Culture methods of eurasian perch and yellow perch early life stages

For carnivorous species producing relatively small larvae, as Eurasian perch and yellow perch, the successful rearing of early life stages is still a matter of concern, even if significant improvements have been achieved during these last two decades. This chapter presents an overview of the different methods used to produce juveniles of these two species: (i) production of fish in fertilized ponds, with fingerling habituation to artificial feed before or after pond harvest, (ii) fertilization of mesocosms and semi-intensive production up to 45 days old, (iii) intensive production in tanks with supply of live prey progressively replaced by artificial feed. For each system, the optimal husbandry conditions as well as the influence of main factors (stocking density, temperature, growth heterogeneity and management of cannibalism, non-inflation of swim bladder,…) influencing the survival and growth of fish from larval to juvenile stages are described.