New strategies for the construction and management of pond production systems for sustainable fish farming

International audience ; Freshwater fish ponds are agro-ecosystems that provide important ecosystem services (ES) to territories, notably by hosting a recognized biodiversity. In France, the low profitability of freshwater ponds for fish production runs the risk that they will be abandoned, and thus that the ES they provide will disappear. The FEAMP SEPURE project brings together scientists from different backgrounds (agronomy, ecology, biology, modelling, environmental sciences) to link farmers' practices, economic and environmental performances and pond responses by monitoring water quality, phytoplankton, zooplankton, benthic macroinvertebrates, aquatic macrophytes and fish communities. Based on the analysis of the contexts and expectations expressed in Dombes, Lorraine and Brenne-Sologne, eleven scenarios with different species assemblages were co-designed with fish farmers. They took into account many parameters, such as the complementarity of species according to their trophic and behavioral traits, water availability, water temperature in summer, the existence of local and national markets, the presence of submerged vegetation, the depth of the ponds, feeding and liming practices, and the use of the ponds for other activities (e.g. hunting). In 10 production sites, farmers applied these scenarios, and practices and ecosystems were monitored. The new data generated by the SEPURE project should help support decision making for the future development of the pond sector and help maintain this economic activity in the territories.