J. R. Snow

Growth of striped bass Morone saxatilis fry on a diet of rotifers was studied in the laboratory and in the field. Although the rate of growth was slower when rotifers were the principal food than when other acceptable zooplankton were eaten, rotifers were judged to be acceptable as a starting diet. This was based upon the fact that survival was higher and more consistent from pond to pond than was the case when mixed zooplankton was the source of food initially. Trichlorfon as Masoten® was used in rearing ponds to reduce predaceous and competitive invertebrates and to favor development of...

Simazine (2-chloro·4, 6-bis (ethylamino)-s - triazine) applied at a rate of 11.2 kg/ha as a preflooding treatment of striped bass (Morone saxatilisWalbaum) rearing ponds effectively controlled aquatic weed growth for periods of up to 172 days. In untreated ponds, weed species were dominant in 9 of 16 replications (56%). Where simazine at a rate of 11.2-14.0 kg/ha was applied to the pond bottom just before flooding, only 3 of 17 replicates (18%) supported nuisance aquatic plant species. Survival and growth of striped bass fry and fingerlings was as good or better in the treated ponds as in...

Stocking of small fingerling catfish into rearing ponds at a density to give the optimum number and weight for harvest at edible size gives a low gain per acre per day during the first half of the grow-out period. Use of a much heavier stocking rate initially, with periodic division or splitting of the stock shows promise of significantly increasing the gain per acre per day. Use of two divisions gave a gain per acre per day ofabout 25 pounds for the first phase and 10 pounds for the second. A hypothetical example is presented which should make a gain of 12 pounds per acre per day possible...

Largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides, Lac. fingerlings were successfully grown in cylindrical cages made of a synthetic netting fabric. Diet was Oregon Moist Pellet or floating trout pellets fed ad lib. Feed conversions ranged from 1.31 to 5.19 for 16 cage replications included in four trials. One trial was in the fall months when water temperature averaged 14. 7°C. Another was during the fall and winter (144 days) when average water temperature was 12.8°C. The other two were done in the slimmer at an average water temperature of about 27°C. Survival was 83.7 percent or higher for all...

The use of suitably constructed and located stock water ponds for food fish culture is recommended, based upon investigation into the possibilities of these small bodies of water to rear a channel catfish-largemouth bass combination. Stocked with 2,000 catfish and 100 bass per acre with supplemental feeding, two, two-year production cycles showed the following results: total fish production, 2,634 and 3,791 pounds per acre; feed conversion, 2.5 and 2.4; recovery of stocked catfish, 84 and 91 percent; recovery of stocked bass, 40 and 50 percent. In addition to supplying food fish, the pond...

A study to determine changes in pond bottom soil composition has been in progress on the Marion, Alabama National Fish Fatchery for more than ten years. This report gives the findings of analyses for calcium, phosphorus, potassium, pH, nitrogen and organic carbon. Samples were taken periodically from the same locations with the last ones taken ten years after the initial flooding. During the period, pH changed from acid to neutral levels generally. Phosphorus increased in some ponds and decreased in others. One pond which unfertilized supported a luxuriant growth of Najas sp. and Chara...

A method for the controlled production of largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides, Lac. fry is described. The method was based upon use of artificiallyfed brood fish which were stocked into small earthen ponds equipped with nylon felt spawning mats. Eggs deposited on the mats were separated, cleaned and incubated in a Heath Vertical Incubator. Fry hatched in one to two days and were held until swimup in holding troughs or shipped during the yolk sac absorption stage. A trial of the technique in 1972 resulted in approximately 2,714,000 eggs being collected from 563 fish stocked in seven...

Fecundity of largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides, Lac. reared and maintained on two diets was measured by use of a technique of collecting naturally-spawned eggs from nylon felt spawning mats. A volumetric measurement was made of the eggs in 10 spawns from Year Classes I, II and III pellet-fed fish for comparison with eggs from Year Class II bass fed forage fish. Average eggs per spawn for the Year Class I fish was 9,551; for Year Class II pellet-fed, 21,744; for Year Class III, 15,223 and for Year Class II fish-fed, 19,410. The lower number of eggs produced by Year Class III fish...

A commercially available nylon mat material was tested as a spawning site for largemouth bass. Of 90 mats installed in fin ponds during a two-year period, spawns were observed on 68. In the 1965 experiment, 71 percent of the 80 spawns observed in three ponds were on the spawning mats. Three efforts to transfer mats bearing eggs to rearing ponds for incubation and growth were successful to some degree, although acceptable production was obtained in only one of the three trials. In this instance a per-acre production of 37,600 two-inch fingerlings weighing 54.3 pounds was measured....