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#05-247 November 14, 2005

Private Aquaculturists Supply Game Fish Fingerlings In State

South Carolina has about 75,000 private farm ponds within its borders, and until 2003 the S.C. Department of Natural Resources supplied 500 of them a year with game fish fingerlings. In 2003, agency staff reduction and reorganization, budget cuts and the closing of two hatcheries halted the nearly 50-year-old stocking program. Not wanting to leave anglers in the lurch, S.C. Department of Natural Resources officials looked for ways to help fill the gap left by the program's demise.

"Before we made the decision to discontinue the pond-stocking program, we realized the state had a sufficient number of private hatcheries to cover the need," says Mac Watson. S.C. Department of Natural Resources (DNR) fisheries biologist and state hatchery coordinator. "We compiled a list of licensed private aquaculturists, now numbering about thirty, who can supply the public with fingerlings, and we are happy to provide this list to anyone who contacts us. We update the list whenever we get a new supplier. Suppliers are located all over the state, so no one should have trouble finding one fairly close to home."

For a current list of both in-state and out-of-state licensed aquaculturists or for DNR's "Fish Pond Management" booklet, contact the DNR Freshwater Fisheries office in Columbia at (803) 734-3891. The booklet is also available for download at the DNR Web site: http://www.dnr.sc.gov/water/aquaff/images/fishpond.pdf.

At the same time the pond-stocking program was discontinued, the agency welcomed the Aquaculture Enabling Act, which allows DNR to permit private fish-hatchery facilities and so keep better track of species and numbers sold by suppliers-a significant concern notably with non-indigenous species, which can become a problem outside their native watering grounds. Also thanks to the new act, for the first time, pond owners may sell game fish out of their ponds on the open market.

Got a pond and need to stock? Here's a line on what to buy, and when: Bream (bluegill and shellcracker) fingerlings are normally stocked in November; largemouth bass, in May. Stocking ratio depends on the size of the pond and whether it is fertilized or not. (This refers to agricultural fertilizer for increasing size and number of fish in a pond and keeping down weeds. For more details, order the free booklet "Farm Pond Management," published by DNR.) What about how many fish to stock? Reel in these guidelines: For a fertilized pond, stock 1,000 bream to 100 bass (always a 10 to 1 ratio); for a nonfertilized pond, stock 500 bream to 50 bass (again, always a 10 to 1 ratio). Pond owners can stock twice as many fish per surface acre in a fertilized pond as in a nonfertilized one because fertilizer produces sufficient plankton for the larger quantity of fish to feed on.

Watson recommends that the public get advice from DNR fisheries biologists about number and species of fish to stock in particular ponds. Then go to the list and decide which provider to use for stocking.
- Written by Rosanne McDowell -

South Carolina Commercial Aquaculturists