An Economical Evaluation of the Production of Seabream (Sparus aurata) in Suez Canal Region

Abstract

The present study investigated the effect of rearing the seabream in pond aquaculture with using artificial feeding in ponds throughout June, 2017 to June, 2018, Fingerlings of 1 g weight was stocked in pond with an area of 1 feddan and 1.25 m depth at a rate of 20000 fish/feddan in a monoculture system. Temperature ranged between 21.0 and 30.8°C; pH ranged between, 7.4 and 8.9; DO ranged between 4.0 and 5.0 mg/L and salinity, ranged between 16.0-18.8 ppt during the study. Seabream attained average final average final weight 250g/fish at harvest with an increment of 249g/fish and a daily gain of 0.46g/fish. Average survival rate was 77% and total production 3.8 ton and net production was 3.78 ton/feddan. The results revealed that the cost of feeds accounted for the largest proportion (30.03%) of the total cost of fish production, then fingerlings (1.66%), rent and other (0.09%) and labor (30.0%). This experiment demonstrated the possibility of cultivation of Seabream as well as the higher commercial value where better net return (146250 LE /feddan) was recorded with investment return of 8.80 LE / return LE cost. The results of the study revealed that Seabream is a promising candidate for cultivating in ponds.