size of pond you have and the level of 

 management you plan to follow. A 

 pond that receives run-off containing 

 herbicides or pesticides should not be 

 used to raise fish, Foster says. Soil 

 Conservation Services (SCS) agents in 

 your county can help you decide how 

 many and what kind of fish to stock 

 in your pond. 



Under a low-management system 

 you can stock your pond with fish, fer- 

 tilize the pond to encourage aquatic 

 plant growth (which attracts worms, 

 insect larvae and other aquatic 

 animals for the fish to eat) and harvest 

 by hook and line or by seine. If you 

 want to follow a more structured 

 management system, perhaps for a 

 small commercial harvest, you will 

 probably want to feed the fish a com- 

 mercial fish feed. 



Or perhaps you want to try cage 

 culture. Steve Van Gorder of the 

 Rodale Research Center says cage 

 culture is one of the easiest methods of 

 growing fish. At their Pennsylvania 

 research location Van Gorder says 

 tilapia, a hardy African food fish, and 



Photo by Pat Seip. Rodale Press 



catfish have been raised in pond cages. 

 Researchers stocked a 3x3x4-ft. cage 

 with 250 to 500 catfish. Van Gorder 

 says at least 250 catfish must be put in 

 each cage to prevent territorial 

 fighting. The team fed the fish a 

 floating feed, which doesn't escape the 

 cage, and they periodically cleaned the 

 cage of algae and debris accumulations 

 to allow a good flow of water. When 

 the fish were ready to harvest the cage 

 was simply pulled from the pond. Van 



no natural exchange of water from a 

 creek or river. Under a closed system 

 the same water is constantly being 

 recirculated and cleaned. 



Van Gorder says that using the 

 Rodale method for backyard 

 aquaculture, a person can set up a 

 pool-culture system for between $500 

 and $550, not including labor, and that 

 the system will pay for itself within 

 five years. The costs run like this: a 12- 

 ft. pool, three feet deep with a vinyl 



"We believe more people would eat fish if they grew 

 their own, and it would be a better-quality fish" 



— Steve Van Gorder 



Gorder says a pond will support the 

 same number of catfish caged as it will 

 without cages. 



For people with no pond, there is 

 another alternative — pool or 

 greenhouse culture. Van Gorder says 

 100 pounds of fish or more can easily 

 be raised in one season in a backyard 

 pool. A backyard or greenhouse pool is 

 a closed system, which means there is 



liner — $150; a clarifier (built from two 

 55-gallon drums and fabric mesh) — 

 $50; a biological filter — $130; aerator 

 (only needed if raising over 100 pounds 

 of fish) — $60; a hose and connector — 

 $10; two pumps — $60. Besides the set- 

 up costs, feed runs $45 a year, elec- 

 tricity $25 a year and fingerlings $30 a 



Continued on next page 



Experimental fish tanks set futuristic mood at Rodale's Pennsylvania research site 



