Proceedings of the Third World Fisheries Congress: Feeding the World with Fish in the Next Millenium—The Balance between Production and Environment

Study on Artificial Propagation of Yellow Perch

Jiaxi Wang, Lin Wu, Min Guan, Fengmei Yang, Changzheng Wang, Shanghua Hu, David A. Culver, Jiang Chang

doi: https://doi.org/10.47886/9781888569551.ch42

Yellow perch Perca flavescens, considered a “cool-water” fish, was originally distributed in central and northern North America at water temperatures of 0–42°C. The fish is brightly colored and beautiful, and its flesh tastes fresh and good. The fish is currently distributed in the lakes and slow-flowing rivers in the eastern and northern portions of North America, where it is a favorite sports fish.

Yellow perch was initially introduced to China in 1997 as juveniles from America by the Quality Freshwater Fish Farm of the Southern Demonstration of China with the help of the Hubei Province Foreign Experts Bureau. After 3 years of culture and research, many of the yellow perch reached sexual maturity. In 2000, 400,000 farmed fish were successfully produced using artificially induced ovulation.

In this paper, we discuss the methods used for the propagation of yellow perch in China and describe the results of these experiments.

Broodstock was introduced from America in 1997 and held in ponds for 3 years. The fish grew to sexual maturity with a body length of 28–32 cm a weight of 200–280 g.

Experiments were performed in three culture ponds with areas of 2, 3.5, and 5 mu (where 1 mu [Chinese for “line”] = 666.7 m2). The bottoms of the culture ponds consisted of clay covered with a 20–30-cm layer of silt. The water depth averaged 1.2 m, and the depth of the 3.5-mu pond was 2.2 m. Every culture pond had an inlet and an outlet. Major culture was adopted in the 2-mu pond, and mixed culture was adopted in the 5-mu pond.

The stocking density in each pond was 200 yellow perch/mu, and total biomass was about 52.4 kg; a smaller amount of bighead carp Aristichthys nobilis (about 50 fish) was also stocked. Therefore, 70–75% of fishes stocked in each pond were yellow perch. Also stocked were grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella (5 cm total length) at a density of 50 fish/mu and a total biomass of about 112 kg, and smaller amount of common carp Cyprinus carpio.