EVOLUTION OF MARINE STOCK ENHANCEMENT IN FLORIDA, USA  

In 1985, the Florida legislature initiated a marine stock enhancement program, which resulted in a partnership dedicated to this effort involving the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI) and Mote Marine Lab (MML). The initial focus was of the partnership was on replenishing depleted common snook populations in South Florida. Common snook aquaculture production proved to be more difficult than expected and the target species shifted to red drum. Thus, FWRI initiated stocking trials with red drum, whereas MML continued efforts to develop and test snook aquaculture and stocking.

Pilot release studies with red drum began in 1988. Following initial studies, the program began to focus on large-scale releases of small red drum into Biscayne Bay to establish a red drum fishery there. Stocking experiments revealed limited availability there of sufficient nursery habitat to support small juveniles and the program was transferred to Tampa Bay. Pilot release stocking experiments were launched 2000 to develop release strategies for a large-scale 'test of concept'. Five years of red-drum pilot releases in Tampa Bay identified release habitats for optimizing survival of small juveniles and revealed major differences in performance of stocked juveniles at different release sites. Hatchery source-water quality issues, logistics and economic factors curtailed moving forward with the large-scale 'test of concept', and the program shifted focus to intensive rearing systems and preparations to relocate the FWRI hatchery.

MML researchers launched pilot releases of common snook in 1997 in Sarasota Bay, and with red snapper in 2000 on offshore artificial reefs. After several years of pilot release experiments, funding limitations ended red snapper stocking research in Florida. Release experiments with common snook showed good potential for restocking to be successful (eg., following environmental stresses that periodically greatly reduce snook spawning biomass locally). Owing to positive results from snook pilot-release experiments, MML shifted research efforts with common snook out of the field work to join in research at MML to develop snook mass-production technology needed for a larger-scale 'test of concept'.

Quantitative fisheries assessment and modeling expertise was brought into Florida enhancement research in 2007, initially through a MML-Florida State University partnership endowment and since 2010 through establishment of a research group at the University of Florida. This has enabled assessment of snook and redfish enhancement strategies from a fisheries management perspective, taking account of stock dynamics and likely angler effort responses and evaluating tradeoffs and synergies between the goals of achieving angler satisfaction as well as stock conservation in the face of growing recreational fishing pressure.