdong Province. The relatively low cost of electricity for agricultural and fishery uses
(Yuan 0.06/kWh) makes this feasible and economically acceptable under Chinese
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conditions in at least areas served by hydro-electric schemes. The majority of other
developing countries may find it a major item of cost that would affect the economic viability
of commercial fish farming, at least for the present.

See below different types of aerators in use in fish ponds a, b, c.

Fig. 13 Different types of aerators in use in fish ponds a.

Fig. 13 Different types of aerators in use in fish ponds b.

Fig. 13 Different types of aerators in use in fish ponds c.

5.4 Fish diseases and their control

As is only to be expected in such intensive systems of culture, disease is an ever-present
risk. The study group found that considerable attention is devoted to disease control in
research centres. Preventive measures are emphasized but local herbal, as well as
chemical, products are used for treatment of diseases.

In order to prevent infection, ponds are drained and limed or treated with tea seed cake at
the rate of 30 jin/mu before being filled with water. Healthy, strong and large-sized
fingerlings are stocked and these are disinfected with bleaching powder solution (1 g/50 kg
of water is used to disinfect 25-30 jin of fingerlings) for five minutes before stocking. The
spread of disease may not occur too freely, as usually the ponds are not interconnected.
Despite the direct use of sewage in ponds in some areas, there appears to be no evidence
of any human diseases being transmitted, except for some reported cases of transmission
of the digenetic trematode, Chlonochis sinensis, from fish to man, if raw fish is eaten. Not
much critical research appears to have been done on public health hazards associated with
the use of raw, or partially treated sewage in fish ponds. Human sewage constitutes almost
one third of the fertilizer resources of the country and has been used in fish culture since
ancient days. Detailed research on public health aspects of sewage farming will therefore
be justified and important, not only for China but also for many other countries that are
trying to develop productive methods of sewage disposal.

The Institute of Hydrobiology in Hubei has done considerable work on fish diseases in
China and the group was briefed on the following diseases:

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 (i) Stigmatosis

This is a bacterial disease caused by Pseudomonas sp., affecting silver carp and big
head. It causes inflammation of the abdomen and also affects gonad development.
Control and cure of this disease is by the application of bleaching powder and treatment
with streptomycin.

(ii) White spot disease

This is caused by the cilliate, Icthyophthirius multifilis and affects grass carp, causing
white spots on the body of the fish.

(iii) Myxosporidiasis

This is a disease affecting the goldfish, Carassius auratus, and is similar to "whirling
disease" caused by Myxosoma cerebralis in Europe and the U.S.A. No cure has yet been
found for this disease in China.

(iv) Disease caused by trematode parasites

This includes diseases caused by Diplostomum sp., a well-known trematode parasite

with a life cycle involving aquatic birds and snails. It is controlled in China by the
application of copper sulphate solution at 0.7 ppm.

(v) Disease caused by cestode parasites

An example of this is the infestation of grass carp fingerlings by Bothriocephalus sp.,

which in heavy infestations causes considerable mortality. A traditional treatment is
with a 1:1 (by weight) mixture of powdered seeds of pumpkin and cucumber, which is
spread over the affected pond.

(vi) Other diseases

The most important of these is the infection by Lernea sp. which affects the fingerlings
of silver carp and other carps, the parasite being attached to the gills or body of the fish,
It is controlled by bathing the fish in 0.2-0.5 ppm solution of "Dipterex" or 80-100 ppm
solution of bleaching powder. It could also be controlled by bathing in a 0.1 ppm
solution of potassium permanganate. The disease is known to be most common in
sewage ponds.

A fungus disease caused by Saprolegnia sp. also affects a number of species. It is

controlled by the application of malachite green in a 1:150 000 solution.

5.5 Design of fish farms and its significance in management

As described elsewhere in this report, most of the large fish farms are built as part of
communal farming systems, usually integrated with crops and livestock production; so the
design of fish farms differs in many respects from that adopted in other countries. A very
striking feature is the width of dikes between ponds, which is often 10 m or more wide on
the crown. Similarly the sides are also very wide. These wide areas are used for the
cultivation of grass and other fish fodder, vegetables, mulberry and sometimes even trees
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like cedar. Pigsties are also built on the dikes. This reduces the labour involved in
transporting fodder or manure from long distances. Also pond silt can be applied directly to
fertilize the crops.

Fig. 14 A view of pond dike in Chang Chuang Production Brigade. Note the grass
planted on the sides and slopes and mulberry on the crown

The ponds are relatively deep, in most cases 2-3 m. This is necessary for the poly-culture
of various species that inhabit distinct layers in the ponds and to enable the culture of large
stocks of fish. Since draining and filling of ponds are done by pumping, the maintenance of
such deep ponds is not difficult and the need for sluices and other water control structures
is reduced. The study group saw pond dikes lined with concrete or bricks in some farms in
Guangdong and Hunan Provinces in areas where the soil is sandy or porous.

Fig. 15 A pond in the Shao Chiao People's Commune in Shunde County. Note the
broad dikes planted with corn and vegetables

The ideal size of production ponds was reported to be 4-5 mu. In areas where the soil is
poor and porous, ponds of 10 mu are more common. Fry and fingerling ponds are
generally 2-3 mu in area. There is a tendency to build rectangular or square-shaped ponds
or remodel old, irregular-shaped ones into square ponds. The construction cost of square
ponds is lower than that of rectangular ones and it would appear that aeration of water by
wind or aerator would be more efficient in square ponds. The regular shape of the ponds
facilitates the use of motorized vehicles on the farm and the mechanization of operations.

Harvesting of ponds is generally done manually with seine nets. Commune or production
brigade members, both male and female, participate in fishing, but the group observed that
fishing expertise, or the efficiency of gear used, was not too high. There is considerable
interest in mechanization of fishing in ponds to reduce labour, but not much has been done
in this direction.

Although most of the fish farming is done in earth ponds, attempts are now being made in
some places to introduce indoor intensive farming in cement tanks with heating and
aeration, particularly for tilapia, which cannot withstand low temperatures.

Fig. 16 Harvesting of fish from a pond in Lin Fu State Fish Farm in Hengyang

Fig. 17 A catch of Chinese carps, wuchan fish and black bream from a fish farm

Fig. 18 An experimental indoor culture of tilapia in cement tanks

5.6 Economics of pond culture

Although the economics of individual operations are not of primary importance under
Chinese conditions, the study group was able to obtain some useful information on the cost
of production and profit made in certain communes and production brigades. As is only to
be expected, there are considerable variations in investment and production cost per unit
area. It ranged from Yuan 260/mu to Yuan 1 500/mu. The income from fish was quoted as
Yuan 140/mu, as against Yuan 130/mu for rice in Shao Chiao People's Commune in

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Guangdong Province. In Shiyeh Commune in Xishui County, income from fish was reported
to be Yuan 1 000/person as against Yuan 600/person from rice production. In Hengyang
the cost of production of fish was Yuan 0.20-0.23/jin and it was sold to the state at Yuan
0.35/jin. In some of the communes the study group was told that the income from fish made
it possible for them to buy agricultural machinery. Vegetable growing in suburban towns
was said to be the only normal farming activity that provided much higher income per unit
area than fish.

The percentage of the components of cost of production also varies from place to place. In
one of the communes, it was reported as follows:

Fry: 5 percent

Labour: 30 percent

Feed and fertilizer: 50 percent

In some the cost of fry was said to be much higher, as much as 26.5 percent and of
electricity, about 14 percent.

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