TITLE:
Pond Substrate Type Affects Yellow Perch Fingerling Size at Harvest
AUTHORS:
Matthew J. Ward
KEYWORDS:
Yellow Perch, Pond Culture, Pond-Substrate Type
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Animal Sciences,
Vol.11 No.1,
January
27,
2021
ABSTRACT: Fish size and harvest density generally exhibit a
negative relationship in pond culture, but the influence that pond substrate
type can have on this relationship is not well understood. To evaluate the
influence of pond substrate type on yellow perch (Perca flavescens), harvest density
(number/hectare) was linearly regressed against individual fingerling size
(grams) for lined (n = 48) and earthen (n = 40) substrate ponds that were
treated similarly in terms of organic fertilizer use and the number of days in
the pond over 12 culture seasons at Blue Dog Lake State Hatchery, South Dakota,
USA. Harvest density explained 45 and 39% of the variation in yellow perch size
in lined and earthen-substrate ponds (all P P = 0.62); however,
fingerling size was significantly larger in lined ponds regardless of density
that varied from near 0 to 700,000 per hectare (y-intercept comparison, P