permaculture

["keller" <ak.and.ak@on-line.de>]

>    4) Build a natural pond with fish. Trout would be cool.

Hi,

trout like it cool and prefer running water (high oxigene content). Not a
typical pond fish.

Tilapia could be the right thing, but they are forbidden in some areas
(African family of fish, they multiply very quickly and tend to push native
species out). But tilapia species might already be present in your area, and
then why not grow them.

I am not a fish farming expert, (no practical experience myself) but
interested in the field.

I recommend the following book:

"Freshwater Aquaculture" by William McLarney. 1998
Hartley and Marks. ISBN 0-88179-123-7


What fish species do naturally occur in your area?

Species to look at (some quotes from that book):

Bluegill (Leomis microchirus)  "Probably the best warm water insectivore for
North American ponds".

Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) "The most important commercially
cultured fish in the United States. Main culture methods is intensive
monoculture in ponds, but also used in high and low intensity polycultures,
closed systems, cage culture, farm ponds, trated in Arkansas, Louisiana and
Mississippi, with some commercial culture in the South Atlantic States, the
Great Plains states, Texas, California and Idaho."

Bigmouth Buffalo (Ictiobus cyprinellus) " On of the few large, native North
American filter feeders, and as such potetially very valuable as a cultured
fish. Well suited for culture in rotation with rice. Culture methods were
developed in Arkansas inthe 1950'as, but channel catfish became much more
important economically. Mostly used in low -intensity polyculture..."

Filter feeders are low in the food chain, so that is fine with respect to
food energy.

Polyculture is something to read about! Different fish occupy different
niches, some feed on plants, some on small animals, some on feces of other
fish and dead plant matter, some on other fish (don't dismiss theses: in
Tilapia, it the population density becomes too high, fish tend to be
stunted. On way to solve the problem is some carnivourous fish in the pond).
So pc-wise, that is the way to go. The chinese have done it for thousands of
years, also integrated systems with aquaculture and other things.

Get some books, surf the web, find people who do it (but not the commercial
guys, who feed the fish with all kinds of non-organically grown things.
Normally, feeding them should not even be necessary, since a pond in the
sunshine will produce quite some amount of biomass.

Andreas