Hey Sugarhill, can't give you any info on this, but really want to know more. I'm also in Sugar Hill and really close to the Hatchery. And in desperate need of compostable goodies in this home which is new for me - onceuponapasture describes it perfectly. Hurry, someone, let us know! Please! Can the folks at the Hatchery help? Rosie

Not a lot of information out there about fish manure that I could find. Rosiew, we might be on the cutting edge. Here's what I've found so far. Based on this, I guess I'll try it.

Abstract.ÂThe chemical composition of settleable faecal fish waste was determined from fresh manure samples collected at 12 commercial farms growing rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss in Ontario, Canada. The manure samples from the commercial farms averaged 2.83% nitrogen (N), 2.54% phosphorus (P), 0.10% potassium (K), 6.99% calcium (Ca), and 0.53% magnesium (Mg) on a dry-weight basis. The concentrations of the metals, arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr), iron (Fe), mercury (Hg), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), selenium (Se), and zinc (Zn) were also measured. Mean concentrations of these metals ranged from 0.05 mg/kg for Hg to 1,942 mg/kg for Fe. Fresh fish manure has similar levels of N, P, Ca, and Mg, and lower levels of K when compared to manure from beef, dairy cattle, poultry and swine. Fish manure tended to have a higher content of Mn, Cd, Cr, Pb, Fe, and Zn than most other livestock manures, but had lower levels of As, Se, Co, and Ni. The copper (Cu) content of fish manure was similar to all other livestock manures. The results from this study indicate that fresh fish manure is similar in its chemical composition to other livestock manures, and should be suitable for use as an agricultural fertilizer. In addition, it is hoped that these data will also help regulatory agencies and farmers make sensible and pragmatic decisions concerning the appropriate and safe disposal of manure wastes collected from land-based trout culture facilities.

Just wrote a long response then somehow it got dumped. Let's go to the Hatchery and find out a bunch of things: analysis figures here, and, important to me, if the dredgings are piled, further composted and hopefully not soppy. Also explore the odor issue. My new neighbors like me. I want to keep it that way. LOL Can we put email addy or phone number in these posts?

So happy I found all of you in the Georgia Gardening forum.

RosieW aka Rosemary Walsh

Hey Rosie. Most people have their email address as part of their personal profile (I don't). DO NOT put your email or phone # in this post. These posts are searchable from the web. Put it in your profile, and I'll send you an email.

Your worry about odor reminds me of a neighbor years ago who got a pickup full of chicken manure from one of the chicken farmers around here. He spread it out in his yard to compost. This was in late apring. By June no one on our end of the street could go outside after 9 am without their eyes watering. It was awful. So I think we should go to the hatchery on a hot day and find out if we can stand it. I only need a couple of buckets - not a whole truck load, so maybe it won't be so bad. Bet it won't be much fun bringing it home.

Have added email to my profile. And I got turned in to the Homeowner's Association for my p/u load of chicken manure!

Soon, Rosie

sugarhill, just remember puppies love to roll around in stinky stuff. Mulan loved to roll in whatever I was spreading around the yard. My daughter used to take her in the shower with her when we would come in from a really messy day of gardening. I can only imagine what trout droppings would smell like!