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Growth and Production of Largemouth Bass in a Small Pond
Author(s) -
Cooper Edwin L.,
Hidu Herbert,
Andersen John K.
Publication year - 1963
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(1963)92[391:gapolb]2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - bass (fish) , standing crop , acre , spawn (biology) , fishery , environmental science , biology , zoology , agronomy , biomass (ecology)
The relationships among standing crop, growth, and surplus production of largemouth bass were studied in a fertile 2.8‐acre pond in central Pennsylvania. A few adult bass were permitted to spawn naturally in 1958 and 1960, and the resulting populations were observed during their second years of life. Initial standing crops of the yearling bass (20,043 in 1959 averaging 3.4 inches long; 5,490 in 1961 averaging 5.2 inches long) were reduced by harvesting in both years. Growth and condition of the yearling bass were measured in the two years concurrently with the harvesting. Poor condition and slow growth of the bass occurred together with a high standing crop in 1959; in 1961, a lower standing crop was accompanied by both a higher condition factor and faster growth. Surplus production of yearling bass was greater in 1961 (75.5 pounds per acre) when fewer fish were present, than it was in 1959 (51.0 pounds per acre). The increased production in 1961 was expressed in fewer fish of a much larger average size (8.4 inches in 1961; 4.0 inches in 1959), a circumstance considered to be more favorable to the pond owner.