Build your own recirculating aquaculture farm (RAS)

Aquafarmer takes one of the leading positions in the field of aquaculture and manufacturing of fish farming equipment. Many years of experience in designing and manufacturing equipment allows us to implement complex infrastructure projects in a short time with a high level of quality. The guarantee of this result is 100% top-down of processes by our company from the development of an business model to the design, manufacturing and installation of all elements of the engineering system. Today, the company has more than 50 implemented fish farms in Russia, the CIS and neighboring countries, including not only large industrial facilities, but also small start up farms. The company is actively involved in the development of aquaculture in the regions, including in government support programs.

Rosrybolovstvo reported that according to the results of the first half of 2021, Russian salmon production in aquaculture increased by 57% from 49.2 thousand tons to 77 thousand tons. Pasture aquaculture develops most actively if fish cages are installed in open water like the sea, lakes, ponds, and rivers.

The technology of fish farming and seafood indoors (RAS or recirculating aquaculture system) in Russia is not so developed. Although we have successful projects all over the country like in the Moscow region, Karelia, in the south of Russia, in the Krasnoyarsk region. Such aquaculture farms do not need hectares of land and access to open water. The area of the smallest fish farms is only 40 square meters. The most suitable species of fish for growing in  RAS are sturgeon, trout, African catfish. The main advantages of RAS are the year-round farming of fish and a quick increase in  its weight.

The Fish Union supports the development of aquaculture in Russia. We consider this part of the fish farming complex to be the most promising. We also cooperate with manufacturers of equipment for water farms.

Aquafarmer is one of the leaders of the market in designing and manufacturing equipment for fish farming in  RAS. Within the framework of cooperation, the company provides significant discounts to members of the Fish Union and advises free of charge on  RAS.

Yaroslavl entrepreneur Vladimir Salakhutdinov has launched a farm for African catfish farming. The special fish holding tanks contain fry that will reach the size of growout fish in 4 to 6 months. It is planned that when the farm reaches design capacity, the volume of catfish farming will be up to 16 tons per year. The regional government promises that Yaroslavl residents will be able to taste high-quality fish in local restaurants, cafes, as well as buy it in retail chains and markets. The businessman will supply products under the SOMBEST brand. In addition, the fish is planned to be delivered to the neighboring regions of the Yaroslavl region.

As IA REGNUM notes, the future enterprise itself is located in Yaroslavl in Zhuravleva street. At the same time, earlier farming African catfish was planned to be organized in the village of Vakhrushevo, Rostov district. An industrial facility was intended to be opened for the production of 1,500 tons of live fish per year.

The construction started in September 2017 but the opening dates of the farmplant were repeatedly shifted. The production of African catfish was consistently planned to begin in September 2018, the first or second quarter of 2019 and the first half of 2020. At the grand opening, Sergey Shinkarev, CEO of Inagrobio LLC, reiterated that the company had "started implementing" the project of farming African catfish  in the Rostov region. The farm plans to produce 1,250 tons of live fish per year.

Representatives of the Department of Agriculture announced measures to support new production in Yaroslavl. The entrepreneur is promised to be provided with state support as reimbursement of part of the costs incurred for the purchased equipment in the amount of up to 30% of its cost. He is also promised to be given with a preferential loan for the purchase of fish planting material and specialized feed. The loan will be provided by the Fund for the Development of Industry and Agro-Industrial Complex of the Yaroslavl region.

The aquafarm was started up on the basis of the Dalai agricultural consumer processing cooperative. They became the winners of the competition of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Tatarstan for the provision of state support to business entities operating in the field of fish farming.

The aquafarm is located on the area of the former Kyzyl fish factory. The founders of Dalai Agricultural consuming processing cooperative acquired the facilities from Tyvarybkhoz LLC fish processing workshop in Kyzyl in 2014.

The contract for the supply and installation of equipment for the aquafarm was concluded with a specialized company - RusAquaTekhnika LLC, located in Moscow. A lot of equipment is needed to farm grouout fish. It includes water recirculation system, a pre-sale preparation tank, hydrocyclones, water heating system, a manual laboratory, a biofilter launch kit and other. At the beginning of October this year, aquatic biological resources were delivered from the Omsk plant Borodino. It includes 500 pieces of sturgeon fry, each weighing from 50 to 70 grams.

For the effective implementation of the project, representatives of Dalai Agricultural consuming processing cooperative studied the management of growout fish farming on the basis of Rybkhoz LLC in Novosibirsk in 2017. Also, repairs of electricity, heat, water supply, major repairs of premises for the installation of equipment were carried out at the expense of the cooperative's own funds. The aquafarm is located on the area of the former Kyzyl fish factory. The founders of Dalai Agricultural consuming processing cooperative acquired the facilities from Tyvarybkhoz LLC fish processing workshop in Kyzyl in 2014.

The activity of Dalai Agricultural consuming processing cooperative is not limited to the aquafarm. in 2015, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of Tuva, representatives of the cooperative received a fishing site on the Ushpe-Khol lake in the Todzhinsky district for a period of 15 years as per the results of the competition. Every year they use the quota for the harvesting (catch) of aquatic biological resources in the amount of 27 tons (pike is 7 tons, perch is 10 tons, roach is 10 tons). It is are processed on the fish processing plant of the Dalai Agricultural consuming processing cooperative. The range of products of the fish shop includes dried, salted, smoked fish (sea and lake fish).

African catfish has a difficult character. Eating a weak relative is a common thing for them. A good feed is the only option against cannibalism. Also, they don't get sick at all.

Igor Chernov, owner of an experimental fish farm says "Mucus is a protective film that detains all pathogens and microorganisms. In fact, when examining the meat of this catfish, no pathogenic microorganisms were found."

Igor Chernov has never known  so much about fish. He ran different kinds of business like petroleum products and seedlings. Catfish is a new thing. There is no one to consult with. I have not met such farms in the field. Like-minded people from Moscow help. Igor has fifteen hundred fish in three gish holding tanks. Water is kind of muddy at first glance, but is treated every hour with the help of the filter.

Olesya Gerasimenko says "African catfish is incredibly tenacious. It can easily survive one or two hours without water. In natural conditions they can move overland due to bending movements and fins from a dried-up reservoir in search of water."

On land, the catfish is able to breathe with a special suprabranchial organ. It's like a lung. But without water, the fish will die, on average, in a day. African catfish is generally unpretentious. It needs minimal care andgrows quickly. In 4 months it grows up to one and a half kilo.

Igor Chernov, owner of an experimental farm says "Its meat is very tender and juicy without an obvious taste of fish. Even if it's cooked, you will doubt what kind of meat it is. Someone says it's like a veal or chicken. There is no smell of fish."

Residents of Novosibirsk and Berdsk will be able to taste the African delicacy soon. Igor suggests looking for his fish in restaurant menus.