TECHNICAL REPORT NO. 590
Marine Aquaculture and Stock Enhancement in Florida:
Research and Development
Florida Project, FDEP Contract No. MR 216
MML Project No. 109.682 and MML Project No. 170.697
Prepared for:
Mr. Bill Halstead
FL Department of Environmental Protection
Stock Enhancement Research Facility
14495 Harlee Road
Port Manatee, FL 34221
Prepared by:
Nathan Brennan, MS
Senior Biologist
Center for Fisheries Enhancement
Stock Enhancement Program
Mote Marine Laboratory
1600 Ken Thompson Parkway
Sarasota, FL 34236
Nathan Brennan
Assistant Program Manager
Stock Enhancement
1600 KEN THOMPSON PARKWAY SARASOTA, FLORIDA 34236-1096 USA PHONE: (941) 388-4441 FAX: (941) 3884312
INTERNET: [email protected]
http://www.mote.org
“A nonprofit organization dedicated to excellence in marine sciences”
July 21, 1998
Mr. Bill Halstead
Florida Department of Environmental Protection Stock Enhancement Research Facility
14495 Harllee Road Port Manatee, FL 34221
Re: 1st Interim Report: Marine Aquaculture and Stock Enhancement in Florida: Research and Development. FDEP Contract No. MR 216, MML Project No. 109.682 and MML Project No. 170.697. MML Technical Report No. 590.
Dear Mr. Halstead,
Please consider this letter as the first report of the above referenced project. This report covers activities from 1 July, 1998 through 30 July, 1998. The following has been
accomplished:
1. Live Feed Production Systems:
D. Skapura (MML Staff Biologist) stationed at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Stock Enhancement Research Facility (SERF) continued to improve their capability for intensive production by managing an indoor microalgae culture system. Efficient microalgae production is crucial for intensive culture of shellfish and finfish to be successful.
Efforts were continued towards completing the Media Preparation Room and the Microalgae Production Room, located in the SERF Hatchery building. These included:
. Installed a seawater supply line.
. Plumbed a outdoor seawater storage tank and a indoor water treatment tank to the seawater line.
. Tested seawater plumbing for leaks and proper flow. . Installed particle filters.
. Installed new blower (previous reconditioned blower was not repairable). . Tested blower, air lines and valves and sanitized air system.
. Acid washed and sterilized all culture glassware. . Made and sterilized culture media for start cultures. . Installed carboy drying/storage racks.
. Acquired materials and began repair of cracked fiberglass culture cylinders.
. Transferred additional tanks, water filters, carboys, glassware, and culture cylinders from MML to SERF.
A number of operating problems were identified in the Market Forge ® autoclave after several test cycles. The autoclave, necessary for sterilizing glassware and media for microalgae culture was inspected and repaired by a company representative on August 7th.
An approximately 28 hr power failure occurred at SERF on the weekend of August 15th. Temperature change and lack of light during the power failure may have caused four microalgae cultures to crash. The emergency generator maintained the operation of the air blower during the power failure. Because several back-up cultures were kept in other locations a complete loss was not experienced. The incident reinforced the importance of maintaining back-up start cultures in several locations. Plans for preparing for a hurricane and intermittent power failures are being made.
A purchase order was submitted to MML for obtaining new stock cultures of Tahitian Isochrysis sp., Nannochloropsis oculata, and Nannochloris sp. from the University of Texas at Austin. Two production phase (carboy) cultures of Tahitian Isochrysis sp. were started on August 14th .
D. Skapura attended weekly SERF meetings and presented progress updates on microalgae production. In addition, she attended a meeting at SERF on August 7th with B.
Halstead, C. Young, G. Vermeer, F. Courtney, and T. Hindle to discuss microalgae, scallops, and the greenhouse. On August 17th she met with G. Vermeer and B. Dennis to plan systems for the Fish Health Wet Lab.
2. Conduct Fishery-Independent Assessment of Red Drum Stock Enhancement Impact in Biscayne Bay.
To learn as much as possible about the Biscayne Bay Red Drum Project C. Neidig (Senior Biologist) contacted associates who had been involved with the project or those who could provide helpful information. These included K. Leber, S. Maloney, R. Edwards, J. Miller (MML), B. Halstead, B. Dennis, J. Ransier (SERF), G. Milano (Dade Environmental), T. Capo, J. Seraphy (University of Miami), and C. Kunde (Atlantic Billfish Foundation). In addition, reports to DEP from MML, University of Miami, and Florida International University were reviewed.
Contacts were made to the Florida Marine Patrol and National Park Service offices in the Biscayne Bay area. Boat services including rentals, marinas (dry and wet slip storage), and ramps were contacted to identify their charges. Storage facilities were contacted for costs. Bait
and tackle suppliers in the south Biscayne Bay area (Black Point to Barnes Sound) were identified.
A job description was written for hiring two technicians to work in Biscayne Bay. The description was sent to the University of Miami, Florida International University, Miami-Dade Community College, Florida Institute of Technology, Eckerd College, University of South Florida, Florida State University, University of Florida, the Department of Environmental Protection (St. Petersburg), and SERF. Additional postings are in progress.
To acquire a boat for the study, numerous internet and newspaper searches and phone calls were made. Lists were started to identify equipment needs.
Two trips were made to the Biscayne Bay area. The most recent trip was August 10th through August 14th and included B. Dennis, J. Ransier (SERF) and C. Neidig. At the University of Miami the group met briefly with T. Capo and then with J. Seraphy and G. Milano to discuss the computer model developed by J. Ah, J. Jung and J. Seraphy (University of Miami). We reviewed models of current and salinity based on data taken in Biscayne Bay in 1995. We also reviewed navigation charts and discussed habitat, sampling gear, and identified where red drum had been released and recaptured. In addition, we met with C. Kunde (Atlantic Billfish
Foundation) that evening. We reviewed navigation charts and plotted specific habitat and areas where red drum had recently been sighted.
From August 11 th - 13th approximately 15 hrs/day were spent on the water. We started in Barnes Sound and covered approximately 100 miles to north of Black Point. Canals, creeks, and mangrove islands were investigated. Abiotic parameters including temperature (“C), dissolved oxygen (ppm) and salinity (ppt) were recorded. Observations on overhanging vegetation, steepness of banks, bottom type, depth, and species of fish, crustaceans, etc. were noted. In addition, we asked people fishing on the banks if they had caught red drum.
One sighting of approximately 20-30 adult red drum measuring 18-24 inches was made at Turkey Point in a shallow embayment. We attempted to set a trammel net around the fish but they moved into a deep canal at the entrance of the Turkey Point Power Plant.
3. Collaborate in Research to Develop Stock Enhancement Capabilities with High-Priority Finfish Species.
Snook is an excellent test species for developing and evaluating coastal stock
enhancement technology. In partnership with Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), we are working on an evaluation of responsible snook stock enhancement potential in Florida. The principal activities included are: (A) Field work to establish and test a snook stock enhancement prototype and (B) snook production to provide fingerlings for the release-recapture
3A. Test and Establish a Snook Stock Enhancement Prototype.
In collaboration with ongoing snook stock enhancement research, partially funded by the U.S. Gulf of Mexico Marine Stock Enhancement Program (USGMSEP), Mote stock
enhancement researchers have conducted ongoing Fishery independent field work to evaluate release strategies. Through partnership with DEP, this research is now supported by an
additional technician partially funded by this DEP project. Thus DEP now has an even stronger involvement and level of support for this important area of research. A standardized sampling program was conducted in and around the Sarasota Bay waters and resulted in 10 d of intensive sampling for the month of July. Standardized sampling was conducted in stream systems and offshore island habitats of Sarasota Bay where snook had been released in April 1998. A total of 9 seine pulls with a 70’ long x 6’ deep seine, with a 6 x 6 x 6’ collection bag (3/8” delta weave mesh), and 18 casts with an 8’ radius cast net (3/8”monofilament mesh) was performed at each of the sampling sites. All snook captured were measured (FL) and checked for the presence of coded-wire tags (CWT) or Visible Implant Elastomer (VIE) tags. Water quality measurements were also taken at least three locations within a site and snook catches were correlated with the nearest water quality measurement site. Water Quality measurements included temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and pH and were taken at both the top and bottom of a given water column. Also, the total number and size range, was estimated for each associated species captured as by catch, and the nearest water quality site, and “net-sample” number they were captured in were also recorded.
The results of the ongoing standardized sampling program at release habitats within Sarasota Bay are encouraging. Of 52 snook captured during the July standardized sampling effort, 12 were tagged with CWT’s; Eleven tagged fish originated from the April 1998 releases into Sarasota Bay, and one tagged fish originated from an April 1997 release. The latter fish (the largest coded-wire tagged snook recaptured to date) was over 18” TL, and had migrated over 6 miles from its release site. Of the eleven tagged fish recovered from the 1998 releases, seven were caught in places other than their release sites. This (three months) is the earliest recorded movement from release sites to date. Prior to July’s standardized sampling effort, all snook recaptured from the April 1998 release showed no movement and were found at the sites where they were released.
Monthly standardized sampling of juvenile snook in nursery habitats has 1) revealed that hatchery released juvenile snook are surviving in the wild, 2) revealed estimates of contribution rates to juvenile snook habitats, 3) allowed for comparisons of survival between the release groups, 4) allowed for comparison of body condition and health among snook released at different sites, and between released and wild snook, and 4) has revealed patterns of migration after release. These results serve as early indicators of the success of particular release strategies. Eventually, these results will be compared to the long-term results of tag returns from the adult fishery for verification of release strategy success.
3B. Culture of high priority finfish species: Common Snook.
In preparation for continued studies testing the potential of snook stock enhancement in Florida waters researchers in the Mote Aquaculture program have made significant progress. Mote Aquaculture researchers were successful in collecting fertilized eggs from snook wild stock, and performing intensive indoor larval and post-larval rearing for 1999 stock
enhancement pilot-release experiments. Wild brood-stock snook, aggregated in island pass waters along sandy beaches of Sarasota Bay, were collected with large beach seines. Mature male and female snook were selected and “strip-spawned” for their eggs and sperm. After release of the wild broodstock, eggs and sperm were then artificially fertilized and immediately transported back to the snook rearing facility at Mote Marine Laboratory. Spawns were
collected on 9 July, and 23 July, from Longboat Pass and near the old Midnight Pass of Sarasota Bay. In addition to spawning work in late June 1998, Mote Aquaculture researchers were successful in rearing approximately 8,000 snook through larval stages at the Mote Aquaculture facility. Growout of these snook will continue at the Mote Aquaculture facility for the future stock enhancement studies in Sarasota Bay.
4. Assist the Department with Strategic Planning:
In line with the short and long-term objectives of strategic planning for the Department’s marine stock enhancement program of 1) improving the effectiveness of the Department’s marine stock enhancement program; 2) adapting or refining the aspects of “A Responsible Approach to Marine Stock Enhancement” (Blankenship and Leber, 1995) that have not yet been fully implemented in Florida, and 3) identifying and prioritizing potential marine fish species for stock enhancement in Florida several steps have been made.
0 Ken Leber has worked closely with SERF staff at Port Manatee to help plan the species
selection process to begin to prioritize fish species for focused stock enhancement research, development and application in Florida.
0 Letters were sent by DEP to 150 people identified as stakeholders in Florida’s fisheries
and aquaculture community. Also, 350 fishermen were selected randomly within counties from the Florida State Recreational Fishery Licensing Database.
0 Ken Leber worked with staff at SERF to plan the next phase of the partnership between
Mote Marine Laboratories’ Center for Fisheries Enhancement and Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection regarding future stock enhancement research. This involved several group and individual meetings.
0 Ken Leber met with the manager of the SERF facility to continue brainstorming strategic
0 Ken Leber attended regular staff meetings at the SERF facility to assist as needed in
coordinating ongoing stock enhancement efforts.
0 Ken Leber met with Mike Tringali of the Florida Marine Research Institute to brainstorm a joint manuscript on a responsible genetic approach for snook enhancement research in Florida.
We will provide updates to this information periodically as significant development occur in our understanding of the potential for stock enhancement in Florida. On behalf of the Center for Fisheries Enhancement at Mote Marine Laboratory, we look forward to continuing our successful cooperation with Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection.
Sincerely,
Nathan Brennan (For Ken Leber) Senior Biologist
Stock Enhancement at the Center for Fisheries Enhancement Mote Marine Laboratory
