Eurasian perch culture, a way of diversification for freshwater aquaculture

Abstract

For freshwater fish farmers, the socio-economic context becomes more and more difficult. The diversification of the activities with production of Eurasian perch represents a real alternative. In a first step, its behaviour in confined environments and the major identified bottlenecks (sensibility to water quality and pathological agents, precocious sexual maturity) have directed the Eurasian perch culture towards water recirculating systems as rearing system. In a second step, the different phases of a production cycle have been optimized: control of the reproductive cycle, optimization of the environmental breeding conditions, determination of the nutritional requirements (effects on product quality) and genetic improvement of populations. In a third step, technological transfers have allowed the development of pilot-scale farms.