Practice has proved that doing a good job of overwintering and breedstock preservation for rice field eels can ensure a bumper harvest in the coming year.

Harvesting rice field eels: In artificial farming of rice field eels, harvesting and pond clearing must be done before overwintering. Harvesting methods include: 1. Use several bamboo eel traps, place pig liver, earthworms and other bait inside, set them around or at the bottom of the pond, place them at night and collect them in the morning, and about 80% or more can be harvested. 2. Place a 2-4 sq m net sheet in the water, put bait that rice field eels like to eat in the center of the net sheet, then cover it with a reed mat or straw bag and sink it to the bottom of the water. After about 15 minutes, quickly lift the four corners, open the reed mat or straw bag, and a large number of rice field eels can be harvested, with a catch rate as high as about 90%. 3. Dry the pond and control the mud: Before overwintering, while most rice field eels are lurking in the surface layer of mud, the pond water can be drained and the mud thoroughly turned over to catch the eels. Selecting and retaining parent eels: The female and male parent eels retained for breeding must be at least over one winter old, robust and free of disease or injury, swim quickly, and have bright body color. Female parent eels are about 20-30 cm long, and male parent eels are 40 cm long. The suitable ratio of retained females to males is 2:1. In March-April of the coming year, carry out intensive fine feeding of the retained parent eels, and they can spawn and reproduce. Retain enough eel fry: When harvesting rice field eels, in addition to selling part of them, enough small eels must be retained as seed stock according to the scale of production in the coming year. Generally, for each sq m of pond, prepare 5-6 kg of small eels of about 25 grams in size to keep for rearing in the coming year. For eel fry, choose healthy small eels with no disease or injury and a golden yellow or brownish yellow back and sides. Overwintering protection: Generally, strict protection for overwintering should be carried out from November of the current year to February of the following year. Methods: 1. Overwintering with water. Leave a certain water depth in the rice field eel pond, with the standard being to ensure that severe cold does not freeze all the way to the bottom. In this way, rice field eels can burrow deep into the soil caves at the bottom of the pond to overwinter. If the temperature is relatively high, they can still come out of the caves during the day to breathe and feed. 2. Overwintering by drainage. Drain the pond water and keep the soil in the pond moist. To prevent freezing, a layer of rice straw, straw bags and other warm-keeping materials can be spread over the pond surface for freeze protection. This method is suitable for eel ponds that will be harvested around the Spring Festival.