Project Summary
The capacity to bring walleye (Sander vitreus) to market at various points during the year remains a challenge for food fish commercialization. One option is to cold bank walleye fingerlings where they are exposed to cold temperatures for a period to slow growth rates before being brought back on to warm water temperatures to resume growth. Although cold banking is a promising approach, there has been little research on adapting the method for walleye producers. It is uncertain how soon after hatching walleye can be cold-banked. This information is important for understanding how much space and feed would be required to cold bank walleye. In addition to the applied research on the practical limitations of cold banking, economic analysis of the viability of the various approaches for staggering cohorts is critical. This project would evaluate the viability of cold banking walleye both biologically and economically. We will expose fingerling walleye to 1-month cold banking periods at two different ages (60 days post hatch, 120 days post hatch) and evaluate growth rates (before, during, and after cold banking), survival rates, feed requirements, tank volume requirements, and the total cost among treatments. We will use cost information from this study (and previous projects) to evaluate and compare the economic viability of cold banking relative to out-of-season spawning to evaluate which cohort staggering method is most cost effective.
Objective(s)
- Evaluate various ages at which walleye fingerlings can be cold banked.
- Quantify and compare growth rates, survival rates, feed conversion, and costs of cold banking walleye fingerlings at different ages
- Use cost information from cold banking trials to compare the economic viability of cold banking relative to multiple cohorts (utilizing out-of-season spawning), and single cohort (not implementing cohort staggering methods) for producing walleye as a food fish.
- Provide feed trained fingerlings to industry partners
- Develop outreach deliverables including direct (hands on demonstration, tours, technical assistance) and indirect (presentations, publications, technical videos) targeting industry on the results of this project.
Duration: 2 years (January 1, 2025-December 31, 2026)
Participants
PI: Tyler Firkus-University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
Co-PI: Kwamena Quagrainie-Purdue University
Co-PI: Christopher Hartleb, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
Extension Liaison: Emma Hauser, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Wisconsin Sea Grant
Industry Liaison: Colin Bursik, Aqua Garden, LLC
Industry Liaison: Annie Schmitz, Woods & Waters Fish Farm
Project Outline
Award Amount
$126,470
Award Number
2023-38500-40773