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Farmer pleased with crop of tilapia
Photo
Shane Conti of Leetonia shows off one of the many tilapia at High Point Farm. Conti, who has been in business three years, says the tilapia were more plentiful and bigger this year because of higher temperatures. He also raises prawns at the Leetonia business.
By D. A. WILKINSON
LEETONIA
Shane Conti has a little problem on his hands.
It’s called growth.
Conti runs High Point Farm, in part, with the help of his father, Allen, of Canfield.
On Thursday, he showed a fillet of tilapia, a white fish originally from the Amazon that has been transplanted to the United States.
“We have a lot of tilapia,” he said.
The difference between the blue and pink tilapia?
“Nothing,” Conti said. “They taste the same.”
Some 2,000 fish were harvested at the farm earlier this week. They were cleaned, filleted and frozen.
Last year’s cool temperatures did not help the growing season. This year’s warm days really helped.
Conti said he harvested 338 pounds of tilapia this year compared with 150 pounds last year.
“The bigger the fish, the bigger the fillet,” he said.
People are willing to pay a little more to get fresh fish without any chemicals or mercury. Conti said he planned to harvest prawns today at the farm.
The prawns also were affected by the cool winter in 2009 and helped by the heat this year.
“We had 100 pounds last year,” Conti said. “This year, 200 would be good; 300 would be great.”
The sun-heated prawn lagoon also has brought out a large number of small frogs, but there’s no plan to get into frog legs.
The prawns are destined for Angiuli’s Fresh Food Market, 9610 Columbiana-Canfield Road, Canfield, on Saturday and Sunday, starting at noon each day.