08/02/2024
I'm often asked what I do when not at the shop - CPA for a goldfish farm??? This article explains it. I'm impressed daily with this family and the way they do business - treating employees and customers like family.
The largest producer of goldfish in the U.S. is in Lonoke, Arkansas!
Pool Fisheries is a big fish in a small pond. Founded in 1959, this family-owned goldfish farm outside Lonoke is is the largest goldfish hatchery in the world! They produce around 275 million goldfish each year, that's about 80 percent of the total U.S. production!
It's a four-generation family business that started out raising minnows, then has grown into goldfish, and today they have diversified into more exotic species such as koi and even a few tadpoles and turtles. The fish are a lot heartier due to the rich clay soil terrain and the higher alkaline hard water that's found in the Lonoke area, which is prime for aqua-farming!
Today, 1,500+ stores in the U.S. and Canada take in goldfish grown in Lonoke County. Pool Fisheries sells over 4 million fish a week! Odds are, if someone in this country has a goldfish, it came from Pool Fisheries. Their biggest customer, PetSmart, which alone acquires about 1.5 million goldfish every week!
Goldfish is grown, harvested, packed and shipped from Lonoke’s Pool Fisheries from hundreds of ponds on 40 acres. Over the course of a year, each acre will yield roughly 1000 pounds of fish.
It starts in the Spring when adult brood fish lay their eggs on mats which are placed in indoor hatcheries for incubation. The eggs hatch about three to five days later. Then the young fish, are transferred to the outdoor ponds where they are fed daily with protein-rich Arkansas products: soybean meal, rice bran, and cottonseed meal. In about 6-8 weeks they reach market size (about 3/4th of an inch long) where they are captured, graded, and prepared for shipment.
Growing the fish is one thing, but getting them out the door is another. The fish are cooled in holding tanks with large blocks of ice, this slows down and relaxes the fish. Then they are scooped out, counted by weight, and put into bags with water and air. Those bags are boxed and packed with ice to be shipped out. By the time the goldfish reaches their final destination, the ice has melted and the goldfish will have warmed to same temperature of the tank in the pet store.
Twice a week, two of Pool’s 18-wheeler tankers delivers fish all over the United States and even Toronto, Canada. Each truckload contains approximately a million fish, usually about 60% goldfish and 40% minnows.
FedEx also plays a big role in the business, regularly delivering countless packages. In fact, Pool Fisheries is easily among FedEx’s top customers in the state, one time coming in at the number one spot. It is common for them to ship a half of million goldfish by Fed Ex priority mail. The fish will be in across the United States at it's destination by 10 o’clock the next morning.
Not all of these fish will become pet fish in a fishbowl, but some will be sold as “feeder fish” – that is, live food to be served to fish higher up the food chain. Many nature centers (such as those operated by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission) and zoos through out the country depend upon Pool Fisheries to provide nutrition in the form of live goldfish.
Not all of Pool's goldfish are sold as feeder fish or pets. Over a million of their goldfish goes by tanker truck to Tempe Town Lake, a 225-acre reservoir on the Salt River near Phoenix, Arizona. The goldfish are released into the lake to eat the larvae of midge flies, an annoying gnat that was aggravating visitors at adjacent parklands. This biological solution using goldfish keeps harmful chemicals out of the popular lake.
Raising 275 million fish a year is hard work! The company has to raise twice as many fish as they plan on selling because of frogs, turtles, snakes, and birds eating the fish. Pelicans and other seabirds have discovered the Pool's ponds and it’s a constant battle to run the birds off.
The goldfish industry alone contributes $50 million annually to the Arkansas economy. Guests are welcome at Pool Fisheries and local school groups arrive regularly for tours. To schedule a visit, give them a call (501) 676-2191. Tell them FunInArkansas sent you. They'll be glad you did!
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(This post falls under the Fair Use Act of 1976 for media publication.)
