How to Farm Turbot? A Detailed Explanation of Farming Methods and Key Technical Points
Turbot is mainly distributed in the extensive cold-water sea areas, feeding mainly on small fish and small shrimp, and generally inhabiting the sandy seabed of shallow seas. It is one of the relatively high-quality flatfish in the world. Turbot has tender meat, a delicious taste, and rich nutritional value, and can nourish the skin and improve appearance, tonify yang and refresh the spirit, and so on. People who eat it regularly can nourish the body and improve immune capacity. Therefore, more and more people are now farming it. So, how should turbot be farmed? Let's take a look below!
1. Farming Site
The turbot farming site should be chosen in a place far from pollution sources, with convenient signal communication and transportation, sufficient electricity, and clean and abundant water sources. However, it should be kept as far as possible from noisy places such as residential areas, factories, and main traffic roads. Equipment for controlling temperature, monitoring, oxygen, and irrigation and drainage should be set up in the farm. Different facilities should also be established, such as a fry rearing room and a live bait culture room. The pond area is determined according to the farming quantity, generally ranging from 10-100 cubic meters; too many cultured fish make management less effective.
2. Broodstock Selection
When farming turbot, there are generally two choices for selecting broodstock. The first is to select from wild turbot populations, and the second is to select from existing farmed populations. However, since China is not the place of origin of turbot, the second method is mainly used. Under artificial farming, generally only half of the female turbot will spawn during the production season, while the other half of the females delay spawning or do not spawn. When selecting broodstock, juvenile fish should be chosen that have complete body shape and appearance, bright coloration, are healthy and disease-free, energetic, strongly gregarious, and actively feeding. Female fish should weigh at least 3 kg and have a body length of at least 40 cm, while male fish should weigh at least 2 kg and have a body length of 30 cm. The ratio of females to males when entering the pond should be 1:1 or 1:1.5.
3. Stocking of Fingerlings
Before stocking fingerlings, the farming density must first be controlled and adjusted, and then the farming density should be appropriately adjusted according to the water exchange volume of the pond in production and the growth of the fry. If the water exchange volume of the pond is less than six times per day, the farming density should be appropriately reduced. If it is greater than ten times per day, the farming density can also be appropriately increased, and the dissolved oxygen content in the water body can also determine whether to increase or decrease it. Fish should be sampled and weighed every month, and the farming density should be regulated using the farming area. The growth rate of some fish should not be reduced because of overly dense farming, nor should the farming area be wasted because of overly sparse farming.
4. Feeding
Turbot requires high protein during growth. Compared with other carnivorous fish, its demand for fat is not very great, and if high-fat feed is given for a long time, it will reduce the liver function in the turbot's body. Therefore, for the normal growth of turbot, feed suitable for the growth needs of turbot at each stage must be provided during feeding. During the fry stage, the protein content in the feed must be at least 50%, with fat at 10%; during the grow-out stage, the protein content must be at least 45%, with fat at 13%. As turbot grows to a certain stage, the required feed is also completely different, so when farming turbot, the feed must suit different growth stages.
The above is a brief introduction to turbot farming methods. When farming turbot, attention should be paid to artificial fertilization, because as mentioned earlier, only about half of the female fish will spawn during the production season. Therefore, in order to increase output, artificial fertilization can be chosen so that more female fish spawn and the number of the fish population is increased. During the farming process, attention should also be paid to frequently changing the water and promptly removing leftover feed to prevent spoilage and water pollution, which would affect the healthy growth of turbot.