NATCHEZ — Two years ago David and Nan New had a serious problem in the pond on their property. The fish were dying, and doing so at an alarming rate.

The couple got in touch with David Carter the director of the Adams County Extension Office and he came out to take a look.

Carter said the pond was white with floating fish that died overnight in the pond. The main issue was lack of oxygen that was killing the bigger fish.

The News installed a fountain designed to add oxygen to the water, and Carter helped them restock the pond.

Friday morning Carter was at the New’s home checking to see how the fish were doing.

“We’re checking the population,” Carter said. “The way we do that is to check the reproduction to see what the mature population is.”

Using a seine net, Carter and Dylan White, an LSU student who volunteered to help Carter with the project, caught minnows to see which species of fish in the pond were reproducing.

Carter said the extension office provides this service to anyone who calls and asks for the assistance. Carter said the New’s pond was the sixth he had done this week.

He said they provide many services like getting a population count, checking water quality, dealing with aquatic weeds and even pond construction to help people out with their ponds.

“We work with homeowners, and the whole goal is to help home owners have more productive properties,” Carter said. “Everything we do is a free service, a lot of times we will check stuff out and we’ll recommend professional guys if it is needed to do the labor intensive stuff.”

Carter and White found that the New’s pond was producing a large number of young bream, but very few of the trophy-size bass that David New used to catch in the pond before the turnover that killed all the larger fish.

Carter said he would check the bass population again in a month, and if it remains low he would recommend the News restock their pond with bass that will eat the smaller bream.

“It would be like a buffet for those bass,” he said.

Carter said the biggest problem he has seen with the ponds he has worked with is aquatic weeds, which cause a variety of issues with the pond ecosystem.

White said he came along to help Carter with the job Friday because he enjoys working outdoors.

“I work with David when I’m free,” White said. “It’s something that really interests me.”

White said he might try to take some classes in environmental research at LSU.

Carter said anyone who has issues with their pond could call the extension office to see if they can provide assistance.

Carter said an important way to combat pond issues is through prevention.

“Proper management could prevent a lot of stuff,” he said.

Carter said the extension office hosts pond management classes every couple years.

He said the extension office has provided this service for at least the last four years.