Aquaculture Management Skills

There are 2 fish farmers operating identical systems but with different management regimes.  The 1st gets his fish to market size in 5 months and the other takes 6 months to get his fish to be market ready.  For every $100 worth of fish that the 1st farmer sells the 2nd farmer will only sell $83 worth, yet their costs will be nearly identical.  Feed and other variable costs that relate directly to the quantity of fish reared and sold will be the only variable, whilst cost of capital, labour, electricity and many other costs will be essentially the same.  As a consequence, the 1st farmer will pay off his loans faster, be able to grow his business quicker and have increased resilience when problems are encountered.
 
The story above is all about optimisation and is one I often see playing out in reality.  There are farmers who manage their staff, infrastructure, stock and other components carefully and successfully optimise outputs.  Simultaneously there are other farmers who do a reasonable job without attaining quite the same success levels, and over time the gap between the two opens into a wide divide.  Sadly, the 2nd farmer may not even realise that he could be more successful if he implemented some basic disciplines on his farm.  Furthermore, a casual stroll through these two farms will not necessarily show the extent of the difference in that both will have tanks full of fish.
 
So what is the difference, why is one farmer so much more successful than the next?  For me the saying `the best fertiliser is the farmer’s footprints’ contains the secret, it is about attention to detail.  The right infrastructure and equipment are important, well-trained staff are key, clearly defined protocols that are adhered to are vital, as are good genetics, excellent feed and optimising market prices.  No one thing stands alone, it is the attention to detail across all aspects of the business that is needed for the venture to thrive.
 
Fish farmers are often independent minded and choose to isolate themselves and get on with their love for farming fish.  The danger of this is that you can miss out on the benefit of collaborative planning and valuable, impartial advice.  A competent Specialist should earn the farm significantly more than their cost by bringing about improvements across both the practical and operational components of the business.  These start with a technical assessment to ensure the most appropriate design and equipment are being utilised.  From there all production protocols are evaluated critically in the light of the context of that farm, and the staff are assessed to determine if they understand and correctly implement the protocols.
 
Are you concerned that you are falling short of the full potential of your fish farm?  Are you looking to sharpen your protocols, increase output from existing infrastructure or better utilise your limited water supply?  Allow me as an Aquaculture Specialist to work alongside you and assist you in improving the viability of your fish farming or aquaponics business.