TECHNIQUES OF FISHPOND MANAGEMENT 
By LAWRENCE VY. Compton, formerly associate biologist, Biology Division, Soil 
Conservation Service 
Page Page 
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INTRODUCTION * 
The raising of pond fish is an old and widespread type of farming in 
many parts of the world. 
In the United States interest in pond fish culture has been local and 
sporadic. Early efforts were directed almost entirely toward raising 
carp (Cyprinus carpio). Possibly the general disinterest that has ex- 
isted in the development of farm fishponds has been partly a result of 
the long-standing impression that the carp is the only fish that can be 
easily raised. Recent investigations have, however, established suc- 
cessful methods of raising large-mouth black bass, bream, and other 
equally valuable food fish. 
In Europe and in the Orient the culture of pond fish has been an 
important pursuit for centuries. Ever since the Middle Ages the 
farmers of France have raised fish for food and fertilizer on flooded 
grain fields as part of a regular crop rotation (8). In 1934 Poland 
had approximately 185,000 acres of ponds and the total yield from 
these was estimated to be 22 million pounds of fish (78). In the Philip- 
pines in 1940 there were 141,564 acres devoted to ponds for raising 
milkfish (Chanos chanos). It was estimated that these ponds pro- 
duced annually 98 million pounds of fish and that the milkfish industry 
was worth not less than 50 million pesos (27). These figures suggest 
the importance that fish farming may assume. 
Successful fishpond management involves procedures that are con- 
trary to most commonly accepted ideas on fish culture. It has been 
demonstrated, for example, that the greatest fish production can be 
obtained when ponds have no rooted aquatic plants, are stocked with 
1The material presented here has been gathered from many sources and is a review of 
the pertinent literature on fish farming. It must be emphasized that many of the pro- 
cedures of management are those that have been developed by H. S. Swingle and E. V. 
Smith of the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station at Auburn to whom the author is 
indebted for personally discussing and explaining their work and for reviewing the manu- 
script. O. Lloyd Meehean, T. S. Kibbe, and Eugene W. Surber of the U. S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service also contributed materially by their review of the manuscript. Further 
acknowledgment is made to Edward H. Graham, Chief of the Biology Division, Soil Conser- 
vation Service, and William R. Van Dersal, formerly of the Biology Division, for stimulating 
the preparation of this paper and for aiding in its completion. 
2 Italic numbers in parentheses refer to Literature Cited, p. 21. 
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