Billionth Fingerling to be Stocked into Texas Gulf Waters This Summer
By Sofia Tyreman
A Texas-sized milestone is making a splash in our state's coastal waters this summer — the release of the 1 billionth marine hatchery-produced fish.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has been stocking saltwater fish into Texas bays for almost 40 years to revitalize historic fisheries and speed up the recovery of overfished stocks.
Red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) is a highly sought-after game fish in the Lone Star State. Successful fishery management has led to red drum populations nearing record highs. However, in the late 1960s and early '70s, red drum populations were in a dramatic state of decline due to commercial overharvest. Although minimum and maximum size limits, bag limits and commercial gear restrictions were enacted for red drum as early as 1920, these methods weren't enough to reverse the declining population.
To counteract these low abundance numbers, marine scientists developed techniques to spawn and rear red drum in captivity in 1975. The Perry R. Bass Marine Fisheries Research Station, located in Palacios, was Texas' first development center to produce these fish in the mid-1970s.
In 1980, TPWD collaborated with the Coastal Conservation Association and American Electric Power to develop an ambitious fisheries management initiative that included the creation of the state's biggest red drum hatchery — the Marine Development Center in Corpus Christi. Operations began in 1982, and the following year, the facility's first red drum fingerlings were stocked into San Antonio Bay near Port O'Connor.
In 1996, TPWD, in partnership with Dow Chemical and the CCA, built a brand-new marine fish hatchery and visitor center called Sea Center Texas in Lake Jackson.
All three marine hatchery facilities are strategically located along the Texas Gulf Coast and use sophisticated systems to grow and spawn red drum, spotted seatrout and Southern flounder.
Mature adult brood stock are housed in the hatcheries and induced to spawn naturally in tanks through the help of light and temperature manipulation. The eggs are transferred to incubators, where they remain until they hatch. The tiny 2.5-mm larvae are later stocked into ponds to grow for about 30 days until they are about 1.5-2 inches long. The hatcheries then harvest and release the fingerlings into the wild to supplement the existing population and improve Texas' recreational fishery (about 6 percent of fishable red drum in Texas are of hatchery origin). Each year, customized fish-hauling trailers adorned with the TPWD logo transport over 20 million fish for stocking into Texas bays, estuaries and a few inland lakes.
This July, TPWD and its partners — Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation, Dow Chemical, Saltwater Enhancement Association, CCA and University Partners — will celebrate production of the agency's 1 billionth marine hatchery-raised fingerling, a red drum to be released at a stocking site near Surfside.
“None of this would be possible without the unwavering dedication of TPWD conservation professionals and the steadfast support from passionate saltwater anglers,” says Shane Bonnot, CCA's Texas advocacy director. “I reckon the response to this milestone will be genuine handshakes and heartfelt ‘thank you's’ exchanged with ear-to-ear, Texas-sized grins.”
