Trout farm to open in Kunashaksky district

A trout farm will open in the Kunashaksky district of the Chelyabinsk region. The construction of workshops with closed water supply is carried out by the Balyk fish factory. The development of industrial fish farming using modern technologies, according to Minister Alexei Kobylin, contributes to the development of the fishery industry and reduces dependence on imports of these products.
- Today the emphasis is on the use of modern technologies.
In particular, for industrial fish farming, cage lines, fish farms and workshops using recirculating water supply systems. The most important advantages of industrial fish-breeding systems include a faster production of products compared to other types of aquaculture, a high degree of controllability. The factor of independence of such systems from the climate is also of current importance, it becomes possible to grow new fish species that do not live in the natural reservoirs of the region, - First Deputy Minister Alexander Zavalishchin comments on the situation.

In 2020-2021, due to the prevailing climatic conditions (drought) in the regions of the Russian Federation, including the Chelyabinsk region, there is a significant decrease in the water level in reservoirs, which in turn had an impact on the reduction in the number of stockings in fish breeding areas. This year, the number and intensity of rains have increased, which has a beneficial effect on water bodies, but so far not enough to maintain the required water level for efficient fish farming. Therefore, the fish catch in the stocked areas in the region this year is projected at the level of last year (3810 tons), and in the next year 2023 it should increase to 4100 tons. It should be noted that aquaculture production accounts for more than 80% of the production of aquatic biological resources (2021 - 4701 tons of fish) and is growing year by year.

- We took a Soviet fish hatchery on Lake Kaldy, from which nothing was left except the roof. And now we are finishing the repair of the first workshop, in August we are already planning to open it and start stocking with fish, and then we will restore the second workshop, - says Farhad Nigamatyanov, director of Balyk Fish Factory LLC. According to him, the basis of the technology that will be used at the new enterprise is the RAS system (recirculating water supply system). Initially, a cage farm was planned, but the shallowing of the reservoir did not allow the plans to be realized. In the pools of the second workshop, lake water will circulate, and, accordingly, the fish will be in the natural environment, but indoors. Ideal for growing trout is a temperature of 14 to 16 degrees Celsius, so when heated, the water will be cooled with water from an artesian well.

The fish farmers have already spent more than 10 million rubles on the construction and equipment of the first workshop. Part of the equipment was made in Troitsk, but Italian components and pumps had to be purchased. Now the final stage is underway - the installation of equipment. From 25 to 40 tons of products will be grown in the first workshop, the launch of the second workshop will increase the production of trout at the enterprise up to 100 tons.

It should be noted that the fish factory "Balyk" is part of an agricultural consumer cooperative for growing fish, created in the Kunashaksky district. The enterprise, which is part of the cooperative and specializes in the production of sturgeon, also has experience in growing fish in closed containers. The cost of trout is lower than that of sturgeon, and the taste of trout is practically not inferior to the “royal fish”, so fish farmers hope for a good payback for the project, as well as for state support. In 2020, regional subsidies for the construction of a workshop for the production of valuable fish species were received by the Chebarkul Fish Plant, which, along with fish species used for stocking local reservoirs, muksun juveniles for stocking the northern rivers of Russia.

Industrial fish farming should develop along with grazing. There are a number of advantages for the development of pastoral fish farming in the region, for example, the number of reservoirs suitable for fish farming. It is necessary to study them, improve the discipline of users in terms of stocking reservoirs with fish, carrying out the necessary work to improve them, especially taking into account climatic “surprises”. It is necessary to continue working with federal territorial bodies to effectively combat poaching. Therefore, the agreement signed in June 2022 by the Governor of the Chelyabinsk Region Alexei Teksler and the head of the Federal Agency for Fisheries Ilya Shestakov in the field of protection of aquatic biological resources and the development of aquaculture (fish farming) is of current importance. In the region, it is planned to carry out work to increase the number of reservoirs, which will be receiving tanks for compensatory measures. Today, stocking with fish as compensation for environmental damage is carried out at the Shershnevsky and Magnitogorsk reservoirs, into which 380.1 thousand pieces of grown-up juvenile fish were released in 2021 at the expense of industrialists. It is also planned to release part of the reservoirs adjacent to large cities and performing recreational functions only for amateur fishing, which will create a balance and reduce the number of conflicts between inspection bodies, amateur fishermen and fish breeders. in which in 2021, 380.1 thousand pieces of grown-up juvenile fish were released at the expense of industrialists. It is also planned to release part of the reservoirs adjacent to large cities and performing recreational functions only for amateur fishing, which will create a balance and reduce the number of conflicts between inspection bodies, amateur fishermen and fish breeders. in which in 2021, 380.1 thousand pieces of grown-up juvenile fish were released at the expense of industrialists. It is also planned to release part of the reservoirs adjacent to large cities and performing recreational functions only for amateur fishing, which will create a balance and reduce the number of conflicts between inspection bodies, amateur fishermen and fish breeders.

Source: Press Center of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Chelyabinsk Region