Lake Management Professionals Help Stock Lakes Correctly

Fish stocking has been done for many years. It started being implemented in the United States in the 1870s. There are regulations now concerning fish stocking because of the problem of invasive species. Invasive species are species that are not native to an area, and come in, usually by a pet owner dumping an exotic...or in some cases...not so exotic fish in a lake. One fish that is not particularly exotic, but which can take over an ecosystem, is the common goldfish. They can so change the environment of a fish habitat, that it makes it difficult for the normal fish populations to thrive.

Sometimes fish stocking is done in fish farms where fish are raised for food or restaurants. For example, often when bass is listed on a menu, it is striped bass or wipers that has been farm raised. Some fish that is sold in stores is raised in fish farms in other countries and shipped to this nation.

Another place where fish stocking occurs is in private lakes and ponds. People develop lakes and ponds in order to have their own private fishing hole. Often a lake management professional is called in to help design, create, and stock a lake. In order to have a private lake, it is necessary to have a healthy ecosystem that will support the desired fish populations. There has to be the proper environment that the fish like to live in, the proper places to breed, the proper food, and the proper relationship of predators-to-prey.

By hiring a professional fish management service, you hire the professionals who help create and maintain the healthy ecosystem necessary for fish populations. This involves proper aeration, control of algae, and the correct balance of predator-to-prey fish populations. Popular fish for stocking a lake involve trout, bass, catfish and sunfish. Then, there needs to be the smaller fish as feeder fish for these larger fish, for example, minnows. Each fish has a purpose. Some fish control weeds or snails. Too many snails become food for flatworms, which are not desired. So a lake management professional knows the intricacies of the relationships between the different species, feeder fish and sport fish, and can help develop a plan to make a well managed lake.