Abstract
In the Serbian fishing industry, carp breeding in pond is the most important activity. Analysis has shown that breeding may be organized in a two-level semi-intensive system, or in a fully intensive breeding system. Carp farms in Serbia cover any area of around 10,000 ha, with an annual restocking of young fish at around 8,600 ha. Species usually bred include carp, bighead carp, silver carp, grass carp, catfish, pike, and perch. By the level of production of edible fish in carp ponds, with an average production level of 5,000-7,000 tons of fish annually, Serbia takes an important place in Europe. In the chapter, the authors calculate several performance indicators of production for all carp farms, and the results show that by the production intensity Serbia is highly positioned in Europe.
TopTypes Of Carp Farms In Serbia And Systems Of Production
Carp breeding is done in many different ways worldwide, in different types of ponds according to its hydro-construction. In Serbia, it is possible to find several different types of carp ponds varying in size and characteristics.
Carp ponds can be divided in several ways, with two distinguished basic criterions, hydro-construction and technology. According to the first criterion, carp ponds can be compared by size, type and location of building, as well as according to the way of water supply (Hristić & Bunjevac, 1996; Marković & Mitrović - Tutundžić, 2003; Čanak, 2012).
According to construction type majority of carp farms in Serbia are earthen farms. There exist also few cage farms, as well as one silo farm. According to the location where they were built criteria, the most common are the ponds surrounded by dams. There are also ponds on swamp grounds (fish farm in Živača, Ečka, etc.), as well as ponds with longitudinal dams (Sakule lake). According to their size, ponds are divided in the following way: ponds with the total surface below 10 ha have a share of 16.2% in total number of ponds but cover only 0.8% of total area under fish farms. Farms with the size of 10-50 ha cover 4.7% of total surfaces and participate with 33.8% in the number of carp farms. Fish farms ranging in size 50-150 ha cover 9.3% of total surface and have a share of 16.2% in total number of carp farms. Farms in the size 150-500 ha participate with 25.7% in total number of carp farms, as well as with 47.2% in total areas under farms. The biggest fish farms (over 500 ha) cover around 38% of total surfaces under farms and participate with 8.1% in total number of fish farms in Serbia. This means that large farms, with size of over 150 ha, cover over 85% of total surfaces under carp farms in Serbia (Čanak, 2012).
Water supply for carp ponds can provided from rivers, channels, and wells. The most of carp farms in Serbia are supplied with water by pumps and discharged by gravity.