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Aquaculrural Engineering 3 (1984) 153-157

S h o r t C o m m u n i c a ti o nA R e a l is t ic A p p r o a c h t o S m a l l A q u a c u l t u r e F a c il it ie s

A B S T R A C TAn econom ic analys is o f aquaculture po nd sys tem d evelopm ent andoperation is presen ted to sho w th e cost comparison be twe en variousfo rm s o f tem perate climate aquaculture facili ties and th e family-managedp o n d s y s te m

INTRODUCTIONMany t empe rate climate areas of the world have sufficient resources tosupport a small aquaculture facility, but could not support a large scalecommercial operation. Since additional heat from a geothermal well orpower plant/industrial waste heat source are often required to maintainaquaculture pond temperatures in the colder months of the year, it isimportant to minimize other costs of the operation.

Poncha Hot Springs, Colorado, may seem like an unlikely place fora warm water aquaculture facility because of its 7000 ft elevation andcold winters. However, it is possible for a small, family-managed pondsystem to achieve financial success even under these adverse conditions.The concept of the multiple use facility will also be discussed as itrelates to the family-managed pond system. The selected species forstudy was M a c r o b r a c h i u m r o s e n b e r g i i (fresh water prawn); however, avariety of other non-food species could also be grown in the sameconditions.

153Aquacultural Engineering 0144-8609/84/S03.00 Elsevier Applied SciencePublishers Ltd, England, 1984. Printed in Great Britain

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154 S. K!emetson. G. L. RogersFAMILY-MANAGED POND SYSTEMS

The authors (Klemetson and Rogers, 1981) have completed a study ofthe pond temperature maintenance needs of potential geothermal aqua-culture sites in Southern Colorado utilizing their Maintenance ofAquaculture Pond Temperatures (M_APT) computer model. This dataalong with a physical and economic evaluation of the sites has led tothe conclusion that it is possible to mainta in a family-managed pondsystem in an area utilizing the limited geothermal resources available.The name 'family-managed ponds systems' was chosen to imply thatthe owner of the land and well and his family or workers, took anactive part in the construction and operation of the ponds. It wasassumed that most of the facilities were already available, such as land,water, buildings, wells, roads, feed storage, boat, shop and vehicles.The use o f poultry ration and/or manure to fertilize the ponds for algaeproduction would lower feed costs. It was also assumed that a prawnor other aquatic nursery facility would be available within a reasonabledistance which could produce the 65 000 post larvae necessary to stockthe 1 acre pond for about USS500. The labor costs were considered tobe provided by family members for feeding, management, harvesting,etc., and only US$1000 would be spent each year. Also, only US$100was allowed for book-keeping and administration since it was a familyventure.

It was assumed that production would be reduced, as compared tocommercial facilities, because of the lesser amount of time that wouldbe spent in testing and maintenance and because of the unfamiliarity ofthe family with the prawns and pond production needs.Table 1 gives a comparison of the facility and operation costs of thefamily-managed pond system with that of other commercial operations.The costs are not complete because of varied local conditions but thecategories to be considered have been shown.

MULTIPLE USE GREENHOUSESGreenhouses are commonly used for the year round growing of cashcrops such as tomatoes. The cost of the conventional greenhouse forone layer of prawn production is not economical. It is possible,however, to make a joint use of the available floor space. By proper

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A rea l ts t ic approach to smal l aqua cul ture fac i l it i e s 15 5T A B L E 1Cost Com pariso n o f Comm ercial-Scale Aq uac ulture F aci l i ties Versus the Fam ily-

Managed Pond System for Poncha Hot Spr ings , Colorado (Costs per Acre for10-acre Pond S ystem )a

I t e m B as e c ase(US dol lar s )

F a m i l y -m a n a g e d p o n d s b

Capi tal cos ts1. Lan d I 0002. Water3 . Pond cons t r uc t ion

(a) Ear th mo ving 16 000(b) Clay seal 4 500(c) Piping , valves, etc. 1 00 0(d) Wel ls(e) Buildings( f ) Roads

4 . E q u i p m e n t(a) Feed storage bin 1 500(b) Pum ps and assembly 3 000(c) Aera tors 400(d) Lab and ins t rum ents 3 500( e) Row boa t 400( f ) Harves ting and packing 1 000(g) Shop and ma in t enan ce 500(h) Au xi l ia ry genera tor(i) Vehicle

5. Hea t loss con trol faci l it ies

AvailableAvailable1 2004 500

500AvailableAvailableAvailableAvailable

1 0 0 040 0500 cAvailable

1 000AvailableN o n eAvailableN o n e

To ta l capi tal cos ts 32 800 9 100Operat ing cos t s1. Feed 450

2 . I mp or t ed s tock 1 9503. Labor ($4.50 h - l )(a ) S tock ing 18(b) Feeding 900( c ) Pond man agem ent 2 700(d) Harves t ing and packing 72(e) Transp or t to m arke t 1004. Marke t ing

225500N o n e1 0 0 0N o n eNone100

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156 S. Klemetson, G. L. RogersT A B L E 1 (continued)

Item Base case(US dollars)

Family-managed ponds

5 . C o m m u n i c a t i o n(a ) Pho ne 175 150(b) Mail 50 50

6 . P o w e r(a) Elect r ic 75 75(b) Gas - -

7 . T a x e s 2 2 0 2 2 08 . A m o r t i z a t i o n ( 1 2 % c a p i t a l c o s t ) 4 0 0 0 1 1 0 09 . Bo o k k e e p i n g a n d a d m i n i s t r a t i o n i 0 0 0 1 00

1 0. P o n d c o v e r r e p l a c e m e n t - -To ta l op e ra t ing cos t s 11 710 3 520

Return1. P ro du c t ion 1 32 0 lbs 1 000 lbs2 . S a le o f b y p r o d u c t s ( $ ) - -3 . M a r k e t v a lu e ( $ 5 . 0 0 lb - t ) 6 6 0 0 5 0 0 0

Prof i t (5 100) 1 480a D a t a p r o v i d e s c o s t c o m p a r i s o n r a t h e r t h a n t o t a l c o st s .t, I t w a s a s s u m e d t h a t t h e f a r m e r h a d t h e n e ce s s a ry e x c a v a t i o n e q u i p m e n t , p i p e sa n d p u m p s o n h a n d a n d w o u l d d o t h e l a b o r h im s e lf .c O n l y s i m p l e e q u i p m e n t w o u l d b e r e q u i r e d f o r s m a l l o p e r a t i o n .

d e s i g n o f t h e f a c il i t y , a n u m b e r o f c r o p s c o u l d b e g r o w n e i t h e r a b o v eo r b e l o w t h e a q u a c u l t u r e t a n k s . I n s u f f i c i e n t d a t a h a v e b e e n c o l le c t e da t th i s t i m e t o p r e s e n t t h e e c o n o m i c s o f th i s o p t i o n .

C O N C L U S I O N SW h i le t h e m a i n t e n a n c e o f t h e p o n d t e m p e r a t u r e p r o f i le is n e c e s s a ry a n dm a y b e c o s t ly , i t w o u l d b e p o s s i b l e t o d e v e l o p t h e s e f a c i l i t i e s o n a s m a l ls ca le u n t i l t h e t e c h n o l o g y f o r m u l t i l e v e l p r a w n p r o d u c t i o n is d e v e l o p e d .

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A r e a l is t i c a p p r o a c h t o s m a l l a q u a c u l t u r e f a c i l i t i e s 157T h e f a m i l y - m a n a g e d p o n d s y s t e m o r a v a r i a ti o n o f th is c o n c e p t h o l d s

t h e m o s t p r o m i s e f o r s u c c e s s a t t h i s t i m e . T h e m u l t i p l e u s e o f g r e e n -h o u s e s m a y o f f e r e v e n b e t t e r e c o n o m i c r e t u r n s t o t h e f a m i l y - m a n a g e dp o n d s y s t e m .

A C K N O W L E D G E M E N TT h is p r o j e c t w a s f u n d e d in p a rt b y th e S o u t h e r n C o l o r a d o E c o n o m i cD e v e l o p m e n t D i s tr ic t u n d e r g ra n t n u m b e r F C R C N o . 2 9 2 - 3 9 9 -1 0 4 - 8 ,D o c u m e n t N o . 1 0 9 -5 0 1 0 4 .

R E F E R E N C EKlemetson, S. L. & Rogers, G. L. ( 1981). Development of Geothermal-AquacultureSystems in Colorado Utilizing the Macrobrachium rosenbergii Prawn,Klemetson

Engineering report to Coury & Assoc., Denver, Colorado.Stanley KiemetsonAssociate Professor.Department of Civil Engineering,Brigham Young University,Provo, Utah 84602. USAand Gary L. RogersPost-Doctorate,University of Hawaii,Hawaii Institute o f Marine Biology,PO Box 1346, Kaneoke,Hawaii 96744-1346, USA