NEWS RELEASE

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

April 30, 1998

CONTACT: David Yeager (850) 957-4172

STRIPERS AND HYBRID BASS PROJECTS WORKING AT FULL STEAM

Spring is a time for different things but for Florida Game & Fresh Water Fish Commission Fisheries Biologist David Yeager, it’s the time of year to be growing fish, and lots of them.

Yeager, a 19-year veteran FWC biologist, and a handful of co-workers at the Blackwater Fisheries Research and Development Center facility near Holt, have been producing striped bass x white bass hybrids and pure strain striped bass for stocking in Florida waterways. Once the week-long laboratory phase of hatching the fish is over, Yeager said the tiny fry are moved outdoors to one of 10 ponds for the 30 - 45 day growing process for stocking as 1-1/2-inch fingerlings.

Last Thursday alone, Yeager injected a 44-pound striped bass with a synthetic hormone designed to expedite egg development and later that day "coaxed" 1,900,000 eggs from the big female. He said 55% of the eggs were fertilized in the procedure that followed and the young fry will be raised in rearing ponds at Blackwater or those of a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hatchery at Welaka, Florida.

"It doesn’t take many fish like that to meet our goals for producing fish," he said.

In stark contrast with the past, Yeager said the huge female striped bass, which is almost two pounds heavier than the existing state record striper, will be returned within a week and released in familiar haunts of the Apalachicola River. Ten years ago fish used in spawning were sacrificed to obtain both eggs and sperm.

Five local rivers or lakes have received or will receive hybrid bass, also called "sunshine bass", over the next few weeks. They include the Escambia River (250,000), Choctawhatchee River (200,000), lower Apalachicola River (250,000), Lake Seminole (250,000) and Bear Lake (8,000). In addition, Yeager said 1.25 million four-day-old fry were released last month in Newnan’s Lake near Gainesville in an experiment to test the survivability of large numbers of fry.

Striped bass are headed to the Blackwater (100,000), Yellow River (100,000), Choctawhatchee River (200,000) and Lake Seminole (200,000).

Hybrids were first stocked in Florida in the late 1970's and have the potential to reach approximately 16 pounds. The 1-1/2-inch fingerlings released now should measure 10-14 inches in a year, 5-7 pounds in 2-3 years; and in 5 years 12 pounds or more if all goes well.

Striped bass are a native fish but their reproduction has been seriously hampered on the larger river corridors of the Gulf Coast by the construction of dams and other modifications to the rivers. Stripers can grow to more than four feet in length and weigh over 60 pounds.

"People enjoy catching these fish," Yeager said. "That’s why we’re continuing with these projects."