I think it is good to expand your thinking around supporting existing and alternative goals.


I have digressed into what I think balance is in ponds with LMB as the apex predator and in so doing have diverted the focus of this thread. Over 70 years ago, the ponds that Don studied may have been inspired by such a crazy dream of wanting something different. When I started the thread I had a lot of unanswered questions. Particularly, I wondered how old the ponds were to get an idea of whether co-existence of the two species is sustainable over time and whether the existing standing crops were reflective of a recent stocking. My request for feedback on Don's observations centered around this, is such a system sustainable and capable of supporting the observed standing weights of LMB and RES over time.

Thanks to Bill Cody's comments in the thread snrub started I found many of the answers I was seeking. It took searches on Don's full name to find that thread but once found, I discovered that the ponds were 24 to 28 years old at the time. I also discovered that only one of the ponds was regularly cropped and that winter mortality was estimated to be 30%. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that they can coexist with each other over time at the reported standing weights but this is something I didn't want to take for granted. In the end, I learned some things I did not know about RES in combination with LMB.

It isn't what we don't know that gives us trouble, it's what we know that ain't so - Will Rogers