POPULATION EXPLOSION RESTORATION PROGRAM FOR WHITE SEA BASS IS LARGEST OF ITS KIND IN U.S.Byline: Keith Lair Staff Writer When there is a White Sea Bass on the end of the fishing line, Bob Osborn takes it with pride. And why not? Osborn and many other anglers are among the reasons why the White Sea Bass population has rebounded from an estimated low of 100,000 along the Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, coast. Osborn works for United Anglers of Southern California. UASC UASC United Arab Shipping Company UASC United Anglers of Southern California UASC Universal Avionics Systems Corporation UASC United Anti-Spam Command is part of the process that it is trying to help increase the population of the fish along the California and Baja California Baja California, state, Mexico Baja California (Span.: bä`hä kälēfōr`nyä), state (1990 pop. 1,660,855), 27,628 sq mi (71,576 sq km), NW Mexico, on the Baja California peninsula. Mexicali is the capital. shores. ``The people in the program are absolutely devoted,'' Osborn said. ``And you need at least one that is rabid.'' The restoration project is not new. The Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute and the Department of Fish and Game began the cooperative, the Ocean Resources Enhancement and Hatchery hatchery a commercial establishment dedicated to the hatching of bird eggs to provide day old chicks and poults to the poultry industry. hatchery liquid the contents of unfertilized eggs. Used in petfood manufacture. Program, 23 years ago. The Leon Raymond Hubbard Jr. Marine Fish Hatchery grows the sea bass just a few inches in length. Then the fish are outsourced to volunteer groups, which raise the sea bass in pens for nearly a year until they are at a releasable size. Recently, with much fanfare and with many dignitaries in attendance, the Carlsbad hatchery released its millionth fish into the Agua Hedonia Lagoon lagoon Area of relatively shallow, quiet water with access to the sea but separated from it by sandbars, barrier islands, or coral reefs. Coastal lagoons have low to moderate tides and constitute about 13% of the world's coastline. in Carlsbad. ``It marks a major milestone,'' HSWRI HSWRI Hubbs-Sea World Research Institute (San Diego, CA) president Don Kent said. ``Because so many of our coastal fisheries fisheries. From earliest times and in practically all countries, fisheries have been of industrial and commercial importance. In the large N Atlantic fishing grounds off Newfoundland and Labrador, for example, European and North American fishing fleets have long either are fully exploited or are severely depleted de·plete tr.v. de·plet·ed, de·plet·ing, de·pletes To decrease the fullness of; use up or empty out. [Latin d , it is critical to use the most responsible and environmentally sound practices to rebuild them, and the Ocean Resources Enhancement and Hatchery Program does just that.'' The program is the largest of its kind in the nation. The DFG DFG Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Council) DFG Department of Fish and Game DFG District Factor Group DFG Data Flow Graph DFG Difference Frequency Generation DFG Diode Function Generator DFG Dog Faced Gremlin issued permits to party boat captains and private boaters to capture sub-adults a generation ago. The fish, still swimming in pens at Catalina Island Catalina Island: see Santa Catalina. , SeaWorld and the hatchery, are used for broodstock. The fingerlings are kept at the hatchery for about 80 days. They then are transferred to 14 ocean-anchored rearing pens from San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. to Santa Barbara Santa Barbara (săn'tə bär`brə, –bərə), city (1990 pop. 85,571), seat of Santa Barbara co., S Calif., on the Pacific Ocean; inc. 1850. , where volunteers take care of the fish until they reach 7 or 8 inches in length. Osborn estimates that 20,000 person-hours have been needed to grow 1 million sea bass. ``It takes quite a bit of time,'' Osborn said. ``It takes at least 1,000 hours of work to just set up a grow-out pen. There's getting permits, a place to put it, donated equipment, donated time to build one, a donated site. Then, there's the upkeep.'' The fish are fed a salmon-based diet twice a week. The hatchery produced 180,000 fish last year and will have 250,000 released this year. The goal for next year is 300,000, and then 350,000- plus in subsequent years. That would be 1 million fish in three years, compared to 1 million fish in the first 23 years. ``It takes a long time,'' DFG biologist Steve Crook said. But the project is far from being done. ``Ultimately, in five to 10 years, we'll see if we have a recovery of large numbers of sea bass heads,'' Crook said. The hatchery is the first in the world to successfully grow and release wild fish, and Kent said many of the tagged fish have already reproduced. But it has been a challenge to get the fish to reproduce in massive numbers. White Sea Bass prefer a water temperature of about 70 degrees. They are more likely to reproduce in the summer months off the Southern California coast, and it takes about four years for a sea bass to get to the reproductive stage. That changed, Kent said, when the hatchery devised a method to circulate the ocean water at a constant temperature instead of relying on natural fluctuating temperatures. ``We've made a major contribution,'' Crook said of the now year-round broodstock program. ``I think it can be an ultimate transformation, especially when we can produce 1 million fish every three years.'' Kent said the water circulation problem and the potential for disease were major hurdles. ``We know now the numbers are doable,'' he said. But Crook said when the hatchery can produce 300,000 fish a year, it will take an additional five years to know if the program has been successful. ``We'll know if we have helped make sustainable, recoverable stocks,'' he said. ``It takes a long time.'' Crook said sea bass populations began rebounding in 1998 and '99 when water began heating up because of an El Nino. Keith Lair, (626) 962-8811 keith.lair(at)sgvn.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1) White Sea Bass swim through a tube to the delight of onlookers during the ceremony at the Carlsbad hatchery. (2) The recent release of the one millionth white sea bass at the Carlsbad hatchery drew dignitaries and generated fanfare. Photo provided |
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