Key Points and Methods of Pufferfish Farming Technology Explained
The pufferfish, scientifically known as Takifugu, also called balloon fish, bubble fish, blow-belly fish, chicken bubble fish, Qinglangjun, porcupine fish, etc., has an extremely delicious taste and is known along with hilsa herring and saury as the “Three Freshwater Delicacies of the Yangtze”. It is a warm-water marine bottom-dwelling fish distributed in the western North Pacific. It is caught in all major sea areas of China. The obscure puffer (Takifugu obscurus) often enters the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and Yellow River, while the dark-banded puffer (Takifugu fasciatus) can also enter rivers or settle in freshwater lakes. Let's take a look at pufferfish farming technology below!
Pufferfish Farming Environment
Pufferfish farming sea areas require clean water quality, rich dissolved oxygen, no red tide occurrence, and no pollutants or sewage inflow. For cage farming, sheltered inner bays should be selected, with a transparency requirement of 7-8 m and a water flow rate of 10 cm/s being optimal. The most suitable water temperature is 16-23 degrees C. When the water temperature is below 9 degrees C or above 28 degrees C, it is unfavorable for their growth.
Pufferfish Bait Selection
Pufferfish has an omnivorous diet, often feeding on fish, shrimp, crabs, and shellfish, and also eating insect larvae, cladocerans, copepods, as well as leaves of higher plants and filamentous algae. During the juvenile stage, pufferfish are fed with mysid shrimp, shrimp, sand lance, etc. During the grow-out stage, besides sardines, mackerel, and sand lance, fish such as spotted fish, greenling, saury, and horse mackerel can also be used. To improve the quality of fish meat at harvest, squid, shrimp, oysters, and hard clams are sometimes fed.
Pufferfish Growth and Overwintering
Pufferfish fry weighing 3-4 grams are placed in cages from June to July, and by the end of December they can reach about 400 grams. By the end of the second year, they can reach over 1000 grams, at which point they can be harvested and sold. The optimal market size for redfin puffer (Takifugu rubripes) is 1 kg, which commands the highest price. To achieve better farming results, the fish weight should reach over 350 grams beforehand. Before December, the water temperature is still suitable for growth, so sufficient bait should be fed. During the overwintering period, when the fish can still feed, a small amount of feeding should be provided as much as possible to prevent weight loss and ensure stable survival rates. After overwintering, normal growth resumes from April.
Pufferfish Farming Management
1. Before releasing fry, select seedlings of consistent size that are healthy and lively, and also understand the management conditions during the seedling stage and whether there are deformed seedlings, etc.
2. Before releasing seedlings, a medicated bath must be carried out to prevent invasion by parasites and other diseases.
3. When moving and transporting seedlings, large containers should be used as much as possible to avoid injury to the fry and fingerlings.
4. The best way to prevent cannibalism is to produce and use healthy seedlings. Healthy seedlings show schooling behavior in cages and farming ponds, and under such conditions cannibalism is unlikely to occur.
5. Usually from May to November, two sorting operations should be carried out. When changing nets, it is best to connect the old and new nets together so that the fish can move naturally and avoid body abrasions.
6. Fresh-frozen bait is best processed with ice, keeping the bait as fresh as possible and preventing protein deterioration.
7. Feeding fresh bait should start in the early morning to increase the fry's enthusiasm for feeding on the bait.