Commercial Production of Tiger Puffer (Takifugu rubripes) in Winter Using a Recirculating Aquaculture System

Tiger puffer (Takifugu rubripes) is a promising species for aquaculture production because of its high value and limited supply. However, in the north of China, using sea cages to culture this species in winter is hampered by the fact that the seawater temperature is extremely low. Here, a large scale commercial production of tiger puffer has been successfully realized using a recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) from 3 October 2012 to 31 May 2013. The RAS was comprised of nine culture tanks (total water volume 200 m3) and stocked with approximately a total of 14400 fish (initial mean weight 160 g). The tiger puffer was hand-fed at a rate of 0.7% of total body weight per day, and the feed conversion rate was (1.21 ± 0.3) kg kg?1. The recycle water in RAS was treated by a sieve bend screen, a foam fractionator, a submerged biofilter, an UV sterilizer and a submersible aerator. During the whole culture period, an excellent water quality control was achieved in RAS. At the end of this experiment, the survival rate of tiger puffer was more than 98%. The final tank densities averaged 31.2 kg m?3, and the final individual mean weight was 440 g.