The Trinituner Entrepreneurship/Self Employed/ Side Hustle Thread

[hyperdude]

start yuh farming on a small scale first
see if yuh could manage with the work
and if the fish like yuh(lol)
when yuh fish get to a big enough size
either
check yuh local small grocery
where yuh does shop,or one of the van mongers
for sale
when yuh feel yuh ready to do ah large scale
ah have ah link with the local
fish farming association
ah will sen yuh d link
but first start small...

[10-01]

we have a 50 x 50 x 15 deep man made pond in our land we started with about 15 small talapia and it has multiplied alot in a short space of time , my advice to you dig the pond and start on a small scale and then get the paper work done while doing it , put in the application and state that you have a small scale pond with fish already and you want to expand that should help the application , they will visit the pond and tell you what needs to be done to get to a larger scale .

[VJTEK]

russian123, great question and there is a thread in here already about this topic. Look for it and you will find a wealth of information.

I can tell you from personal experience that it was not rewarding financially (25 acre farm)

We experienced a host of issues like lack of fingerlings supply, lack of proper feed, predation from 2 and 4 legged critters, lack of water supply etc.

I don't mean to sound negative but many people talk on forums about second hand experiences, things they have heard about, this is my actual experience.

I pulled seine in the caiman infested waters, i invested time and money in the venture to no avail over a ten year period.

That being said, on a small scale it is very rewarding to provide food for yourself and your family.

My Dad has helped many people set these systems up for free. We have helped a retired lady setup a pond at the front of her home measuring about 4'x4'x3' from this pond she is able to produce about 150lbs of Tilapia a year (about 150 1lb fish).

Some can grow to 2 to 3 pounds if you leave them longer.

So my advice is to start small, unless you have a ton of money stashed away.

Incidentally there are 'Incentives' for Aquaculture and also 'Subsidies', i put these items in quotes because even though we applied for them when we were in business, we have yet to receive a penny from it.

As with all things seek other opinions.

[GRIM]

@ Project-JDM

what was the approx cost to dig a 50'x50'x10'dp. pond?

[10-01]

we have equipment so the cost was nil , but a excavator can do this for u in a day for about $4500 + transport cost of the machine and also if u need to truck the dirt away a additional cost will be added

[Chimera]

join this group on facebook

look at the struggles of the fish farmer

https://www.facebook.com/groups/132217670128596/



it seems the only way to profit is to do aquaponics becauses it cheaper and easier for a person to buy cleaned and ready to cook talapia fillet from the grocery than to buy whole fish from someone

pricesmart and many groceries are importing the talapia fillet from china i believe and you simply can't produce it cheaper locally

all those government incentives they brandishing in front your face....i haven't met a farmer yet who has benefitted from it

ministry of agri sends you to fisheries, fisheries sends you to ministry of agri when you try to submit a claim


honestly you should really start small scale before you invest thousands and get screwed up

as i said about aquaponics, the resulting veggies (if done properly) would profit you far more than the sale of fish

[hustla_ambition101]

Unless import taxes are levied heavily on imported fillets the local industry will suffer. I was planning on getting into it and after working within one of the State agencies who produce tilapia i realized it was a dead end

[russian123]

Thanks for the feedback guys, appreciated

[Chimera]

^^^ hustla has it right

unless the government makes it more expensive to import than to buy locally, it simply wont be profitable

they are trying though...with these subsidies..but as i said, i've yet to meet a farmer who benefitted from it

[MG Man]

ABA you have to market as a niche: 'organic tilapia'
Imported tilapia from china (or any food from china) is scary....there is a small market for good stuff...you won't be able to buy a Porsche with pink rims and name it Camilla's Dream, but it could be a decent second income source

[Chimera]

i really don't think the fish farming aspect of it is profitable at all

fish feed not cheap
caimans could take up residence and clean you out in a night or two then you can't even legally kill said caimans
then it have the men who would come and throw a few cast net in the middle of the night while you sleeping



doubt you could even buy a used b14 with ziglas

[pugboy]

in speaking to a former farm owner, he said above ground tanks are more efficient to use with proper filtration etc.
less space and easier to cull/separate the fish for more efficient grow out.
Have a big pond with fish of many different sizes is not efficient use of feed.

sourcing supermales is the problem

[Chimera]

yup the above ground tank solves some big problems

no worries about caimans
no expense to dig a pond
easier to filter water

can't remember how much for one of those tanks tho

[pugboy]

if I recall he said around $15k for first tank and equipment, century eslon makes a tank to their spec
adding tanks will be cheaper as same pumps etc can be used.

[hustla_ambition101]

Tank system is highly inefficient as they take longer to grow in small spaces and you have much less in a tank system than in a pond.

[Chimera]

could always sell back the tank if the fish farming eh work out though, or even use it strictly for hydroponics

[stephengobin]

my advice to you is when you are selling it invest in a vacuum sealer and fillet the talapia, i am currently the purchaser for a known grocery and i buy it at 17 per pound.

[pugboy]

I have seen massive filtration with tank setups and many doing growing of plants on side as additional nitrate removal
the way they cram fish into tanks compared to ponds could be considered inhumane

[hustla_ambition101]

my advice to you is when you are selling it invest in a vacuum sealer and fillet the talapia, i am currently the purchaser for a known grocery and i buy it at 17 per pound.

Have to factor in cost of vacuum sealer, cleaning and filleting etc. SIDC buys for $12 whole I think, is it worth all the work.

*not being negative, just factoring ROI*

[VJTEK]

One year old tilapia. Note these are silvers which grow faster than the red.

[ek4ever]

^^lol at can of PAM near fish.

I think the most efficient production systems are RAS (Recirculating Aquaculture Systems). IMA has one setup and you could talk to them about setting up your own. There is a design around somewhere for an RAS with a 1 million lbs annual production capacity all using above ground tanks requiring about 15,000 sqft of space. The great thing about the RAS is that it can be setup in a warehouse so you can secure it properly and keep out predators and other harmful things.

The most difficult aspect of Tilapia farming will be getting a market for it. If you can convince local supermarkets to buy from you then you on....but in most cases you will have to provide fillets. Feed is another issue and overall costs may make your product more expensive that Chinese Tilapia although in the US there is ongoing concern of health issues surrounding China supplied Tilapia. So you could look at breaking into that market.

Again as mentioned earlier in thread you will need to get assistance with marketing you produce especially outside Trinidad. Maybe scale can bring down costs so you need to aim at very large scale production. There is great demand for Tilapia world wide as it is becoming a replacement for traditional ocean fish. I believe the last figure I saw was a world demand shortage of 30 million tonnes .... basically the big producers can't meet world demand.

[VJTEK]

^^Pam was put there to show size. The larger of the two fish weighed in at 2.75lbs

[ek4ever]

Good size for 1 yr .... silver and black are the fastest growers IIRC or is it silver and red? But I would concentrate on the silver

[VJTEK]

^^ Silvers and black are faster growing. My dad saw a 6lb black in Egypt.

This pic is the 2.75 pounder jerked

[pugboy]

Baked?

[VJTEK]

^^ yup, it was absolutely delicious.

[aidan]

If you really want to get into tilapia farming on a commercial scale, the best way would be a Recirculating system with tanks. Production is much higher as compared to pond systems and its easier to manage.
You also definitely don't want tilapia multiplying in your pond or tank systems since it wastes energy.

Fisheries division has 2 commercial systems you can replicate to have a proper functioning commercial system. The space requirement is small as well (can fit in a back yard). There are also some incentives available.

You can call the Aquaculture Unit of the fisheries division (623-6028)and tell them you are interested in getting into tilapia farming. You can then go in and collect an aquaculture package, which will give you information about the industry and research. If you are interested, you will be booked in for a 'field trip' to a fully functioning farm (with a tank system) to see how it works and ask any questions you have. If you want to go further you can attend the Commercial aquaculture training course that is offered by the unit. They also go as far as helping you with the setup of your farm. I highly suggest if anyone wants to get into the industry to give them a visit, lots of good information.
The gov is pumping a lot of money into the industry. There is a processing plant being setup in londenville opposite Sugarcane feeds center (SFC). This plant will be open to fish farmers to process the fish into fillets at a subsidized cost when it goes into operation (Supposed to be by Sept this year). In March of this year, the process was started to reduce/eliminate the import tax&vat on fish feed and aquaculture supplies.

SIDC is getting out of the freshwater fish program and now working on captive marine fish culture. They still supply tilapia feed and sometimes fingerlings.

[pugboy]

Why are they starting back the old school pond setups by bamboo ?

[VJTEK]

Pugboy...I guess they are trying to revamp the industry. I pulled a seine in there some years ago and there were some large silvers.

Additionally this area is highly visible so it will help the government of the day appear to be serious about aquaculture.

Motives aside I'm happy to see these ponds rehabilitated. There was all kinds of garbage in there when we pulled the seine...including large chunks of asphalt.

[aidan]

They are revamping the farm to be a proper demonstration center to demonstrate different types of systems. It doesn't matter if the area is highly visible, it was an already existing facility that was leased out and poorly managed, I guess the good 'PR' is a by product. But the aquaculture unit has been suggesting this to past food production ministers for a while.

The farm would serve as a research,training and demonstration center. They are also going to be producing fingerlings (super males) in large quantities to supply to the aquaculture industry. There would also be different types of functioning systems on display (pond,raceway,tank,swedish tank system). A full scale aquaponics system is also in the works to be installed at the site.