"Marco Schwarz" wrote
Heard the above-mentioned term "berm pond" in TFA. I
wondered and asked what it might be - but unfortunately I
got no answer..!


Most commercial fish ponds are "berm" style ponds. Basically, you dig out
the pond and pile the dirt around it in a high continuous heap all around
the pond. The heap is the berm, also called a levee. The advantage of this
type of arrangement is that you don't have to haul the dirt away,
potentially contaminated ground water is prevented from draining into the
pond during heavy rains, and the berms, if flattened on top, can be used as
an access road to get around.

A good, but simple explanation can be found in the "Catfish Farmers'
Handbook" at http://aqua.ucdavis.edu/dbweb/outreach/aqua/1549MIS.PDF .

"Berm" style ponds are common in the southern Louisiana area, where
everything is completely flat and the water table is six inches below the
ground surface. In fact, aquaculturists here use the same ponds to grow rice
in the summertime and crawfish in the winter!


Michael
New Orleans, Louisiana USA
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