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The freshwater aquaculture book
Aquaculture, 51(1986)151-158
151
Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam -Printed
in The Netherlands
Book Reviews SMALL-SCALE
FRESHWATER
AQUACULTURE
Aquaculture Book. William McLarney. Hartley & Marks Ltd., Point Roberts, WA 98281, U.S.A., 1984, $40 (U.S.), $45 (Canada), European price not quoted, 583 pp., ISBN O-88179-002-8.
The Freshwater
William McLarney is probably still best known for his co-authorship, with Bardach and Ryther, of the classic “Aquaculture” book published by John Wiley and Sons in 1972. In the preface to his new book his aims are made perfectly clear: it is primarily intended as a practical instruction manual for anyone interested in growing freshwater fish on small scale in the U.S.A. or Canada. It is liberally sprinkled with personal views, comments and anecdotes, designed on the one hand to provoke critical discussion, and on the other to counter the all-pervading view held in developed countries that the future for aquaculture lies solely along the same path as post-World War II agriculture, i.e. that of increasing intensification and mechanisation. The book is subdivided into ten sections and begins with an introduction to aquaculture with comments on important features of its development worldwide and its current status, leading into a very brief preliminary discussion of pond ecology (24 pp.). Section two (72 pp.) consists of an informative review of the current status of cultured fishes, molluscs and crustaceans in North America. Brief consideration is also given to a number of other aquatic species which may have culture potential. The third section (99 pp.) is concerned with provision of food for the cultured organisms and covers pond fertilisation, live food rearing and trapping, and the use of complete artificial diets. Feeding regimes and techniques and feed-related husbandry are also well covered. The fourth part (57 pp.) explores the possibility of developing a polyculture system based on North American species and also discusses aquaculture/agriculture integration. Two short chapters then deal with low technology cage and tank systems, including solar silos. Part five (13 pp.) deals very peremptorily with controlled reproduction and selective breeding. This must be based on an assumption that small-scale growers will purchase fry from hatcheries, although this will be true in very few cases. The following section (50 pp.) on harvesting and handling is quite straightforward as is the chapter on marketing and economics which would have benefited from more up-to-date tables of prices etc. The seventh section (48 pp.) on siting and construction of facilities is well written, contains much valuable technical data and concludes with a series of worked examples. This latter feature is arguably one of the most valuable tools available to teachers at this level and is well-used here. Section eight (24 pp.) briefly deals with problems of excessive weed growth, diseases
152
and pollution and certain aspects of legislation. Here again, issues are raised for discussion only, and the section does not pretend to be a comprehensive manual on these aspects. Section nine (10 pp.) dealing with non-food aquaculture really was not worth writing. The final section (39 pp.) considers the more important physical and chemical properties of the water, giving suggestions for management of water quality. There is a series of appendices covering fish cookery, characteristics of important North American cultured species, a glossary of terms used and a section entitled Aquatic Resources. This section consists of bibliographic sources (many of which are annotated), and a useful compendium which lists equipment suppliers, advisory, diagnostic and training centres and national and state aquaculture organisations and associations. A comprehensive 20page index completes the book. Emphasis is placed very much on the production of fish through less intensive methods and, as might be expected, the subjects of ponds, fertilisation, manuring and use of waste materials are well-covered. Solar silos and a proposed North American polyculture system are also fully considered. Some of these subjects, as the author readily admits, are in only the experimental stages of development, but he argues that they deserve full consideration if aquaculture is to “reach its full potential” and he insists that this is the way forward, ultimately, for us all. By comparison, much that is part of the current aquaculture scene in North America, and elsewhere, gets a sound hammering and is swiftly dismissed. Short shrift is given to researchers (dedicated to “producing luxury products on a scale and with a technology which virtually demands corporate involvement”), financiers (“big money backing probable losers”, “ill-advised speculative efforts . . .“, “tax write-offs for large companies”) and educationalists (“studies oriented toward aquabusiness or sport fisheries”). He is, alas, correct in some cases, but surely not all. Catfish farming, as currently practised in the U.S.A. is viewed by the author as a prime example of everything that is wrong with aquaculture and fisheries, and he confines his comments on culture of the species to a paragraph. Trout are somewhat grudgingly given more space since, as the author has to admit, few other species are so well-suited to cold-water culture. However, he cannot resist a dig at the quality of the end product. William McLarney’s book follows very much in the traditions of backyard farming manuals, devoted to satisfying that part of the American ethos concerned with raising food from ones own small plot of land. It is also a personal text, expressing views on what he has learned and seen during his years of involvement with aquaculture, and his period at the New Alchemy Institute has obviously had a major influence. This approach to the subject makes for the book’s strengths and weaknesses. The author’s wry comments do much to enliven the text and set the reader thinking. Similarly we benefit from the author’s experience with subjects such as solar silos. His often admitted non-familiarity with certain aspects does, however, lead to some imbalance in the book as a whole and to some errors. His views on cage sizes,
153
for example, would be unlikely to be shared by Europeans, even those who actually are small-scale fish farmers. Similarly, Tilupia (now Oreochromis) aurea does not actually have long, fine closely-spaced gill rakers as he suggests. There were other statements which we would have liked to check with original sources but could not due to the quite sparse and idiosyncratic bibliography. Overall, however, the book is nicely laid out with adequate, but not always highly instructive, illustrations. The quality of production is very good and a very useful feature of layout is the copious use of captions in the margins which allow at-a-glance access to pieces of information. To a large extent it achieves what it sets out to do, but its appeal to a wider audience interested in alternatives to the aquabusiness approach is probably restricted by price. M.C.M.
BEVERIDGE L.G. ROSS
Institute of Aquaculture University of Stirling Stirling FK 9 4LA (Great Britain) FRESHWATER
FISH PRODUCTION
Zucht und Produktion von Siisswasserfischen (Freshwater Fish Breeding and Production}. M. Bohl, with the assistance of K. Bartmann, K. Gierer, J. Gropp, H. Hogendoorn, E.A. Huisman, H.W. Keesen and D. Reidel. DLG-Verlag, Frankfurt (Main); BLV-Verlagsgesellschaft, Munchen; Landwirtschaftsverlag, Miinster-Hiltrop; Gsterreichischer Agrarverlag, Vienna; Verlag Verbandsdruckerei Wirz, Bern, 1982, 336 pp., DM 49.00, ISBN 3-7690-0364-o. The book reviews the economic and biological problems encountered in connection with freshwater fish production. It begins by assessing the role played in the world by fish as a food source, presenting statistics showing the development of fish production, the utilization of catches and differences between countries and regions. The second chapter (17 pp.) describes commercial pond fisheries in the Federal Republic of Germany, dealing with their development, capacity and prospects. It is followed by a brief (26 pp.) economic analysis of the West German freshwater fisheries in which the question of profitability is discussed and examples are presented for the planning of fish farming facilities. This chapter also gives estimates of manpower requirements and the probable magnitude of investment in feed, plant and the parrs required for stocking. In other words, the first chapters represent a fairly detailed introduction to the economic problems involved and will give anyone intending to embark upon this kind of venture a good idea of the economic risks and prospects.
151
Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam -Printed
in The Netherlands
Book Reviews SMALL-SCALE
FRESHWATER
AQUACULTURE
Aquaculture Book. William McLarney. Hartley & Marks Ltd., Point Roberts, WA 98281, U.S.A., 1984, $40 (U.S.), $45 (Canada), European price not quoted, 583 pp., ISBN O-88179-002-8.
The Freshwater
William McLarney is probably still best known for his co-authorship, with Bardach and Ryther, of the classic “Aquaculture” book published by John Wiley and Sons in 1972. In the preface to his new book his aims are made perfectly clear: it is primarily intended as a practical instruction manual for anyone interested in growing freshwater fish on small scale in the U.S.A. or Canada. It is liberally sprinkled with personal views, comments and anecdotes, designed on the one hand to provoke critical discussion, and on the other to counter the all-pervading view held in developed countries that the future for aquaculture lies solely along the same path as post-World War II agriculture, i.e. that of increasing intensification and mechanisation. The book is subdivided into ten sections and begins with an introduction to aquaculture with comments on important features of its development worldwide and its current status, leading into a very brief preliminary discussion of pond ecology (24 pp.). Section two (72 pp.) consists of an informative review of the current status of cultured fishes, molluscs and crustaceans in North America. Brief consideration is also given to a number of other aquatic species which may have culture potential. The third section (99 pp.) is concerned with provision of food for the cultured organisms and covers pond fertilisation, live food rearing and trapping, and the use of complete artificial diets. Feeding regimes and techniques and feed-related husbandry are also well covered. The fourth part (57 pp.) explores the possibility of developing a polyculture system based on North American species and also discusses aquaculture/agriculture integration. Two short chapters then deal with low technology cage and tank systems, including solar silos. Part five (13 pp.) deals very peremptorily with controlled reproduction and selective breeding. This must be based on an assumption that small-scale growers will purchase fry from hatcheries, although this will be true in very few cases. The following section (50 pp.) on harvesting and handling is quite straightforward as is the chapter on marketing and economics which would have benefited from more up-to-date tables of prices etc. The seventh section (48 pp.) on siting and construction of facilities is well written, contains much valuable technical data and concludes with a series of worked examples. This latter feature is arguably one of the most valuable tools available to teachers at this level and is well-used here. Section eight (24 pp.) briefly deals with problems of excessive weed growth, diseases
152
and pollution and certain aspects of legislation. Here again, issues are raised for discussion only, and the section does not pretend to be a comprehensive manual on these aspects. Section nine (10 pp.) dealing with non-food aquaculture really was not worth writing. The final section (39 pp.) considers the more important physical and chemical properties of the water, giving suggestions for management of water quality. There is a series of appendices covering fish cookery, characteristics of important North American cultured species, a glossary of terms used and a section entitled Aquatic Resources. This section consists of bibliographic sources (many of which are annotated), and a useful compendium which lists equipment suppliers, advisory, diagnostic and training centres and national and state aquaculture organisations and associations. A comprehensive 20page index completes the book. Emphasis is placed very much on the production of fish through less intensive methods and, as might be expected, the subjects of ponds, fertilisation, manuring and use of waste materials are well-covered. Solar silos and a proposed North American polyculture system are also fully considered. Some of these subjects, as the author readily admits, are in only the experimental stages of development, but he argues that they deserve full consideration if aquaculture is to “reach its full potential” and he insists that this is the way forward, ultimately, for us all. By comparison, much that is part of the current aquaculture scene in North America, and elsewhere, gets a sound hammering and is swiftly dismissed. Short shrift is given to researchers (dedicated to “producing luxury products on a scale and with a technology which virtually demands corporate involvement”), financiers (“big money backing probable losers”, “ill-advised speculative efforts . . .“, “tax write-offs for large companies”) and educationalists (“studies oriented toward aquabusiness or sport fisheries”). He is, alas, correct in some cases, but surely not all. Catfish farming, as currently practised in the U.S.A. is viewed by the author as a prime example of everything that is wrong with aquaculture and fisheries, and he confines his comments on culture of the species to a paragraph. Trout are somewhat grudgingly given more space since, as the author has to admit, few other species are so well-suited to cold-water culture. However, he cannot resist a dig at the quality of the end product. William McLarney’s book follows very much in the traditions of backyard farming manuals, devoted to satisfying that part of the American ethos concerned with raising food from ones own small plot of land. It is also a personal text, expressing views on what he has learned and seen during his years of involvement with aquaculture, and his period at the New Alchemy Institute has obviously had a major influence. This approach to the subject makes for the book’s strengths and weaknesses. The author’s wry comments do much to enliven the text and set the reader thinking. Similarly we benefit from the author’s experience with subjects such as solar silos. His often admitted non-familiarity with certain aspects does, however, lead to some imbalance in the book as a whole and to some errors. His views on cage sizes,
153
for example, would be unlikely to be shared by Europeans, even those who actually are small-scale fish farmers. Similarly, Tilupia (now Oreochromis) aurea does not actually have long, fine closely-spaced gill rakers as he suggests. There were other statements which we would have liked to check with original sources but could not due to the quite sparse and idiosyncratic bibliography. Overall, however, the book is nicely laid out with adequate, but not always highly instructive, illustrations. The quality of production is very good and a very useful feature of layout is the copious use of captions in the margins which allow at-a-glance access to pieces of information. To a large extent it achieves what it sets out to do, but its appeal to a wider audience interested in alternatives to the aquabusiness approach is probably restricted by price. M.C.M.
BEVERIDGE L.G. ROSS
Institute of Aquaculture University of Stirling Stirling FK 9 4LA (Great Britain) FRESHWATER
FISH PRODUCTION
Zucht und Produktion von Siisswasserfischen (Freshwater Fish Breeding and Production}. M. Bohl, with the assistance of K. Bartmann, K. Gierer, J. Gropp, H. Hogendoorn, E.A. Huisman, H.W. Keesen and D. Reidel. DLG-Verlag, Frankfurt (Main); BLV-Verlagsgesellschaft, Munchen; Landwirtschaftsverlag, Miinster-Hiltrop; Gsterreichischer Agrarverlag, Vienna; Verlag Verbandsdruckerei Wirz, Bern, 1982, 336 pp., DM 49.00, ISBN 3-7690-0364-o. The book reviews the economic and biological problems encountered in connection with freshwater fish production. It begins by assessing the role played in the world by fish as a food source, presenting statistics showing the development of fish production, the utilization of catches and differences between countries and regions. The second chapter (17 pp.) describes commercial pond fisheries in the Federal Republic of Germany, dealing with their development, capacity and prospects. It is followed by a brief (26 pp.) economic analysis of the West German freshwater fisheries in which the question of profitability is discussed and examples are presented for the planning of fish farming facilities. This chapter also gives estimates of manpower requirements and the probable magnitude of investment in feed, plant and the parrs required for stocking. In other words, the first chapters represent a fairly detailed introduction to the economic problems involved and will give anyone intending to embark upon this kind of venture a good idea of the economic risks and prospects.