Over the last twenty years t he supply of Golden Shiner in Minnesota has decreased while demand by anglers for use as bait has increased and far exceeds in-state production. Minnesota reported $101,000 in sales of Golden Shiner in the 2018 A quaculture Census which was about 58% of the $175,000 reported in the 2013 census and 24% of the $425,000 reported in the 2005 census . Recent projections estimate a deficit of more than 10,000 gallons of Golden Shiner annually. Consequently, t here is pressure from some anglers, bait dealers, and legislators to import Golden Shiner from other states, though this is currently prohibited. The primary concerns are that importation can introduce aquatic invasive species, disease, and parasites that may negatively impact native fish communities . Recreational f ishing is one of Minnesota’s largest industries, with an estimated direct economic value of $5.9 billion. Our study explores strategies to increase Golden Shiner abundance in Minnesota as a n alternative to importation.
Production of Golden Shiner is limited due to slow growth rates in Minnesota where i t takes two years for Golden Shiner to reach market size (8-12 cm) in natural ponds. We are exploring four different strategies to grow Golden Shiner to market size in Minnesota within one growing season (May-October). Our strategies include: 1) intensive indoor rearing of Golden Shiner using a recirculating aquaculture system (RAS); 2) growing Golden Shiner in an indoor recirculating aquaponics system; 3) stocking outdoor, constructed ponds with newly hatched Golden Shiner sac-fry (0.5-1 cm); and 4) producing feed- trained Golden Shiner frylings (2-3 cm) indoors before stocking them into outdoor constructed ponds.
Year one (2022) of our project produced optimistic results and provided future areas of research to pursue. Year two (2023) built upon year one results and we saw increased growth in most strategies . The production and growth of Golden Shiner in ponds stocked with both sac fry and feed- trained fry was variable but, in most cases, growth exceeded that of year one. Development of the aquaponics strategy was delayed in year one but was successfully implemented in year two. Unfortunately, we ran into an issue in our year two RAS strategy. We will summarize total production, growth and size structure at harvest for each strategy .
A major benefit from this project has been to develop strong working relationships among those in the aquaculture industry, state government and academia . The project has drawn high interest from bait dealers, aquaculture producers, the Minnesota Department of N atural Resources and the media. If successful and cost effective, these strategies could become a new model for production of a variety of minnow species used as bait in Minnesota and other northern climates.