REVIEW OF CIRCULAR TANK TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT

Large cost savings have been achieved in the production of food fish w ith the use of larger systems and enhanced production management strat egies. These trends have also included the use of large circular cultu re tanks because of their many advantages for food fish production. Ci rcular tanks make good culture vessels because they can provide a unif orm culture environment, can be operated under a wide range of rotatio nal velocities to optimize fish health and condition, and can be used to rapidly concentrate and remove settleable solids. The flow inlet an d outlet structures and fish grading and/or removal mechanisms should be engineered to reduce the labor requirements of handling fish and to obtain effective tank rotational characteristics, mixing, and solids flushing. This paper reviews and discusses the rationale and criteria needed to design circular culture tanks. In addition, the implementati on of continuous production and satiation feeding strategies within ci rcular culture tanks is discussed because of their large and often und er-emphasized effect on overall system productivity. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.