It's safe to say that the food business, with the right approach, almost always brings good profits. Entrepreneurs who decide to start their own business in this industry earn quite a lot. For example, Russian sturgeon is a rather expensive and tasty fish that is simply bred at home. Let's talk about this topic in more detail and deal with all the important points.
Sturgeon family: general information
The habitat of this species of fish is quite wide: from the northern hemisphere of Europe to northern Asia and America. Currently, 4 genera are distinguished: sturgeon, sterlet, beluga, as well as other similar fish. So, the maturity of an adult occurs at about 8-15 years, for females - at 8-30 years. The average fecundity of a sturgeon is approximately 700,000 eggs per spawn. The fry hatch within a week. From this it can be concluded thatRussian sturgeon is quite prolific, especially considering that it can live up to 50 years. The largest individuals weigh about 25 kilograms, while the average figure is about 15-20 kg. It is worth paying your attention to the fact that sturgeon breeding appeared about 70 years ago. Since then, this activity has not lost its relevance.
Some features of the business
Before starting your own business, it is recommended that you familiarize yourself with all its features. Sturgeon breeding is good because fish products are in great demand and you will definitely not have problems finding a point of sale. These can be city restaurants, pet stores and fish stores. Another important point is that although the competition here is not completely absent, there is also no overabundance of this product. In fact, you can sell farmed sturgeon without any problems.
You don't need to invest much as you don't have to start with a lot of fish. It can be one hundred or two hundred individuals. However, do not buy fry. This is due to the fact that in this way you will have to wait about 5-6 years until the females begin to spawn. Therefore, sturgeon breeding should begin with the purchase of mature individuals from 8 years old. Since this type of fish is not particularly picky about feeding and maintenance, there should be no problems.
Choose a room
At the first stage, you need to choose a place where you will breed sturgeon. It can be a room with an area of 30 squares. These dimensions are due to the fact that you needinstall a pool. There, it is imperative to carry out lighting, heating, install a sewer system and supply water. If all this is already there, then you have no problems at all.
In the event of a power outage, you must have at least one running generator. Another important detail is that the Siberian sturgeon does not tolerate stress well, and is also a very shy fish, so make sure that there are no noisy places nearby, such as roads or public squares. Interestingly, the sturgeon family is not very demanding on lighting, moreover, an excessive amount of light has a bad effect on fish in general.
How to choose containers
Here you have two options: grow fish in a pool or a pond. Which one to choose is up to you. But let's talk about everything in more detail. In the first couple, it is advisable to breed sturgeon in the pool. A plastic container with a diameter of 2 meters and a depth of 80 centimeters is suitable. About a ton of sturgeon can be caught from such a pool per year. In addition, if you have the time and desire, you can design the container yourself. But there are a few small nuances here. For example, fish of different weights should be in separate pools. The classification is as follows:
- individuals up to 300 grams - pool 1.5 meters in diameter, 80 cm deep;
- sturgeons from 300 grams to 2 kg - a pool with a diameter of 2.2 meters, a depth of 100-120 cm;
- sorting containers for larvae weighing up to 5 grams. It is recommended to use rectangular trays with a depth of 0.5 metersand 2.2 meters long.
But since the Russian sturgeon is not too picky about the conditions of detention, slight deviations from the norms are allowed. In any case, maintaining cleanliness, as well as the optimal temperature range from +2 to +27, is simply necessary. Also, once a month you need to devote a whole day to sorting the fish. For what, you will find out a little later.
Features of keeping in the pond
If you, as a novice businessman, have the opportunity to keep fish in a pond, then it’s better to do so. You can save on equipment and provide the fish with comfortable conditions. But before launching the sturgeon, it is necessary to completely drain the water, clean the bottom and cover it with lime. The lime is then washed away and the pond is filled with clean water. Then the Russian sturgeon can be launched. Fish need to find natural food, so plant the bottom with algae, shellfish, worms, etc. All this should be done immediately after cleaning the pond.
Experts recommend releasing fish about 2 months after you fill the pond with clean water. During this time, the algae will have time to grow, and the mollusks will become much larger. It is necessary to launch fish in a warm period, it can be either late autumn or early spring. By the way, in some cases (during severe winters) the issue of wintering is acute. At the time of frost, so that the fish does not corny freeze, try to transfer it to the pools.
Siberian sturgeon: features of feeding and care
This type of fish feels great incool water (below 13 degrees). This somewhat simplifies its breeding. It is worth noting that sturgeons are not picky about food. Nevertheless, they need to be fed well and in a timely manner. Periodicity plays an important role. So, adult fish need to be given food 4 times a day at regular intervals, that is, every 6 hours. The fry need to be fed every four hours. This mode will eliminate the occurrence of stress in the fish and the refusal to eat. At the same time, you need to understand that sturgeon fry should not eat the same thing as adults. In addition, food should have an impressive weight and fall to the bottom. This is due to the fact that the sturgeon in the wild feeds from the bottom.
When it comes to buying food, you have several options. One of them is to use foreign products, which differ in that they have a high feed coefficient. But there are also domestic analogues that are less expensive, however, their QC is somewhat lower. Well, you can always make your own food. At the same time, only you regulate the QC. Do not forget that the rate of weight gain, as well as the condition of the fish as a whole, depends on quality nutrition. Therefore, if you want the Siberian sturgeon to grow quickly and give good offspring, you need to make the right diet. The amount of crude protein should be at least 50%, and crude fat should be at least 20%.
How to care for fry?
In order for the mortality rate to be within acceptable ranges, it is necessary to properly care for the fish. As noted above, Russian sturgeon -the fish is picky, but this does not mean at all that you do not need to change the water in the pool. If the water comes from the tap, install a carbon filter to remove chlorine. About 2 times a week, remove 15% of the water.
The fish should be carefully checked every month. So, large individuals need to be planted in a separate pool, and fry should be left for growing. Timely sorting is very important. If you do not put the fish in time, then large individuals will begin to eat small ones. In order for the business to be profitable from the first months, it is recommended to purchase fry in specialized stores. This way you can avoid many problems. Many entrepreneurs reduce the mortality rate among fish by crossing (hybrids). A striking example is the Russian-Lena sturgeon.
How profitable is sturgeon breeding
The first thing that interests beginner businessmen is the profitability of the business and its payback period. Let's count all the points in order. According to statistics, with 1,500-2,000 fry, you can get a ton of sturgeon for sale. On average, one fry will cost 12-13 rubles, therefore, we will spend about 20,000 rubles on the purchase.
Besides this, it is necessary to provide fish with food. It is advisable to make a purchase for the entire growing period, which will cost about 70 thousand rubles. The amount of electricity spent can be different, as a rule, you should spend no more than 15 thousand rubles for the entire period. So, our expenses are 105 thousand rubles. Based on this, we get the cost,approximately equal to 105 rubles. For example, the Amur sturgeon is excellently sold to restaurants for 500 rubles per kilogram. Hence we have a net profit of 395 rubles. Thus, in a year you can earn about 400,000 rubles. But keep in mind that you will have to constantly spend money on food, electricity, water, additional equipment, etc.
Very important for a businessman
It should be noted that sometimes females spawn faster than you can expand the boundaries of your pool. In this case, the question of where to put the caviar is acute. Of course, most will sell it, and rightly so. That is the best thing for you to do. But you must understand that the female sturgeon dies after spawning. Consequently, the population of adults in your pool may drop significantly. But not so long ago, studies were carried out that made it possible to put the fish to sleep, make a small incision on the belly and squeeze out the eggs. Then a small suture was applied, as a result of which one female brought eggs more than 10 times. You can use this approach too. Remember that a live sturgeon is worth much more than a dead one.
A few interesting details
One of the richest rivers in Russia is the Urals. Russian sturgeon is available in abundance here. However, uncontrolled fishing is prohibited. But it is not so difficult to conclude a license for a ton of adult fish. Believe me, the money invested will pay off with interest, since with about 10 females you will get more than you spend. Of course it won't happen right away.so you'll have to wait.
What else is worth mentioning is that fish tend to get sick. Often the cause is contaminated water. In order not to increase mortality, it is necessary that the Russian sturgeon, the photo of which you can find in this article, be separated from other species.
Conclusion
As you can see, sturgeon breeding is quite an interesting direction for starting your own business. Nevertheless, if you purchase fry, the costs will not pay off immediately. Of course, a lot depends on the conditions of keeping the fish, but despite this, sturgeons develop quite slowly, remember this. The acquired adult Russian sturgeon, the photo of which differs significantly from the young, will pay off much faster, but the costs in this case will be higher. Here, in principle, and all the useful information on this topic. Sturgeon breeding is easy and inexpensive. The main thing is to create the appropriate conditions and just wait, devoting no more than 3 hours a day to caring for the pool and fish. And once a month, devote a day to sorting the fish.
