TECHNIQUES OF FISHPOND MANAGEMENT 3 
ing the re-entry of some of the undesirable forms. A pond is niuch 
like a pasture—the amount and kinds of animals and plants may be 
counted and regulated, and the production of meat may be increased 
by fertilization. 
THE POND 
Ponds ranging in size from 14 acre to 70 acres have been successfully 
managed with the practices outlined in this publication (23). 
Although large ponds can be managed, the expense and labor involved 
make it unprofitable for the average individual. Fertilization, stock- 
ing, and the control of weeds and mosquitoes are easy in a pond of 
1 or 2 acres but are expensive and laborious in large ponds (73). 
These facts should be kept in mind when new ponds are built—a small 
pond for a family, a large pond for a community or a fishing club. 
A pond of one-half acre is about as small as is practicable for’ one 
family. A pond of this size, if fertilized, will have a carrying capacity 
of about 250 pounds, and from it there can be caught by hook and 
line approximately 100 pounds of fish in the course of 1 year. How- 
ever, if a site for a larger pond is not available, a one-quarter acre 
pond will provide considerable food and sport for one or two persons. 
(fis. 1). 
K Y—30482 
Figure 1.—Even a small farm pond, properly managed, can provide a family 
with many pounds of fish. 
The depth of water at the deepest part should be 6 or more feet 
and the shore should slope off steeply to about 3 feet so that, with the 
fluctuation of water level, shore vegetation will not be encouraged. In 
new ponds, facilities for draining should be provided so that should 
the fish population become unbalanced or the pond choked with weeds, 
it may be drained, cleaned, and restocked. Farmers are sometimes 
