| | 2006 marks the end of a three-year on-farm demo trial project testing triploid (sterile) silver carp that are meant for biological algae control in ponds and dugouts. Fourteen ponds in Alberta, from Medicine Hat to Falher, were used for this trial.
"Overall, silver carp project is meant as a follow-up to the successful research that led to the commercialization of triploid grass carp for use in aquatic vegetation control," says Dan Watson with agriculture research - aquaculture, Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Lethbridge. "Since the completion of the grass carp research in 1997, thousands of Alberta ponds have been stocked with this beneficial fish and they are now available from a number of Alberta's fingerling fish suppliers."
Unfortunately, overall the survival of silver carp has been less successful than for grass carp, with only a 20 per cent average over-winter survival. But the final testing of water quality and an algae analysis will be carried out this fall/winter of all ponds is still to be completed. Based on that data, decisions will be made as to the future of silver carp in Alberta.
"Currently for algae control in ponds and dugouts, owners have the option of using barley straw, pond dye or registered chemical control," says Watson. "Good preventative algae control methods that are also recommended include using year-round aeration and not allowing nutrients to enter the water."
Alberta Agriculture researchers would like to thank the owners of all the silver carp test sites as well as the many agencies that assisted on the project, Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, Alberta Environment, PFRA, various counties, Municipal Districts and Special Areas, Smoky Applied Research and Demonstration Association (SARDA), Lethbridge College Aquaculture Centre of Excellence, Alberta Aquaculture Association and the Diversified Livestock Fund of Alberta.
Further information on Alberta aquaculture, including how and where to get grass carp, algae control methods and fingerling suppliers is available on Alberta Agriculture's website by searching Aquaculture. Information is also available on the SARDA website .
Contact: Dan Watson (403) 381-5850 |
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