Yellow perch
Perca flavescens
Also known asAmerican perch · Lake perch
Water parameters
Minimum tank: 200 L per individual at harvest size.
Feed and growth
- Feed protein
- 40% target
- Daily feed (warm)
- 1.40% of body weight
- Daily feed (cool)
- 0.70% of body weight
- Max density
- 45 g per litre
A 300 g adult eats about 4.2 g of feed per day at optimum. 10 fish at adult size: ~42 g daily.
Legality
Rules vary by jurisdiction and change over time. Verify with your local fisheries or wildlife authority before stocking.
| Jurisdiction | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| California | permit required | verified 2026-05-13 |
| Michigan | permit required | Michigan DNR aquaculture registration required verified 2026-05-13 |
| European Union (bloc) | check local regulations | Closely related to European perch; check local invasive species rules verified 2026-05-13 |
Unlisted jurisdictions default to "check local regulations".
Origin and habitat
Native across eastern and central North America, through the Atlantic, Arctic, Great Lakes and Mississippi basins, from Nova Scotia to the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories and south to Ohio, Illinois and Nebraska, with Atlantic populations reaching the Savannah River in Georgia. A cool-water member of the family Percidae, it reaches about 50 cm and 1.9 kg at most and lives up to eleven years, though table fish are far smaller. Yellow perch feed on invertebrates and small fish. The firm, mild, white flesh is a prized table fish, especially around the Great Lakes and the Northeast, and Lake Erie perch is the classic example of its commercial and sport fishery. The fish takes to culture but grows slowly next to warm-water species, and university breeding programmes in the Upper Midwest have produced faster-growing strains.
Climate and outdoor ponds
- Climate
- temperate (handles seasonal swings)
- USDA zones
- 3–9 (winter low around -40°C or warmer)
- Heating needed
- no
- Cooling needed
- yes, if summer water exceeds upper tolerance
Care notes
A premium cool-water aquaponics fish, well matched to recirculating systems run around 16–22°C, with best growth near 20–25°C. It grows slowly, taking 15 to 24 months to reach a modest 150–250 g, small by aquaculture standards, but the high market price, around 12 to 20 dollars a kilo retail in the Upper Midwest and Northeast, keeps it viable where a local market exists. Feed conversion on perch pellet of 38 to 42 percent protein runs about 1.8 to 2.5. A real strength is temperament: once on pellets, yellow perch accept formulated feed readily, show little aggression or cannibalism and tolerate crowding, handling and marginal water better than most cultured fish, which is why they suit dense recirculating culture. The genuine bottleneck is at the start, getting feed-trained fry and fingerlings, since larval survival and weaning onto dry feed are the hard steps; buy feed-trained fingerlings rather than rearing larvae. Keep ammonia low, dissolved oxygen above about 5 mg/L and pH near 7 to 8. The fish is legal to culture in most US states, with registration required in some, and fingerlings come from several Great Lakes hatcheries. In northern climates the cool water it needs matches ambient temperature, so heating costs disappear.