Don't you just love that lovely warm sun and gentle breeze!

It's really important that the mud ponds are dried each year. If you don't or can't do it, it can lead to all sorts of problems for the fry, so it is essential to get as much drying time as possible at this time of year.

When Mark was working in Japan he arrived at a time when the farm he was working on were experiencing such problems and so witnessed what can happen when the mud pond management isn't done correctly, he was also able to see and be a part of the solution too!

One of the important lessons Mark learned at college, by working on several fish farms, was that if you don't find out how to do it, you will learn how not to do it! The way that we manage our mud ponds is based on Mark's experience in Japan and also on his basic training, and work experience in France, whilst at Sparsholt.

That, combined with the many years of experience that we now have of working on this particular site, has led to the way that we do things here now.

This drying process is only one aspect of mud pond management and there are so many other elements involved that you could write a book on it! In fact I'm not even sure if it would be possible to put everything in a book! how do you describe the exact shade of water that you are looking for or exactly how the mud should feel on the bottom of a pond when you are wading through it with no shoes on?

The first three years of a new mud pond are something of a “honeymoon"