Better Farming Series 35 - Better Freshwater Fish Farming: Further Improvement (FAO, 1986, 61 p.): The fish: Harvesting fish when you have a monk

Better Farming Series 35 - Better Freshwater Fish Farming: Further Improvement (FAO, 1986, 61 p.)

(introduction...)

Preface

Introduction

(introduction...)

Ways to improve

The ponds

Building even bigger ponds or more ponds

A nursery pond

Filling and emptying smaller ponds

Filling and emptying bigger ponds

Bringing water to your ponds

Raising the level of your water supply

Digging a supply ditch

Digging a return ditch

Controlling the water in your supply ditch

Filling your ponds

How to fill your ponds

Better fertilizing

The fish

Growing fish all year round

Growing only male fish

Harvesting your fish

Harvesting many fish

Harvesting fish when you have a monk

Your farm and your fish- ponds

Your fish- ponds and your health

Harvesting fish when you have a monk

110. If you have built a monk for the outlet of any of your ponds (see pages 18 to 23 in this booklet), you can harvest your fish in two ways:

· you can harvest inside your pond just in front of the monk
· you can harvest outside your pond after the fish have passed through the monk.

111. To harvest your fish inside the pond, remove the wooden boards from the monk one row at a time. Each time you remove a row of boards from the monk, be sure to put the screen back on top to keep your fish from getting out.

112. When the water is partly drained from your pond, harvest part of the fish from the water just in front of the monk.

113. When you are ready to harvest the rest of your fish, continue to take out the boards one by one. However, put back the screen each time until the pond is empty. When all of the water is out, you can harvest the remaining fish. First collect the baby fish and then collect the big fish.

Harvesting inside the pond

Note
Muddy water Is bad for baby fish. If you must walk in the water to collect the baby fish, let a little clean water flow through the pond to keep it from getting too muddy.

114. When you have a monk it is sometimes easier to harvest outside the pond using a screened wooden box to collect the fish, after they have passed through the monk.

115. The drawings below show you how to build a harvesting box, using strips of wood and screen, and how big it should be.

Harvesting box

116. When you are ready to harvest your fish, put the harvesting box in the outlet ditch outside your pond at the end of the pipe from the monk. Make sure that the pipe is well inside the harvesting box so that the fish will not get out.

Using a harvesting box

117. Now, take the screen out of your monk and remove the wooden boards one row at a time. The water will begin to flow out of your pond.

118. Do not put back the screen. When the level of the water in your pond is low enough, the fish will begin to pass over the boards and through the monk to the harvesting box. When they are in the box, you can collect them easily.