THE PRIVATE FISH POND-A NEGLECTED 

 RESOURCE 



By C. H. Townsend, Director of the New York 

 Aquarium. 



The possibilities of small fish ponds as sources of food 

 for the people have received little consideration in this 

 country and the actual breeding and maturing of fishes 

 in such ponds is an art which we have yet to put in 

 practice. While certain foreign countries have long 

 profited by the art of private fish culture, and have fur- 

 nished notable examples, our own facilities for this in- 

 dustry have been neglected. It is probable that our 

 resources in this respect are greater than those of other 

 countries, as the United States already lays claim to the 

 most extensive fish cultural operations carried on in the 

 world, and nowhere is there so large a body of profes- 

 sional fish culturists as that connected with our national 

 and state fishery commissions. 



In these times when the value of running streams for 

 water power is being widely considered, the possessors 

 of brooks, springs and small lakes should be awakened 

 to the value of their home resources for water farming. 

 At a former meeting of this Society I had the privilege 

 of describing at considerable length approved methods 

 for the construction and care of small fish ponds.* The 

 matter is recorded in the printed transactions of the 

 Society, and it is unnecessary, at the present time, to 

 reconsider the methods of pond management, but it is 

 always desirable to keep the subject of private fish cul- 

 ture before the public. 



It is gratifying to note that trout culture, in the hands 

 of the private citizen, is making some progress in Massa- 

 chusetts and adjacent states, and the advertisements of 

 successful trout raisers may today be found in American 

 journals devoted to fish and game. Trout culture is, 



*Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 1907. "The Culti- 

 vation of Fishes in Small Ponds," by C. H. Townsend, pp. 128-139. 



