World Aquaculture December 2019

WWW.WA S.ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • DECEMBER 2019 65 Benefits of IPRS The following advantages can be achieved from IPRS technology: • Improved fish production (75-150 kg/m 3 ), • Reduced production cost per unit fish production (<30-35 percent), • Improved feed conversion (FCR: 1.0-1.4) and feeding efficiency, • Staggered stocking and harvest; culturing different species in different raceways, minimize market prices risk, • Easier fish health management and production operation – minimal use of drugs and chemicals to ensure food safety, • Easy fish harvest without discharge of water from the pond; harvest procedures and cost of labor for fish movement are simplified and greatly reduced, • Zero water discharge for environmental protection and sustainability of natural resources; water added only to compensate for evaporative loss or seepage, • Capture of organic matter and nutrients in the form of fecal solids (up to 70 percent of maximum potential) and use as crop fertilizer, ( C O N T I N U E D O N P A G E 6 6 ) percent of the total area. Fish are confined in raceways rather than stocked in the total water area of a traditional pond. Water is aerated and moved using air-lift pumps provided with air from blowers. These so-called “whitewater” units are attached to the inlet end of each raceway and move water through the raceway. The aeration rate may be as much as 170 m 3 /hr. This continuous mixing of water helps in plankton production, improves the presence of beneficial bacteria and accelerates the rate of waste load assimilation that cannot be achieved in traditionally managed commercial aquaculture ponds. The last 3 to 6 m of each raceway is used as a sludge collection point or quiescent zone. Fish are harvested and solid wastes are collected and removed at the outlet end of the raceway. IPRS technology can achieve 70 percent of nutrient collection from the raceways with a sludge collection unit. Solid wastes have the potential for use as an organic manure for plant crops. A baffle wall made from soil, fabric and fencing is placed along the longitudinal axis, at the center of the pond, to force water to take a long course around the pond before returning to the system head. It generates a riverine system in the pond, helps in mixing of water and avoids short-circuiting of flow. Completed construction and operation of the first In-Pond Raceway System (IPRS) technology demonstration site in Pakistan. First In-Pond Raceway System (IPRS) technology demonstration site in Pakistan. From left to right, Mr. Kamran Maqsood (Punjab Fish Farm), Dr. Shafaq Fatima (Principal Investigator, Department of Zoology, Lahore College for Women University), R.S.N. Janjua (Consultant, SoyPak). Teammembers of first IPRS project in Pakistan. From left to right, Mr. Kamran Maqsood (Punjab Fish Farm), Dr. Shafaq Fatima (Principal Investigator, Department of Zoology, Lahore College for Women University), R.S.N. Janjua (Consultant, SoyPak). Inauguration of the first In-Pond Raceway System (IPRS) technology demonstration site in Pakistan by Senator Rana Mahmood ul Hasan, Dr. Sikender Hayat (Director General, Punjab Fisheries Department), Mr. Tariq Aziz (Match Making Manager, TDF, HEC), Dr. Shafaq Fatima (Principal Investigator), Kamran Maqsood (Owner, Punjab Fish Farms) and Mian Jahangir (South Punjab Fisheries-100 floating cages project).