Recreational Pond – Freshwater Aquaculture

Recreational Pond Publications – General

Recreational Pond Publications – Management

Greg Lutz, Extension Professor, LSU AgCenter
The Freshwater Aquaculture Community of Practice is a geographically and socioeconomically diverse audience throughout the continental United States, including land owners and managers, county and regional Cooperative Extension agents, game fish growers and suppliers, state and federal resource managers, pond management consultants, veterinarians, university professors and students, and others. No official statistics are maintained (according to the USDA–NRCS), but estimates suggest approximately 3.5 to 4 million recreational and farm ponds exist in the continental United States, and this number is growing every day. In light of the sheer numbers of clientele throughout the country who either own ponds or are considering establishing ponds, not to mention the Cooperative Extension professionals and resource management personnel who serve their communities, there is a great need for a centralized source of unbiased information and recommendations relating to pond management. The information in this part of the Freshwater Aquaculture Community of Practice will provide a refereed resource to meet this need.

Pond owners include all socioeconomic strata of our national population, from low-income small farm owners to wealthy peri-urban residents. Pond management audiences are wide-ranging since recreational and farm ponds are a common feature in the landscape from coast to coast and from Canada to the Gulf States. Managing the ecological complexity of inland ponds requires an understanding not only of multiple factors such as fertilization, water hardness, alkalinity, feeding, pH, and plankton dynamics (to name just a few) but more importantly how these factors interact. Throughout the country, Extension professionals and state/federal resource managers field numerous calls and e-mail inquiries related to pond management on a daily basis. The pond management Community of Interest is ubiquitous, and pond owners are often desperate for technical advice and recommendations. We hope these pages will serve this need, and request your input and feedback in order to improve their usefulness over time.