$40 Million Later, A Pioneering Plan To Boost Wild Fish Stocks Shows Little Success
A California program begun 35 years ago to boost waning white seabass populations became a model for other states. Now the first scientific review finds the program had a stunningly low success rate.
Back in 1983, it seemed like a good idea.
Local populations of California white seabass, a favorite among recreational and commercial fishermen, prized for its mild, tender, flaky white flesh, were declining. While a fishery management plan didn't exist back then, sports fishermen had noticed a decline in their catches, and asked officials for help. State lawmakers then reached out to the marine biologists at Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute in San Diego to see if they could boost stocks by trying something unusual — raising the fish in a hatchery and releasing them into the sea.
It wasn't an entirely new idea. Americans have been attempting to raise fish in hatcheries in some form or another for at least 150 years. But this would be
