2004
NEWS ARCHIVE
Fish
Stocking Continues in New Orleans
March 25, 2004
The bass population
in New Orleans area waters is growing thanks to the stocking efforts
of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) Inland
Fisheries Division assisted by the Sea Grant Extension Agents
Mark Schexnayder and “Rusty” Gaude of the LSU AgCenter.
On March 16, 154 bass, averaging 2.9 pounds each, were moved to
their new homes in City Park, Bayou St. John and Lafreniere Park.
These fish will help improve the bass fishing in these waters
by introducing a strain of fish with the potential to grow faster
and to a larger size than the Northern strain of largemouth bass
found in these waters.
All of the introduced
fish were six years old, Florida-strain bass that had been used
as brood stock at LDWF’s Booker Fowler Fish Hatchery. All
had successfully spawned five times and are expected to produce
secondary spawns this year in their new homes. These fish are
proven producers of strong bass, as their previous spawns are
continuing to be used at the facility. Introducing these fish
into the city’s waters will help local anglers land lunkers.
All of the stocked
fish were tagged and assigned a five-digit number. To help LDWF
learn more about these fish in their new habitats, anglers who
catch the stocked fish should report these numbers to park managers.
Interestingly, 26 of the stocked fish were caught on Saturday,
March 21, at the 59th annual Big Bass fishing tournament at New
Orleans City Park, according to Schexnayder. All of these fish
were returned alive to the lagoons. Tagged fish are already being
reported from Bayou St. John and Lafreniere Park.
This event was the
latest effort by LDWF and its Sea Grant and LSU AgCenter partners
to improve fishing in New Orleans area waters. On February 3,
108 five-pound (average) channel catfish were stocked in urban
waters in the city. Last year, over 2,500 Florida largemouth bass
fingerlings and over 161,000 bluegills were stocked for catching
as well as to improve the food stock for the bass and larger blue
catfish.
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