| Auburn's internationally known fisheries began with Farm
Pond One in the early 1930s. Leslie Wright's workers and mule teams
built the dam for the 1.8-acre pond north of the swine production unit
off Shug Jordan Parkway (old-bypass road) at the Bull Test Station.
The pond was stocked with bullhead catfish, bluegill bream, shell crackers,
and red-eye bass. When the pond was drained after one year, 293 pounds
of fish and 2,225 pounds of tadpoles were collected. To reduce the
tadpole population, the pond was restocked partly with large-mouthed bass.
Dr. Homer Swingle led the Auburn fisheries program to international stature
before his death in 1973. He remarked that in the thirties he simply
was trying to find a good place to fish. Under the leadership of
Swingle's successor, Dr. Wayne Shell, professors did further research helpful
in feeding the hungry in other nations and in developing farm ponds in
Alabama. By 1996, Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures had 317 ponds,
with thirty research projects ranging from worldwide tilapia to Alabama
catfish. -- Photo: Mrs. Homer S. Swingle |
