The concept for a floating raceway emerged from a common need rather than an idea from a single individual. Collamer (1923), Fremont (1972), Fast (1977), and Caillouet (1995) patented early designs. Heard and Martin (1979) described floating horizontal and vertical raceways to culture juvenile salmon in Alaska. Baklien (1989) briefly described production of salmon in a floating raceway in Norway and the influence of exercise on flesh quality. A series of studies evaluating performance of the floating raceway design was conducted at Auburn University in the early 1990s (Masser 2012). Whether floating or fixed to the pond bottom, this approach has become known as the in-pond raceway system (IPRS). Design of IPRS fixed to the pond bottom have been developed further on a commercial scale for production of food fish in projects associated with the US Soybean Exporting Council and Auburn University. This presentation will chronicle use of floating raceways.
Research on floating raceways for the small farm is being conducted at Kentucky State University. The focus is to make use of existing ponds that cannot be drained to provide additional farm production and potential income. Fish grown at high density in floating raceways are readily accessible in modest quantity consistent with niche markets and the labor profile of a small farm. Floating raceways on the small farm can be configured to grow a variety of fingerlings and/or foodfish, for holding fish, or even trapping fish that naturally occur in the pond.