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The San
Diego Oceans Foundation maintains and operates two volunteer grow-out facilities for the HSWRI's white
seabass mariculture project. SDOF's invovlement began six years ago with the implementation of the Mission
Bay Grow-out Facility and then expanded in the spring of 2003 with the commissioning of the the San Diego
Bay Grow-out Facility.
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SDOF's
White Seabass Restocking Program (which is such a small portion of the larger program operated by HSWRI) not
only encourages ocean stewardship and sustainable use of our ocean resources but also directly enhances
Southern California fisheries. Because volunteers maintain the grow-out facilities our overhead is small but
our efforts are gigantic! |
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The program
begins at the Leon Raymond Hubbard, Jr. Marine Fish Hatchery where they are breeding and raising the young
bass to a length of three inches. At a length of three inches, the young White Seabass are called
Fingerlings. The Fingerlings are transported to one of SDOF's two grow-out facilities to be raised in
mariculture pens to a length of ten to twelve inches. This takes two to three months for the fish to grow
before the White Seabass are released into the Bays. SDOF is currently re-introducing 4,000+ White Seabass
into Mission Bay every four months and the San Diego Bay facility has the capacity to release nearly 12,000
every four months. |
Internal
Tags: All fished raised and released are tagged in the cheek with coded metal wires (these wires are
inserted by HSWRI before the fish are delivered to our pens). These tags can provide biologists information
on growth, migration, survivorship, predation, and mating. These wires cannot be seen externally and can be
detected only with a special device. By scanning these wires with a special instrument, HSWRI can determine
if caught white seabass were one of their hatchery-reared fish. The wires provide critical life-history
information including the spawning date, which provides the age of the fish, where it was released, and how
far it traveled in the wild. This data is crucial for HSWRI and SDOF because it provides accurate
information regarding the success of our restocking efforts and where these fish are taking residence. |
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White
Seabass Diet: The white seabass are weaned onto artificial pellets at the HSWRI Hatchery in Carlsbad.
The diet of a white seabass needs to be high in protein, so their food is induced with vitamins and is the
best available food on the market today. Once the fish are released into the wild, the white seabass is
known to munch on squid, anchovies, sardines, and even red crabs. Basically they will eat anything smaller
than themselves.
In the pens, the fish are nourished three times daily with dry pellets that are extracted from an automatic
feeder. In less than three months, the fish double in size, from approximately three inches to between ten
to twelve inches. Ten inches is the minimum size for release. Once the fish are released, they are free to
grow to adulthood and reproduce. |
All fish
heads should be saved for tag analysis! In San Diego County, you may deliver heads to:
San Diego Oceans Foundation Office:
1875 Quivira Way, STE C-5, San Diego, CA 92109 (619)523-1903
Hubbs-SWRI headquarters in Mission Bay:
595 Ingraham St., San Diego, CA 92109 (619) 226-3870
Leon Raymond Hubbard Jr. Marine Fish Hatchery, Carlsbad:
4200 Garfield St., Carlsbad, CA 92008 (760) 434-9501
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