WWW.WA S .ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • SEP TEMBER 2022 57 and loss of sales. Better water quality leads to a better product for all markets and healthier fish, hence the strong emphasis on managing and maintaining good water quality. Some site-specific methods the GLADs 2021 farmers used to their advantage to maintain optimum water quality were artesian wells, settling ponds and/or wetlands to naturally improve water quality. Backup systems are critical. Because maintaining fish health and survival in the market are critical for a farm, system operations that are vital to these outcomes must have a backup plan in order to prevent system failures. Farmers such as the owner of Branch River Trout Hatchery and Trout Springs Winery described learning hard lessons after fish kills occurred during operations before fail-safes and automatic generators were installed. For example, a farmer who must maintain high oxygen levels in high-density fish tanks needs a constant supply of electricity. A power outage during a stormwithout a backup generator will lead to a fish kill. In another example, the failure of an alarm in an automated monitoring system related to a system update was catastrophic. Equipment such as aerators, generators and pumps need backups to be preventative insurance for the crop. Farmers also emphasized the idea that fish need continuous monitoring. Attention to detail is critical to keeping fish alive and backup systems must be a part of the equation. Backup plans also apply to markets. Farmers indicated that having a diversity of markets for products is important and markets sometimes arise from unexpected places. For example, Ripple Rock Fish Farms wanted to produce their tilapia as a foodfish but they also developed a market for stocking as a pond management strategy for algae control. Farmers indicated foodfish can take up to two years to sell at target size but growing fish for stocking can supplement income because they can be stocked throughout the summer and at various sizes. One persistent challenge for Great Lakes farmers is the winter season when the majority of sales are slow. Maintaining adaptabilitymoving forward is imperative. Based on the themes mentioned above, it was evident during GLADs 2021 that each of these farmers is constantly adapting, learning and finding better ways to make their businesses work. Not only are these farms adaptable in terms of system equipment and operations but they also must be adaptable to changing market conditions. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted seafood markets as states implemented shutdowns for travel and restaurants (Jescovitch and Nelson 2021). Requests for direct-to-consumer purchasing increased and producers and consumers shifted away from in-person transactions (van Senten et al. 2020). Cedarbrook Trout Farm, for example, closed the open-to-the-public fee fishing portion of their business to reduce risk of spread. The owners of Cedarbrook started building a fish processing building and retail shop to supplement this loss of income. Upgrading to newer technologies, remaining flexible and cost-effective in market margins and expanding the business on profits were some of the ways these farmers managed to maintain success over the years and in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Summary Overall, our virtual GLADs 2021 event achieved the goal of highlighting successful farms in the Great Lakes region and gave the audience insights into what it takes to be a successful aquaculture farmer. Our use of virtual farm tours (Fig. 2) allowed us to effectively deliver an “on-the-farm” experience that, based on our evaluations, was engaging for farmers and consumer participants. In fact, because these ( C O N T I N U E D O N P A G E 5 8 ) adding systems slowly as the farm grew. These systems tended to include an operation inside for young fish to have more control of the environment to support higher survival rates and an outside grow-out system for the older/larger fish. Creativity is a required skill. Aquaculture farms vary widely because of location, species, environment, markets and system type (Seilheimer et al. 2021). Consequently, it is uncommon to see similar farm designs or layouts. Despite these differences, there were some common skills needed on farms that emerged during our farm tours and interviews. The most important skills included creativity, innovation and the ability to “do it yourself” when addressing design challenges. During tours, farmers elaborated on many one-of-a-kind solutions involving equipment made frommaterials they had based on location, species, environment or market demands. For example, the owners at Hickling’s Fish Farm in NewYork constructed fish tanks out of old Harvestore silos because buying new fiberglass tanks was too expensive. Other creative concepts, in addition to supplies for tanks or enclosures, included home-made filter systems and heating applications. Creativity was also shown using physical features such as artesian flow, gravity flow or filtration by wetlands to add value to the overall system and to manage regulatory barriers. Fishmortality is inevitable. Most farmers agreed that accidental fish mortality is inevitable. The aquaculture learning curve is steep and mistakes can have dire consequences. Mortalities occur when there is a lack of system understanding of aerators, degassing and biofilters or lack of backup systems. Many farmers learned the hard way about the importance of back-up generator systems or that poor or unpredictable environments such as rapidly changing water quality can lead to devastating outcomes. Farmers emphasized the importance of avoiding fish stress and immediately dealing with potentially stressful conditions. One farmer stated, “Fish health will typically always get worse, so call your vet and send the fish in for a treatment plan right away.” Other farmers suggested ensuring enclosures were not too large so that fish were visible at all times to be able to recognize differences between normal or abnormal behavior. They also emphasized that water quality is critical (Buttner et al. 1993, Boyd 2015). Finally, connecting with farmers who have “been there, done that” is important for new and current farmers. The farmers who shared their stories during GLADs, did so saying, “We’ve killed fish so others don’t have to.” Water quality is important. Water quality is a topic that all farmers wished they understood better before starting their businesses. Water quality came up frequently during GLADs 2021, as farmers explained how a lack of oxygen can suffocate fish or that stunted growth can result from high nitrates. These water quality issues can be especially concerning during large oxygen demand events such as feeding or as a result of overfeeding. For example, Ozark Fisheries staff hatches eggs in an indoor system because this allows more control over environmental variables such as water temperature, which increases survival by approximately 30 percent, before they stock fish into outside grow-out ponds. Farmers emphasized water quality during GLADs 2021 because unhealthy fish, as a product, do not do well in the market, causing the farm to lose money. Farmers commonly credited the high-quality flavor of their foodfish to excellent water quality. Unhealthy-looking, stressed or dead fish cost the farmer in terms of disease treatment
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