Residual Rate and Escape Route Preference of Juvenile Carassius auratus grandoculis Reared in Paddy Fields

Abstract

Gathering paddy-reared juvenile fish (0-year fish) at the paddy's drain outlet at the time of the mid-summer drainage often results in many unharvested fish being left behind. To devise ways of reducing this wastage as much as possible, we performed two experiments during the irrigation season in modernized, consolidated paddy fields as follows. Experiment I: an investigation into the numbers of juvenile Carassius auratus grandoculis that succeeded in leaving a paddy field through the drain outlet. Experiment II: an investigation into their preferred route of escape from the paddy, either via the drain outlet or the water inlet, when both were available. In Experiment I, more than 39.1% of the number of fish that escaped from the paddy were still left behind in the paddy more than three days after the mid-summer drainage had begun. In Experiment II, most of the juveniles, i.e., 99.8% of the fish that escaped from the paddy, left from the water inlet. These results suggest that greater efficiency in reducing the numbers of unharvested juvenile fish in paddy culture may be achieved by first capturing fish at the drain outlet with the irrigation water shut off, and then partially refilling the paddy while using traps or other gear to catch the remaining fish that are attracted towards the water inlet.