Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Natural Pond, thing of the past?

ewest provides a good tempering to this topic. My 2cents:
Maintain a good observation on seeing the forest not just individual trees as is well noted in ewest's Jan-Feb 2107 PBoss Science and Cutting Edge article - The Real Problem is .....?.
1. Higher and higher numbers of each successive generation of pellet trained fish resort 'back' to eating natural foods or die due to inter and intraspecific competition; it is instinct.
"Intraspecific competition is the conflict over resources between members of the same species. Individuals may compete over mates, water, sunlight, territory or food energy sources. Intraspecific competition is an important factor limiting the population size of many species." Interspecific is competition among different species.

2. Many fish farms either buy their pellet trained fingerlings or attempt to train their in-house raised fish. Encouragement to do this is financial gain. They can grow more fish and grow them faster if the majority are eating pellets. More and bigger results in more profits! Second year pelleting fish and more of them can be more easily raised in less acreage using pellet trained fish. Try growing high numbers of 2 yr old bass using fish as food. Few do it. The fish farms about profits, profits. With pellets the fish farm and you can increase your pond carrying capacity in terms of numbers or sizes or both if the "extra" added fish are eating fish pellets rather than natural foods. Limiting factors of natural foods becomes less of a factor when using pellets for enhancing the fishery.

3. There are still many fish farms that do not retail pellet trained fish. One just has to do some homework and be willing for some inconvenience of added travel to get fish if the goal of naturally raised fish is really desired.

4. Back the #1 again. It is my experience that many, if not most of the 2nd and 3 generation of pellet trained fish will instinctively grow up eating natural foods. This becomes even more true if natural foods are abundant where these fish are developing. Developing an abundance of natural foods is quite difficult or next to impossible when the pond is at or above its natural carrying capacity due to having too many fish that are over eating the 'resource'. Reduce your numbers of heterotrophic fish ('hogs at the trough') and the natural food base increases.