Aquaculture in the Republic of Belarus

Aquaculture in the Republic of Belarus is characterized by four main farming systems: fish pond farming, warmwater and industrial fish farming (rearing fish in cages in warmwaters of power plants in closed-loop water supply systems) and fish rearing in natural and artificial water bodies (culture-based fisheries). The main cultured species in Belarus is common carp (Cyprinus carpio), which currently accounts for 79.7 percent of total national aquaculture production. Fish pond farming is the main method of production.

There are currently 22 fish pond farms (under various forms of ownership), three fish farms havesting and processing lake and river fish, five fish hatcheries rearing seed for stocking lakes and reservoirs, two warmwater cage systems (belonging to fish farms) and one cold water trout farm (Konchits, 2005). Different management and ownership systems are in operation.
The total pond surface of the country is 24 530 ha, of which 20 800 ha belong to the state owned fish farms and 3 730 ha to agricultural enterprises of communal-municipal ownership. The existing pond capacities allow an annual production of up to 19 900 tonnes of marketable fish, of which the enterprises of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food yield up to 16 600 tonnes (Konchits, 2001 and 2002).

Over recent years, privately owned enterprises (farmers, private entrepreneurs and firms) have begun aquaculture production activities. The majority (54 farms in six provinces) rear fish in leased natural and artificial water bodies according to culture-based fisheries, i.e. fattening of fish stocked in polyculture on a natural food base and their subsequent harvesting using commercial fishing gear. Two enterprises have opted to specialize in trout rearing from imported fry, and two others in sturgeon rearing using industrial methods.

The main freshwater fish producer of the country is the Department of Water Management and Melioration of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Belarus, bringing together 19 fish pond farms and one that rears stocking material and harvests fish in natural water bodies. They are responsible for about 88 percent of the annual fish production of the country. Total aquaculture production reported to FAO in 2004 was 4 150 tonnes.

The main cultured species in Belarus is common carp (Cyprinus carpio

), which currently accounts for 79.7 percent of total national aquaculture production. Other cultured species are goldfish (Carassius auratus auratus) 10 percent, Chinese carps: grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus), silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix