The economic impact of the presence of Prussian carp in pond fish culture

Bársony, Péter - Szűcs, István

Keywords: pond fish culture, Prussian carp presence, yield loss, profit decrease, direct cost of common carp fingerlings

Hungarian pond fish culture primarily depends on the success of carp production, which is predominantly carried out in a three-year production cycle. The major drawback of this production method is the long return period, thus producers have to pay extra attention to production security. The rearing of one-year-old carp is of particular importance, because it determines the yields of the two consecutive years. Production, free of the presence of Prussian carp (Carassius auratus gibelio Bloch), is currently a major issue as it affects the nursing and rearing of common carp fingerlings. The negative effect of Prussian carp is a complex issue: once in the ponds, it occupies the common carp’s habitat and competes for both natural and artificial foodstuffs. Due to the fact that the Prussian carp has a worse food conversion ratio and significantly lower market price than common carp, the income per hectare is lower in ponds where Prussian carp are present.

The main aim of our three-year experiment is to quantify the effect of certain sizes of Prussian carp stocks on the yield, revenue and direct costs of common carp.

Full article