Fishing farmed trout
Leaving the guesthouse, I went with my guide and Mr. Albert north of Mircurea Ciuc for some distance, then we turned left, driving on a gravel road towards the area of Madaras. First, we passed fields and meadows, then we gradually entered a deciduous forest. While driving, Mr Albert told my guide that Filtermaiszter Zsolt started a fish farm in this area, but he sold it and moved to his present place. Besides, there were several others who had tried to make fish farms in this area, but they had given up.
Finally, we arrived at the property of his father-in-law where there was a wooden cabin, an outdoor eating place and a fish pond, which had been excavated by Mr. Albert’s father-in-law.
The bottom of pond was covered by a tarpaulin where the surrounding area was on the same level or lower than the pond.
Next to the property, a small river was passing. In order to replenish the water in the pond, a tube was feeding water from the creek to the pond. Mr Albert, totally unfazed by the cold running water, removed some stones below which there was a wooden shield.
Below, there was a perforated metal plate above a concrete tube. Inside the concrete tube, but invisible to us, the tube connecting the the creek and the pond was residing. There was another invisible tube connecting the fish pond to a pond on the outside of the property. In this way, fresh water was passing through the fish pond.
Another requirement for fish to survive is air. In the beginning, water was passing from the tube, falling into the pond in one place only. Mr. Albert noticed that the fish was gasping for air where water was entering the pond. Then, he understood that there was too little air in the pond and he constructed a setup such that water was falling continuously into the pond in three places instead of one. In this way, the flowing water will bring fresh air into the pond at the same time.
In order to protect the pond against predators, it was surrounded by a fence to prevent mink from entering. In addition, blue clotheslines were set up above the pond and a net was stretched out just above the surface of the pond to prevent birds like herons from taking the fish.
The filter in the creek with the intake clogs easily and the same happens with another filter located in the tube above the fish pond. There is also a filter where water is leaving the pond in case of a higher water level on the outside.
The fish are sensitive to environmental changes and the fish farmer has to be attentive.
When it’s raining a lot, silt will appear in the gills of the fish.
If the fish is afraid, it secretes a liquid which makes it slippery.
If the fish don’t escape when someone arrives, they are probably ill. Then, he can close both intakes and where the water is flowing out of the pond. Next, he can apply a medicine for about 2 hours. Afterwards, he can let water enter and exit again, but he has to wait for 2 months before he can slaughter the fish.
Mr. Albert buys rainbow trout spawn from Mr. Filtermaiszter in the spring and he slaughters them in the autumn.
Once, he set up an advert about selling fish, but the response was too high. He pulled the ad and asked people to go to Mr. Filtermaiszter instead.
He only produces fish for his family and some friends, while others are advised to go to Mr. Filtermaiszter.
Mr. Albert uses a dog feeder to feed the fish at certain times, which the fish like.
However, he wants to install a fish feeder which spreads the feed, else the most greedy fish take almost all of it. Besides, he wants to install a LED light, which will light a small part of the pond and attract insects, which the fish can eat.
He threw fistfuls of pellets into the lake and we could watch the fish partly jump out of the water in order to catch the feed.
There are 650 rainbow trout in the pond in autumn and 1200 in summer, but he’s certain he can have 3000.
He was using a net to haul up fish and when he hauled up enough for us, he finished off all of them, then he cleaned and grilled them. Finally, we had a delicious meal in the crisp autumn air.
In fact, he prefers to keep the fish salted for 24 hours to bring out the taste, but it wasn’t possible for us because I was going home the next day.
He needed to drain the pond because it freezes in winter. The next day, he would drain it, slaughter all the fish and put it in a freezer.
