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The Management of Ponds with Stunted Fish Populations
Author(s) -
Swingle H. S.,
Smith E. V.
Publication year - 1942
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8659(1941)71[102:tmopws]2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - fishery , stocking , fishing , acre , biology , population , bass (fish) , fish <actinopterygii> , micropterus , fish kill , ecology , agronomy , algal bloom , phytoplankton , nutrient , demography , sociology
The principal causes of stunted populations in impounded waters in the Southeast are: Overstocking, absence of sufficient carnivorous fish, and heavy weed growth in ponds. Recommended management practices for the correction of these conditions are: (1) weed control, (2) stocking with largemouth black bass, (3) fertilization to increase the food supply, and (4) heavy fishing to reduce the number of fish. These measures were applied experimentally to a 3‐acre pond containing a stunted population of bluegills which had been unable to produce legal‐sized fish over a 10‐year period. Within 6 months the pond was producing good fishing, and after 18 months, seining samples indicated that 1‐year‐old bluegills weighed as much as 5‐year‐old bluegills had at the beginning of the experiment.