by
V.A. Murin
Ukrainian Fisheries Research Institute
Kiev, U.S.S.R.
Pond fish culture requires higher volume of capital investment per unit of production than most other branches of agricultural production, and the proportional value of the investment per hectare of fish cultural area is well above that of irrigated farming. The cost of construction of one hectare of irrigated dry farming land under the conditions of the Ukrainian Republic is about 800 rubles,1 the average cost of construction of one hectare of irrigated area under rice in the south of the Republic is 1400 to 1600 rubles, whereas the cost of construction of one hectare of fish cultural area on a full-system farm which is a complex of fattening and nursery ponds (for growing one-summer-old carp) is 3000 to 4000 rubles.
In the volume of capital investment per unit of production, pond fish culture substantially surpasses all other branches of agriculture, of which the following is an example: in the Donetsk region of the Ukrainian Republic, that is within one geographical zone, the production funds per one person working on a combined vegetable growing and milk producing state farm amount to 2938 rubles, on a poultry state farm, 3278 rubles, whereas on a fish cultural farm the amount is as high as 15 410 – 21 000 rubles.
Along with high volume of capital investment per unit of production pond, fish culture is notable for the significant prevalence of the value of basic production fund in the total amount (total advanced capital). Thus, the amount of fixed assets in the total sum of production funds of all state fish cultural farms of the Ukraine is eight times as high as the sum of current assets.
Of the total amount of the capital advanced for the construction of pond fish cultural farms, the highest share is taken up by the cost of the natural basis of production, i.e. fish cultural ponds including the cost of pumping stations and water supply regulating facilities. For the state fish cultural farms this share amounts to 79.5 percent. The proportional cost of the unit of production area for farms with gravity water supply is somewhat lower than that for farms with mechanical water supplies, but in no case is it lower than 60 percent.
The high volume of capital investment per unit of production has an adverse influence on the period within which the investments are recovered. Assuming that in the value of the realized produce, the expenditure on the construction of fish cultural farms is recouped at the rate of the cost of physical wear, then the recovery of the total advanced capital will take about 30 to 40 years, which is a period several times as long as the recovery period for the investment in most extractive and manufacturing industries.
On the other hand, our own domestic as well as foreign experience shows that pond fish culture may become a highly profitable field of economy; and through higher levels of intensification the recoupment time may be reduced to 5–6 years. The profit obtained from pond fish culture as against the cost of fixed assets was 15 percent in 1966 and 17 percent in 1967 for the Donetsk fish farm, and correspondingly 19 percent and 25 percent for the Chernovitsy fish farm.
Reduction of the investment recoupment time in pond fish culture may be attained in two ways: firstly, by increasing the level of intensification and secondly, by cutting down the production cost of the produce. The third course is to reduce the cost of construction of fish cultural areas, but this may only be considered provided this reduction is achieved through improvements in construction techniques and provided it meets the requirements for increase in the level of intensification.
On the basis of the experience gained on the state fish cultural farms of the Ukrainian Republic, an attempt is made here to show the interdependence and interrelationship between the level of the intensification of production, profitableness of pond fish culture and the recovery time of investments going into the construction of fish cultural farms. However, before proceeding to giving an account of the facts, it is thought necessary to define some conceptions and categories which are outlined below.
Pond fish culture is a branch of agricultural production. Similar to farming, the natural basis of pond fish culture is land. It is true that water is also a natural premise in pond fish culture, but with the progress of civilization, our idea about water being a free source of life which is present in nature in unlimited quantities becomes more and more illusory. Similar to cultivated land, water becomes a product of labour; it acquires value, turns into an element of constant capital and becomes a commodity. The economic implication of water as a natural production factor does not differ from its role in irrigated farming, such as in rice growing. Thus, in considering the matter of intensification in pond fish culture, we have every reason to apply concepts and principles used in understanding the role of intensification in agriculture, particularly in land farming.
1 1 ruble = approximately U.S.$1.11
There are different points of view concerning the concept of intensification of farming, determination of its level, its quantitative estimation and its economic implication as applied to pond fish culture.
Some people think that the level of intensification in pond fish culture is determined by the fish productivity of ponds, i.e. by the yield obtained from the unit of fish cultural area. Others believe that the level of intensification is determined by the density of stocking the pond with one-year-old carp (or other species) when the two-year cycle is adopted (as is the case in the Soviet Union), or with two-year-old fish adopting the three-year cycle. Still others consider that the level of intensification is determined by the ratio of the total number of fish planted to the number of fish raised on natural food only, i.e. by the ratio of total fish productivity of a pond to its natural productivity.
These methods of estimating the level of intensification seem to have their limitations. The fish productivity of a pond could not be a measure of intensification for the simple reason that it is its effect. To some extent it might be a measure of the effectiveness of intensification, but not a measure of its level. Apart from it the fish productivity is largely dependent on the objective conditions of production; e.g. the geographical location of a fish cultural farm, the duration of the vegetative period, the abundance of biogenic elements in the water flow, which in its turn depends on the fertility of soil in the drainage basin.
Neither could the level of intensification of pond fish culture be determined by the density of stocking, since the fish planted is only one of the components of the cost of production. Under the conditions existing in the Ukrainian Republic, the proportional cost of the stocking material in the total amount of expenditure for the production of 100 kg of carp when the two-year cycle is adopted ranges between 15 and 20 percent.
Karl Marx theorised (in Das Kapital) that intensive culture is understood to be nothing else than the concentration of capital on one ground area instead of its distribution among the adjacent ground areas. Thus, the principal criterion in estimating the intensification level in farming is the expenditure of material elements of the capital and labour per unit of production area.
A corresponding interpretation of intensification was given by Lenin, who pointed out that intensive development of agriculture was taking place, not by way of increasing the quantity of cultivated land, but through improvement of the quality of cultivation through increase of the capital invested in the land.
Consequently, the criterion for estimating the level of intensification of pond fish culture is the total sum of expenditure per unit of production area, i.e. per one hectare of fattening pond.
Practical experience shows that the level of intensification in pond fish culture may vary considerably. In 1966 at the state fish cultural farms of the Ukrainian Republic, it amounted to as much as 250 rubles per hectare at six farms (116 rubles on the average), 250 to 500 rubles at nine farms (305 rubles on the average) and over 500 rubles at four farms (721 rubles on the average). Thus the level of intensification in the third group was over three times as high as in the first group.
This considerable difference in the level of intensification of pond fish culture results in the necessity of establishing a relationship between the level of intensity of fish culture and the level of economic effectiveness.
A logical approach suggests that the most profitable fish cultural farm is that where fish culture is based on extensive methods of production, i.e. such a system where the growth increment is accomplished at the expense of natural food, similar to grazing in animal breeding. In this case, the necessity no longer arises of purchasing artificial feeds, the share of which in the cost price of the produce is as high as 40 to 50 percent. At the same time there is a considerable reduction in labour inputs. Practically, this method brings down the cost of production to the expenses for the stocking material and labour required for the stocking of ponds with fish and for fishing the ponds after the production cycle is completed. However, in this case, the production volume would be so low that the recoupment of expenses sustained in the construction of ponds would take several decades, which is beyond economic expediency and common sense. Extensive pond fish culture may exist in areas where the natural factors of production, the land and the water, have no value at all, which is only possible in those cases in which they have not acquired the status of property. Practically, in the modern world, these situations may arise in countries with an extremely low level of economic development, and will cease to exist at all in the near future.
However, it would also be erroneous to go to another extreme; that is, to proceed from the assumption that the higher the level of intensification in pond fish culture, the higher (under all circumstances) the level of profitableness. Each type of fish cultural farm has its own optimum level of intensification beyond which a further increase in material expenditure and labour will not result in a corresponding increase in the growth of productivity and profit per unit value of production funds.
Practical experience shows that this optimum level is not the same for all types of fish cultural farms and, moreover, it is not constant for each individual farm. Thus the task is to find the optimum level of intensity of pond fish culture as applied to conditions existing at each individual farm.
As far as is known from national and international literature, such a method of determining the optimum level of intensification is not yet in existence. The Ukrainian Fisheries Research Institute has started investigations in this field. This paper is concerned with setting down some data obtained in the process of these investigations.
To know the optimum level of intensification in pond fish culture, some data must be available which characterize the objective conditions of production. These include natural factors such as the duration of the vegetative period, abundance of active growth, temperatures and water supply conditions. In addition, it is also necessary to have data characterizing the state of the basic production fund, i.e. the composition of the pond fund, the meliorative conditions of the pond and the level of technical equipment of the farm. Data are also needed on the amount and structure of production costs, particularly on components such as stocking material, feeds, mineral fertilizers and labour, as well as their shares in the total production value.
Natural conditions of production are objective; and at the existing level of development of the productive forces of society, the possibilities of our influencing them are extremely limited. However, this does not mean at all that they are neither subject nor susceptible to economic assessment. On the contrary, they are of primary importance in deciding the question of the geographical location of fish cultural farms. Practically, the culture of pond fish, particularly carp, is possible in different geographical zones, but economically, as far as the U.S.S.R. is concerned, it is more profitable to build the cultural farms in southern latitudes. An example is given below to illustrate the role of the geographical factor: the All-Union Research Institute of Pond Fish Culture has worked out techno-economic fish cultural standards for different geographical zones of the U.S.S.R.
Table I shows the impact of differences in the natural conditions of two zones, the central black earth zone and the north western zone (situated 400 to 500 km apart), on the economic effectiveness of pond fish culture.
Table I
Techno-economic indices in relation to fish farms located in two geographical zones
| Indices | Central black earth zone | North western zone |
| 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Density of stocking (number of fish per hectare) | 3000 | 2000 |
| Yield from fattening (percent) | 80 | 70 |
| Yield from fattening (number of fish) | 2400 | 1400 |
| Weight of marketable fish (g) | 450 | 350 |
| Total production per hectare (kg) | 1080 | 490 |
| 1Value of production from one hectare (rubles) | 972 | 441 |
| 2Value of production per one thousand rubles of basic fund | 486 | 220.5 |
1 The value of 100 kg is assumed to be 90 rubles.
2 The cost of one hectare of pond area is assumed to be two thousand rubles.
Thus, with an equal cost of construction of one hectare of fish cultural area, the yield of production per one thousand rubles of expenditure in the central black earth region is more than twice as high as in the northwestern region.
Fish farms set up in areas with less favourable geographical conditions in order to supply local markets with pond fish incur lower expenditure on transporting live fish to consumers, but this gain is multified by the lower productivity.
Our experience shows that, as a rule, transport expenses do not considerably affect the cost price of production. When the fish is delivered by truck or by railroad, an increase of 500 kilometres in distance from the fish farm to the consumer raises the cost price by 5 to 6 percent; whereas, the difference in geographical conditions may increase the cost price by 1.5 to 2 times.
Temperature factor, however, does not form the sole criterion of favourable natural conditions. Temperature is important only to the extent to which another natural factor of production, the water, does not limit the possibilities of intensification of fish culture.
The level of intensification of pond fish culture, as well as its economic effectiveness, may be directly affected by the condition of the farm, e.g. the degree to which the ponds are overgrown with rough vegetation or bogged up, reducing the possibility of complete draining of the ponds. In further considerations we proceed from the assumption that all these factors (the meliorative condition of the farm) meet the requirements of intensive fish culture.
A third group of factors determining the level of intensification of pond fish culture is the cost of production taken as a whole and by components. Data supplied by the state fish cultural farms of the Ukrainian Republic on the costs of production of one hundred kg of pond fish (carp) are presented in Table II, from which it is seen that while in some farms (five) the cost price is below 60 rubles per 100 kg, there are farms where it is over 100 rubles. It is clear that had the second group of farms been private (non-state) enterprises they could not have withstood competition and would have gone bankrupt.
It is of practical importance to establish a relationship between the level of intensification and the cost of production.
Table II
The cost price of one hundred kg of marketable carp at fish cultural farms of the Ukrainian Republic
| Farms | Cost price of 100 kg |
| Sumskoy | 53.20 rubles |
| Chernovitsky | 54.28 rubles |
| Lvovsky | 54.79 rubles |
| Volynsky | 56.99 rubles |
| Donetsky | 59.23 rubles |
| Lugansky | 63.45 rubles |
| Zaparozhsky | 65.35 rubles |
| Ternopolsky | 69.17 rubles |
| Khmelnitsky | 82.11 rubles |
| Poltavsky | 83.48 rubles |
| Vinnitsky | 89.32 rubles |
| Rovensky | 104.42 rubles |
| Odessky | 121.72 rubles |
Table III
Cost of production in relation to the level of intensification of pond fish culture at the farms of the Ukrainian Republic
| Groups of farms based on the sum of expenditure per 1 hectare of fattening pond (rubles) | Number of farms | Average sum of expenditure per 1 hectare | Cost price of 100 kg | |
| I. | up to 250 | 6 | 116 | 94.3 |
| II. | 250 to 500 | 9 | 305 | 78.4 |
| III. | over 500 | 4 | 721 | 65.9 |
It is seen from Table III that the highest cost of production relates to farms with the lowest level of intensification (94.3 rubles) and, vice versa, the lowest cost price (65.9) refers to farms with the highest level of expenditure.
Let us now trace a similar relationship within separate components of the total expenditure, as well as in relation to the volume of capital investment per unit of production.
In Table IV the fish farms have been grouped according to their level of productivity for establishing the relationship between productivity and the average cost of one hectare of fattening pond.
Table IV
Productivity in relation to the volume of capital investment per unit of production
| Productivity groups (kg/ha) | Number of farms in a group | Average productivity (kg/ha) | Percent of group I | Average cost of one hectare of fatten-pond (rubles) | Percent of group I | |
| I. | up to 200 | 7 | 161 | 100 | 824 | 100 |
| II. | 200 to 400 | 4 | 252 | 157 | 1298 | 158 |
| III. | 400 to 800 | 4 | 380 | 236 | 1745 | 210 |
| IV. | over 800 | 4 | 582 | 361 | 2122 | 257 |
It may be assumed that all other conditions being equal, the higher the proportional cost of one hectare of pond area, the higher the technical level of the farm and the more suitable the farm is for intensive fish culture. This is indisputable, but what we are interested in is the quantitative assessment of these two factors.
Table IV shows that there is a direct relationship between productivity and the proportional cost of the pond. However, with increase in the average cost of one hectare of fattening pond area, the productivity increases at a higher rate; e.g. in productivity group IV the proportional cost of one hectare is 2.5 times higher. (257 percent) than in productivity group I, and the productivity is 3.6 times higher. This means that within certain limits an increase in expenditure for the construction of fish cultural areas aimed at improving their technical level is economically justified.
One of the main components of expenditure on the production of pond fish is the cost of stocking material. The amount of stocking material required for producing one production unit (100 kg) is determined by two factors. It is directly related to the losses incurred in the cultural process and inversely related to the weight of one unit of marketable produce.
Assuming that with an increase in the density of stocking, the conditions of existence of the fish planted become less favourable; then an increase in density would seem to entail an increase in natural mortality and a decrease in weight and, consequently, an increase in the amount of stocking material per 100 kg of produce. However, practical experience does not confirm this, as demonstrated in Table V, which shows that with an increase of over three times in stocking density (group IV against group I) the natural mortality has not increased at all but, on the contrary, has decreased to about a third. This is not quite so unexpected, for group I, where the density of stocking is the lowest, is made up by farms which have the lowest facilities and are the least suitable for intensive fish culture. This equally applies to the average unit weight of marketable fish. Group IV farms use only about one third of the stocking material per 100 kg of production as compared to group I. In terms of money the overexpenditure for stocking material in group I farms will be about 25 to 30 rubles, which corresponds to about one fourth of the retail price.
Table V
Yield from fattening ponds and individual weight of marketable fish in relation to stocking density at different fish cultural farms of the Ukrainian Republic (1966)
| Groups of farms by stocking density fish/hectare | Number of farms | Average density within one group fish/hectare | Yield from fattening (percent of number of fish) | Average weight of one carp (g) | Number stocked per 100 kg production | |
| I. | up to 1500 | 5 | 1266 | 36.9 | 295 | 917 |
| II. | 1500 to 2000 | 5 | 1889 | 46.7 | 308 | 697 |
| III. | 2000 to 3000 | 5 | 2318 | 72.2 | 339 | 408 |
| IV. | over 3000 | 3 | 4213 | 76.4 | 402 | 323 |
An increase in the level of intensification entails a considerable increase in the amount of feed required, and it is therefore necessary to estimate a quantitative relationship between the amount of feeds per unit of production and the level of intensification. This is demonstrated in Table VI which suggests that with an increase in the level of intensification, the amount of feed per unit of fish grown increases only from group I to group II, for within group I, the bulk of production is gained at the expense of natural food the value of which drops correspondingly with increasing density of stocking. In other groups the amount of feed does not increase at all, but actually decreases.
Increasing intensification entails an increase in labour intensity as shown in Table VII.
Table VI
Amounts of feed per 100 kg of marketable fish at different levels of intensification (in the fish cultural farms of the Ukrainian Republic during 1966)
| Productivity groups (kg/ha) | Number of farms | Feed per hectare 1 (centners) | Percent of group I | Feed per 100 kg fish | Percent of group I | |
| I. | up to 200 | 7 | 4.3 | 100 | 3.2 | 100 |
| II. | 200 to 400 | 4 | 12.9 | 300 | 3.9 | 122 |
| III. | 400 to 800 | 4 | 24.1 | 563 | 3.6 | 112 |
| IV. | over 800 | 4 | 41.9 | 974 | 3.4 | 107 |
1 1 centner = 1 cwt = 50.8 kg)
Table VII
Wage expenses in relation to stocking density (rubles)
| Groups by stocking density fish/ha | Labour expenses per ha | Percent of group I | Labour expenses per 100 kg | Percent of group I | |
| I. | up to 1500 | 40.25 | 100 | 28.71 | 100 |
| II. | 1500 to 2000 | 69.02 | 171.5 | 21.95 | 76.5 |
| III. | 2000 to 3000 | 72.93 | 181.2 | 14.03 | 48.9 |
| IV. | over 3000 | 122.92 | 307.2 | 9.23 | 31.4 |
In this example, wage expense has increased in terms of money by more than three times, but in terms of production it has decreased proportionally, coming down to 31.4 percent in group IV as compared to group I.
The problem of the level of intensification of pond fish culture and the level of its economic effectiveness should not be considered without taking into account the composition and structure of the ponds.
In endeavouring to decrease the volume of capital investment per unit of production, one may be prompted to consider the question of increasing the size of ponds.
Table VIII
Productivity of ponds in relation to their size and condition
| Productivity groups (kg/ha) | Number of farms | Fattening area (%) | Including | The share of fattening ponds with the area of | |||
| drained ponds (%) | drainless ponds ( %) | up to 100 ha | over 100 ha | ||||
| I. | up to 200 | 7 | 47.2 | 15.3 | 84.7 | 32.4 | 67.6 |
| II. | 200 to 400 | 4 | 28.2 | 60.3 | 39.7 | 42.1 | 57.9 |
| III. | 400 to 800 | 4 | 16.5 | 84.9 | 15.1 | 82.4 | 17.6 |
| IV. | over 800 | 4 | 8.1 | 94.9 | 5.1 | 87.3 | 12.7 |
Data presented in Table VIII shows that cutting down the cost of construction of fish ponds by increasing their size does not result in increased economic benefits, for it results in a sharp decline of productivity. For the U.S.S.R., the economically optimum size of ponds seems to be about 50 hectares.
The same applies to the tendency to decrease construction costs at the expense of the quality of the lay-out of pond beds and hydrotechnical projects.
A remarkable example of huge advantages of the high level of intensification in pond fish culture is provided by the performance of a team of workers at the Donetsk fish cultural farm headed by Ivan Kononovich Novikov. In 1967 his four-man team obtained 214 tons of fish (mainly carp) from a 60 hectare pond. The productivity of this pond hit a record of 3570 kg per hectare for the input of 320 kg of feed per 100 kg of fish. The value of the fish obtained from this pond in 1967 is 2.5 times as high as the cost of the pond and twice as much as the expenses incurred during the year. In terms of money, the team obtained 200 thousand rubles worth of produce for the input of 100 thousand rubles, the profitableness reaching 100 percent.
The quantitative assessment of the level of intensification and its impact on the effectiveness of production and on profitableness is one of the most important problems of the economy of pond fish culture. Of no less importance is the problem of geographical location of fish cultural farms and determination of their optimum size.
Until recently pond fish culture in the U.S.S.R. was mainly based on gravity water supply. A characteristic feature of this type of farm is their location on high waters of small rivers. Another feature is the dispersion of ponds, which hampers mechanization of production processes, concentration of production and effective application of modern intensification methods. The only advantage is cheap water supply. At present, farms of this type have no prospects for development. High waters of small rivers are of no less importance to agriculture, for they are suitable for irrigated farming; therefore, the chances of these plots being allocated for building fish cultural ponds are becoming less and less probable. Under the circumstances, more and more importance is lately attached in the U.S.S.R. to building a new type of fish cultural farm - a large enterprise with mechanical water supply. An example is the Sulinsk farm situated in the mouth of River Sula where the latter flows into the Kremenchug reservoir.
