Ponds are stocked with shrimp, redfish, speckled trout, spadefish, pompano, croaker, mullet, black drum, flounder and spot. Finding ways to extend the growing period by using heated water is major goal in the pond experiment. The cage project, the third method, takes place in the vast cooling lake as well as the intake and discharge canals. Various species are cultured under several different conditions to compare their growth, survival and potential for mariculture. Variables are diet, population, density, cage design, and position in the system.
Cages vary in size.
Cages, Parker pointed out, maintain fish in their most natural environment, but in an artificial enclosure. Ponds are a natural enclosure, but here water does not reflect the rapid changes in temperature and salinity. The greenhouse is the most unnatural of all, but it does provide easy access and observation of fish while monitoring growth and survival at selected temperatures and natural salinities. The production of shrimp, blue crab, and finfish is high, he commented.