Pond farming in the Elbe-Röder-Dreieck
Please note: This page was machine-translated. If anything is unclear, the German version is authoritative.
Introduction
Three companies manage water areas in the Elbe-Röder-Dreieck as part of their pond farming activities. Koselitz Pond Farming (Teichwirtschaft Koselitz) uses ponds in the districts of Koselitz, Pulsen, and Frauenhain in the municipality of Röderaue. The Tiefenau pond farm (Teichwirtschaft Tiefenau) is located in the district of the same name in the municipality of Wülknitz, and the Kluth pond farm (Teichwirtschaft Kluth) is located in the Gröditz district of Schweinfurth. The total pond area managed by these three companies is approximately 280 hectares, which is roughly equivalent to 390 soccer fields.
All of these ponds are fed with fresh water from the Kleine Röder (the Koselitz pond also receives water from the Große Röder) either directly or via inflow ditches. The oxygen, water, and nutrients supplied in this way make the ponds less dependent on wind and rain, thereby improving the environmental conditions for the fish.
History
Fish farming has been practiced in the Elbe-Röder-Dreieck area for around 300 years. The ponds were created purely for economic reasons and were used exclusively for carp farming. The fish produced in this way provided the population with a cheap source of food and animal protein. Fish ponds continued to be created in our region until the 1980s. The “youngest” pond is the Wehrfeldteich in Koselitz.
With a lot of manpower and the help of oxen and carts, the soil for ponds, inflow and outflow ditches was removed and used to build stable and water-impermeable dams. Later, bulldozers and other heavy equipment were used for this purpose.
Carp have been farmed in the Schweinfurth family business since 1903. During the GDR era, the Koselitz and Tiefenau ponds were part of the VEB Binnenfischerei Dresden (Dresden Inland Fisheries) and supplied customers throughout the GDR with fry and edible carp. The ponds have been privately run since 1992.
The carp
As mentioned above, pond farming throughout Saxony is heavily focused on carp, which is why it is referred to as carp pond farming. However, tench, zander, pike, catfish, and grass carp are also produced as secondary fish, and there are around 25 other species of fish in the ponds of the Elbe-Röder triangle.
Carp feed on zooplankton in the water, bottom-dwelling animals, and supplementary grain feed. They require at least three growth phases (warm spring to autumn months) to reach a weight of approximately 1.5 kg and then be marketed to the end consumer. They are suitable for boiling, frying, and smoking. In all three pond farms, carp and other fish are offered for sale fresh and smoked in their own farm shops during the season (usually September to April).
Management measures
The ponds must be managed in different ways throughout the year. Before the ponds are stocked with fish of the appropriate age group in spring, they must be filled with water after being drained in winter (for disinfection and freezing). Additional soil cultivation and fertilization of the breeding ponds ensures a better food supply later on. Liming the ponds in spring improves the alkalinity in low-lime water and increases the pH value in acidic ponds.
After the fish have been fed during the warm spring to autumn months, they are harvested in the fall. To do this, the water inflow is closed and the water outflow is opened. The fish gather in the area of the outflow and can then be enclosed with a net and transferred from the pond to wintering ponds or for marketing.
The fish from the wintering ponds are also harvested in spring and released into the remaining growing ponds or marketed. To prevent the ponds from becoming overgrown, pond maintenance measures such as reed cutting or dredging are essential.
Maintenance work on dams, ditches, paths, and flood control facilities also takes place throughout the year. Regular checks to ensure proper water supply and the health of the fish are also necessary.
The control of pests such as cormorants and gray herons now accounts for a considerable part of the management measures.
Additional benefits
The ponds have always been managed with sustainability in mind. Only the continuous management of the ponds ensured the long-term preservation of this unique pond landscape. This explains why, after 300 years of pond management, the carp ponds are just as fertile and productive as ever, if not more so. The creation of ponds has significantly increased biodiversity.
The local waters are a valuable biotope for many protected animal and plant species and are therefore also designated as an FFH area (Flora-Fauna-Habitat = European protected area for nature and landscape conservation).
In addition, ponds serve as water reservoirs in the landscape. Increasingly, the pond landscape is also being developed by local communities as a recreational area and discovered by the population.
Source: Thomas Richter, Teichwirtschaft Koselitz
