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C. F. HICKLING
G. Prawn ponds of Singapore
The prawn ponds of Singapore have been described by le Mare
(1949), Hall (1962), and Tham (1967). Le Mare describes the ponds as
having been introduced t o Singapore in the early 1900s by Hokkien
Chinese immigrants. The best sites are on low-lying tidal swamps in
muddy river basins where the catchments are so small that there is
no great risk of an excessive fall in salinity even after heavy rains.
FIG. 12. A prawn pond in Singapore. The main sluice is seen from the inside. Note
the screens in the gate, the turn buckles to the left and tho nets drying in the sun.
There is an embankment of mud slabs revetted with mangrove stakes.
Hall points to the commercial value to which these swamps have been
put by the simple expedient of clearing the mangrove growth, including
the felling of the mangroves, and putting up rough mud embankments
to enclose prawn ponds of an area varying from 5-50 acres. The pond
in which Hall did his observations was one of 24 acres, with three
sluices in use, and one sluice filled in. Le Mare wrote of a pond of 30
acres with 10 sluice gates.
No cultivation is done in these ponds nor is fertilizer used except
in the form of the tea-seed cake, which is usually strewn in the ponds
twice a year to kill off unwanted fish, and composted mangrove leaves.
But clearly the considerable fertility of these ponds is due to the
regular and frequent floodings with the silty estuarine water.
C. F. HICKLING
G. Prawn ponds of Singapore
The prawn ponds of Singapore have been described by le Mare
(1949), Hall (1962), and Tham (1967). Le Mare describes the ponds as
having been introduced t o Singapore in the early 1900s by Hokkien
Chinese immigrants. The best sites are on low-lying tidal swamps in
muddy river basins where the catchments are so small that there is
no great risk of an excessive fall in salinity even after heavy rains.
FIG. 12. A prawn pond in Singapore. The main sluice is seen from the inside. Note
the screens in the gate, the turn buckles to the left and tho nets drying in the sun.
There is an embankment of mud slabs revetted with mangrove stakes.
Hall points to the commercial value to which these swamps have been
put by the simple expedient of clearing the mangrove growth, including
the felling of the mangroves, and putting up rough mud embankments
to enclose prawn ponds of an area varying from 5-50 acres. The pond
in which Hall did his observations was one of 24 acres, with three
sluices in use, and one sluice filled in. Le Mare wrote of a pond of 30
acres with 10 sluice gates.
No cultivation is done in these ponds nor is fertilizer used except
in the form of the tea-seed cake, which is usually strewn in the ponds
twice a year to kill off unwanted fish, and composted mangrove leaves.
But clearly the considerable fertility of these ponds is due to the
regular and frequent floodings with the silty estuarine water.