Lecture 8: Farm Pond Management

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Lecture 8Farm Pond Management

• WMAN 445 Fisheries Management

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Internet Sources

• http//msucares.com/wildfish/fisheries/farmpond/ma
  nagement/
• http//www.dgif.state.va.us/fishing/Pond_Managemen
  t/index.html
• http//www.uaex.edu/wneal/Pond_Management/default.
  htm
• http//www.ncagr.com/aquacult/farmpond.html
• http//www.wvu.edu/agexten/aquaculture/Ohio20Pon
  d/Ohio.pdf
• http//msucares.com/wildfish/fisheries/farmpond/ma
  nagement/balancekey.htmlseine20haul20with20bas
  s

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Pond Management Introduction

• Small impoundment made by damming water from
  springs, streams, wells, or surface runoff of
  precipitation.
• 0.4 to 40 hectares (0.2 to 2.4 ha AFS Central
  States Pond Management group)
• Usually privately owned
• Most numerous in South and Central states
• Management Guidance/Assistance through NRCS,
  State Fish and Wildlife Agencies, and Cooperative
  Extension programs

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Pond Management Philosophy

• Sustained or improved fishing quality and
  favorable cost-benefit ratios
• High catch rates and above average sizes

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Multiple Uses of Ponds
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Historical Context

• Soil Conservation Service in 1930s promoted pond
  construction to protect against effects of drought

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Historical Context
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Ecological Principles

• Simple food webs
• Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Production

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Ecological Principles

• Standing Stock Total biomass of a species at a
  specific moment in time
• Population Density No. of individuals present
  in a population at a specific moment divided by
  the area of habitat.
• Carrying Capacity Total density or biomass of a
  given species that a pond will support over a
  period of time.
• Average Fish Size varies as a function of overall
  pond Productivity and Population Density

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General Types of Ponds

• Warmwater Ponds Bass and bluegill, sometimes
  catfish
• Coldwater Ponds Trout, usually stocked
• Coolwater Ponds Rare Walleye, hybrid striped
  bass, smallmouth bass, etc.

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Stocking and Harvest Options

• All Purpose Option
• Harvest Quota Option
• Panfish Option
• Big Bass Option
• Catfish Only Option
• Black Bass Only Option
• Trout Option

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All Purpose Option

• Largemouth bass, Bluegill, and Catfish
• No harvest for first four years
• Protected slot of 30-38cm for LMB 4 years post
  stocking
• harvest 75/ha (20-30cm and gt38cm) LMB
• Releasing 30-38cm LMB allows 10 of LMB to grow
  past 38cm (reduces stunting of BG)
• No restrictions on harvest of BG
• Consequence of havervesting LMB within
  slot-limit?
• Consequence of not harvesting smaller LMB?

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Harvest Quota Option

• Allows for harvest of a set number or weight of
  fish of any length
• CR fishing after the quota is reached
• Harvest 3-10 kg of BG for every 1 kg of LMB
• Requires strict adherence to the rules
• Tendency to overharvest large fish and
  underharves large ones. Consequence?

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Panfish Option

• Objective Catch big sunfish (e.g., BG)
• 38 cm minimum size limit on LMB allows for
  larger BG to survive
• High density of LMB reduces BG density, which
  allows those that survive to grow to a large size
• Easy option because most unmanaged ponds tend in
  this direction.

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Big Bass Option

• Objective Catch big largemouth bass
• Harvest 75 LMB 20-30 cm per hectare 12 LMB
  between 30 - 38 cm each year.
• Release all large bass
• Only possible in relatively large ponds.

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Catfish Only Option

• Especially useful in small, muddy ponds
• Remove all spawning structures or they will
  overpopulate and stunt
• Fathead minnows stocked as prey
• Restock to replace fish that were removed 10
  for natural mortality

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Black Bass Only Option

• Shallow, weedy ponds were bluegill are very
  likely to stunt (too much cover)
• Be sure to stock several year classes

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Trout Option

• Usually Rainbow trout
• Generally no reproduction (though brook trout may
  spawn in ponds)need to be restocked regularly
• Common in southern Appalachians (Fee-Fishing
  Trout Farms and Aquaculture)
• Need to be Spring-FedWhy?

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Management Issues Predator Prey Interactions

• Predators have a naturally low carrying-capacity.
• Predators often escape from ponds.
• Top-predators tend to be targets of harvest.
• Too much cover can make prey inaccessible to
  predators (i.e., lower the carrying capacity of
  the pond).
• Many top predators do not reproduce will in small
  ponds (crappies and catfishes).

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Management Issues Regulating Harvest

• Easy to over-harvest.
• Easy to under-harvest.
• Minimum Length vs. Slot-Limit Regulations.
• Balance requires specific levels of harvest on
  specific age classes of fish.

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Management Issues Supplemental Feeding

• Used to increase the carrying-capacity of
  infertile ponds.
• Can produce big fish in a small pond.
• Negative effects often outweigh positives

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Management Issues Fertilization and Liming

• Objective is to increase pond productivity.
• Inorganic, Commercial Fertilizer - 20205
• Liming rates determined from alkalinity and
  hardness.
• Problems often arise, especially in Northern US.

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Management Issues Aquatic Vegetation

• Vegetative productivity is the basis of
  productivity in ponds (why liming and
  fertilization produces more fish)
• Overabundant vegetation can create problems
• Boating
• Swimming
• Cover for Prey
• Dissolved oxygen and fish kills

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Management Issues Aquatic Vegetation
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Management Issues Aquatic Vegetation

• Optimal vegetative cover in Illinois ponds 36
• Control
• Mechanical raking, cutting, drawdowns
• Chemical herbicides (crystalline copper
  sulfate)
• Biological grass carp (covert macrophytes to
  phytoplankton)

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Management Issues Aquatic Vegetation
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Management Issues Fertilization and Liming

• Problems increased BOD, odor problems, fish
  stunting due to overpopulated BG and lack of
  foraging success for LMB
• Harvesting
• Mechanical
• Chemical
• Biological

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Balance and Population Analysis

• Swingle 1950 Balanced Fish Populations
• Continual reproduction of predators and prey
• Diverse size of prey (and predators)
• High growth rates of predators and prey
• Annual yield of harvestable-size fish in
  proportion to fertility
• self-sustained crops of harvestable size fish in
  proportion to pond fertility.

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Biomass Indices

• FC
• YC
• AT Value
• (See box 21.2!)

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Biomass IndicesFC Ratio

• Total weight of all forage fishes (F) / Total
  weight of all carnivorous fishes (C)
• Ratio of 3.0 to 6.0 is desired, 1.4 10
  indicates a balanced population

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Biomass IndicesYC Ratio

• Total weight of forage fishes small enough to be
  consumed by the average sized carnivore / Total
  weight of all carnivorous fishes (C)
• 1.0 to 3.0 desired 0.02 - 5.0 balanced
  population
• Accounts for gape limitation not all forage fish
  are available for most LMB
• Critical BG Size lt 60-mm

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Biomass IndicesAT Value

• Total weight of harvestable fish / total weight
  of all fishes
• Total Availability a measure of what portion
  of the population is harvestable
• 60-85 is desired

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Length-Frequency Indices

• PSD (Proportional Stock Density)
• fish of a given species greater than or equal
  to quality length / fish greater than or equal
  to stock length X 100
• Quality Length size most anglers like to catch
• Stock Length size at which fish reach sexual
  maturity
• 40-70 desirable for LMB
• 20-60 desirable for BG

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Length-Frequency Indices

• RSD (Relative Stock Density)
• Proportion of fish of an designated length group
  in the stock length and longer portion of the
  population

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Size Designations (cm)
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Abundance Weight Indices

• Wr (Relative Weight)
• ( actual weight of fish / standard weight of
  fish at that length ) 100
• 100 is not an average but 75th Percentile

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Relative Weight II

• Populations or individuals below 85 are in poor
  condition

• Population above 105 are overly plump and
  could support more fish

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Standard Weight Equations

• Largemouth Bass
• Log10 Ws -5.528 3.273 Log10 L
• Bluegill
• Log10 Ws -5.374 3.316 Log10 L
• Channel Catfish
• Log10 Ws -5.800 3.294 Log10 L

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Importance of Harvest

• Ponds have rather simple food webs, harvest is a
  great tool to keep ponds in balance
• Ponds are a great study in population dynamics

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Pond Construction

• Pond construction is pretty rare now
• Assistance State agencies, NRCS, consulting
  companies

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Pond Construction
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