VIRTUAL TOUR OF A TURBOT AND HALIBUT FISH FARM

Juvenile Stage

The turbot and halibut are brought on to the farm from hatcheries located in Europe. At these marine finfish hatcheries, large broodstock are spawned and the resultant eggs are reared from hatching through to weaned juveniles prior to export, a process that takes up to 2 months.

Marine fish eggs, and hence larvae, are much smaller than their freshwater counterparts and are more difficult to rear through to weaning as a consequence.

Their small size limits their ability to ingest dried food, and hence live feeds have been formulated to bring them through this delicate stage.

The most common live feeds used in marine aquaculture are rotifers and brine shrimp Artemia. These are fed to marine fish larvae prior to metamorphosis. This is the process during which the eyes migrate from their positions on either side of the head in the pelagic phase to one side of the head and the body becomes flattened and the fish ultimately come to lie on the tank bottom. Once they have been weaned onto a dry diet the fish can be taken onto the farm for on growing on pelleted diets.