By Norman Latona & Scott Kirk
Southeastern Pond Management, Inc.

Many pond owners have found that managing a private pond can be rather confusing. Ask pond and lake management professionals from different states the same question and you might hear different answers. How can this be? Aren't ponds in Alabama similar to ponds in Mississippi, Georgia and Texas?

Before answering this question, let us take a brief look at the history of pond management. As early as 1915, biologists in the northern states began to consider and experiment with practical pond management. However, it was not until the 1940's when biologists such as Bennett (1943) and Swingle (1949) began to develop management strategies based an replicated pond studies. Dr. Swingle's concept of balance, which was derived from his replicated studies, became the accepted standard of pond management in the southeastern United States. These experiments and case studies eventually led to the major theory behind modern pond management.

Dr. Swingle, originally an entomologist, was hired by Auburn University to conduct research in the realm of pond management. Through this work, Dr. Swingle came to define a balanced pond in the following manner: The interrelationships in fish populations are satisfactory if the populations yield, year after year, crops of harvestable fish that are satisfactory in the amount when basic fertilities of the bodies of water containing these populations are considered.

Further, Dr. Swingle defined "crops of harvestable fish." The minimum weights for harvestable fishes of the species used in these studies were adopted as follows:
• Bluegill, shellcracker and similar sunfish. 0.1 pounds (1.6 ounces)
• Crappie 0.26 pounds (4.1 ounces)
• Largemouth Bass 0.4 pounds (6.4 ounces)
• Channel catfish 0.5 pounds (8 ounces)

By today's standards, 1.6 ounce bluegill nor 6.4 ounce largemouth bass hardly represent "harvestable" and certainly do not reflect the management objective of the majority of those who "manage" their ponds. Keep in mind, however, Dr. Swingle's work was conducted in the 1930's and 40's. The country, particularly the rural South, was in the grips of a brutal economic depression. Access to valuable protein in the form of fish might have been the difference between adequate nutrition and inadequate nutrition. In those days many people depended on fish ponds for more than just outdoor recreation.

The point is when we ponder Dr. Swingle's definition of balance, it is clear that his primary objective was to produce food for human consumption in ponds. As Auburn graduates, Dr. Homer Swingle will always be the Father of Pond Management in our eyes, however, the desires and objectives of most pond owners today have largely progressed away from Dr. Swingle's concept of balance.

Let us illustrate this point. In order to gain a better understanding of pond owners, Southeastern Pond Management mailed a survey to approximately 1,200 of our clients located throughout Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and beyond. Pond owners were asked to respond to questions concerning, among other things, pond size and age, stocking history, present management activities, harvest rates and general management goals.

Here are some of the most revealing responses:
• 76% of the respondents considered angling their primary objective with recreation, harvest and aesthetics secondary
• 61% of pond owners harvested fish solely for management purposes
• 67% of ponds that were evaluated by a consultant were initially found to be bass- crowded (out of balance); only 30% were found to be balanced
• 55% of pond owners managed their ponds for balance; 37% managed for trophy bass and 6% for trophy bluegill
• The average pond was fished 56 total angler-days per year. (For example, two anglers for one day equals two angler-days)

These responses clearly indicate a divergence from the desires and objectives of pond owners in Dr. Swingle's day. The degree to which a management professional deviates from Dr. Swingle's concept of balance is the answer as to why one trained biologist may provide advice that is in direct conflict with another. In fact, much of the literature available today, through state agencies or extension services, is based on principals developed some 50 or more years ago.

For example, many states recommend stocking new ponds at a 10:1 prey-to-predator ratio; 500 bluegill/50 largemouth bass or 1,000 bluegill/100 largemouth bass both meet that standard, so which is appropriate? To further complicate things, it is evident that most ponds, if we closely follow the 10:l stocking strategy, tend toward a condition of imbalance, called bass-crowded.

Might stocking a new pond at a greater ratio of bluegill to largemouth bass help alleviate this problem, or at least delay its onset? In most cases, certainly so. However, this approach would be deviating from the recommendations in much of the literature and many biologists are apparently unwilling to do so, even in the face of overwhelming evidence which clearly indicates that pond owner demands are quite different today than some 50 years ago when stocking strategies for sport-fish ponds were first developed.

The fact of the matter is pond management has evolved to a point where present day user objectives must be completely considered in developing management programs. A biologist who is unwilling to do so may not have your best interest in mind.