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Letter from President, Bob Calala |
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from USDA. Our efforts on the state level netted the O.A.A. a $20,000
grant for marketing research from Ohio Dept. of Ag.
So let us know how we can help you in your corner of the world and be sure to support the O.A.A. by participating in our workshop on Sept. 13. Mark your calendar now and plan to be there. Bob Calala
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OAA President, Bob Calala |
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Entrepreneur in Lorain hopes 4,300 yellow perch will grow into big business By Molly Kavanaugh of Plain Dealer Reporter
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The 4,300 yellow perch living in an old garage behind Panuzzo Fish &
Seafood Market think it’s July 1.
Ok, fish don’t think anything, but the 800 gallon tanks where the perch are swimming feel a lot like Lake Erie in the summer. Chris Bennett, firefighter, fish market owner and fledgling fish farmer, plans to sell the farm raised perch at his market this spring and restock the nursery and tanks with thousands more. Bennett’s long-range goal? “I would like to become the Tyson of yellow perch”, he said. Aquaculture is the fastest growing segment of U.S. agriculture, according to the federal government. Catfish, bass and salmon are popular stocks being raised on farms, but yellow-perch farming is starting to take hold, especially in the Midwest, where the fish can command up to $15 a pound. (Prices in Greater Cleveland are about $10.00 a pound.) |
In Ohio, almost all of the 31 farms raising perch are doing so in ponds.
Bennett is one of the few trying the recirculating-tank system, which can be operated year-round. “Here, I’m controlling the light and temperature. I’m tricking the fish to think this is July 1 right now,” he said last week. Tank farming is also faster—11 months until fish are ready to be harvested, compared with two years in a pond or more in the lake, Bennett said. Assuming aquaculture perch tastes like Lake Eric perch-which Bennett and others say is the case-how can it compete with Mother Nature? By lowering the price, said Kevin Ramsey, law enforcement supervisor in the state’s Division of Wildlife office in Sandusky. Cont. on page 4 |
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