Blackwater Hatchery

Construction of BFC began in 1938 through the Civil Conservation Corps, a New Deal program designed to help the country out of the Great Depression.  The facility opened for production in 1940, stocking tens of millions of freshwater fish in public waterbodies since that time.  Blackwater currently has 15.3 acres of ponds dedicated to fish production.

Together with its sister hatchery, the Florida Bass Conservation Center @ Richloam State Fish Hatchery, the two facilities stock over 2.5 million fish annually to meet stock enhancement needs statewide.

Current production at BFC focuses primarily on Gulf striped bass and hybrid striped bass.  Additional species raised at the facility as needed include largemouth bass, black crappie, white bass, bluegill, phase II (6-8 inch) channel catfish, redear sunfish, and threadfin shad.  BFC typically stocks 500,000 – 1,000,000 fish on an annual basis, servicing primarily the Panhandle region of Florida.  The hatchery also produces fish for stocking numerous small community lakes and ponds to help increase public access to freshwater fishing opportunities for families and anglers of all ages.

Recently, the facility was able to develop successful techniques for spawning Shoal bass in hatchery ponds.  Shoal bass are a riverine species of Black bass and in Florida are currently found only in the Chipola River.  Due to the limited range of this species, and threats from hybridization with other Black bass species, Shoal bass are listed as a Species of Greatest Conservation Need in Florida.  In 2018, Hurricane Michael caused catastrophic damage to Shoal bass habitat in the Chipola River resulting in a 90% decline in the population.  Shoal bass have very specific habitat needs to successfully reproduce and beginning in 2020 biologists at BFC worked to recreate those needs in a hatchery pond setting with a goal of producing fish for a stock enhancement program to assist the population in rebounding from this decline.  The first successful hatchery spawn of Shoal bass at BFC occurred in spring 2022 and fingerlings (1–2-inch juveniles) produced from these spawns were stocked in May of that year.  These results were duplicated in spring 2023 and a second stocking of this species was successful in May 2023.  FWC managers and researchers are currently monitoring this population over the next several years to determine if the stocking of hatchery reared young help contribute returning the population to pre-storm levels.

All spawning and production of Gulf striped bass fry (newly hatched larvae) and Hybrid striped bass fry by DFFM hatcheries takes place at the Blackwater facility.  Gulf striped bass are native to the coastal rivers of the northern Gulf Coast from the Suwannee River, FL., west  to the rivers of southeastern Louisiana that drain into Lake Pontchartrain.  Populations of striped bass along the northern Gulf Coast historically are much smaller in number than those found along the Atlantic Coast and through modern genetic testing we know stocks of striped bass along the Gulf Coast differ genetically than those found along the Atlantic Coast.  Striped bass populations along both coasts began to decline sharply in the 1950’s and presently, there is little to no successful natural reproduction of striped bass occurring in the rivers of the northern Gulf Coast. 

Rather than utilizing nests or structure during spawning, striped bass are broadcast spawners, expelling eggs near the surface into the water column where they are fertilized by males.  Water flow is required to keep the eggs buoyant as they mature and drift downstream.  Striped bass require suitable habitats a sufficient distance upstream from the river mouth to assure eggs and fry have time to hatch, develop, and locate a nursery area concurrent with the onset of feeding.  Water velocity and discharge rates are critical for the suspension of eggs and fry until they reach suitable nursery habitats downstream.  The segmentation of many larger river systems caused by blockages caused by dams and other structures has blocked upstream access for mature adults to traditional spawning areas resulting in poor successful reproduction and survival of striped bass fry.  Alterations in river flow and discharge rates due to man-made habitat alterations and increased water use activities have also contributed to the lack of successful reproduction, especially on many of the larger coastal river systems.  These larger systems (Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint system and Mobile-Alabama-Tombigbee system) traditionally were the primary spawning grounds for striped bass along the Gulf Coast in the past.

FWC partners with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service along with conservation agencies in Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi in efforts to restore Gulf striped bass population as part of the Gulf Striped Bass Fishery Management Plan (GSBFMP).  The Plan’s ultimate goal is to one day restore self-sustaining populations of Gulf Striped Bass to their native range.  Due to limitations with implementing large-scale habitat improvements necessary to reach this goal, current efforts are focused primarily on stocking and stock enhancement programs to maintain Gulf striped bass stocks in their native range.  FWC and the Blackwater facility play a critical role in the Gulf striped bass stock enhancement program and the conservation of this native species.  Specialized spawning techniques allow biologist to hand-strip and fertilize eggs from mature females, incubate the fertilized eggs indoors in jars designed to mimic flowing water conditions until hatch.  Larval striped bass are stocked into hatchery production ponds for grow-out to fingerling size (1-2 inches) prior to stocking.  Typically, 300,000 – 500,000 striped bass fingerlings are stocked annually into waterbodies along the northern Gulf Coast of Florida, including the Lake Talquin/Ochlockonee River system, Lake Seminole/Apalachicola River system, and the Blackwater and Yellow River systems.  In addition to maintaining striped bass stocks in these systems, good seasonal recreational fisheries for anglers have been established through the stocking program.  Maintaining these striped bass stocks is also critical to the continuation of DFFM’s statewide Hybrid Striped Bass production and stocking program.  BFC also contributes Gulf striped bass fry for our partner federal and state hatcheries along the Gulf Coast to assist with their striped bass stock enhancement programs when needed.  BFC produces 1.5 – 3.5 million Gulf striped bass fry annually to help meet the goals of the GSBFMP.