Restoring the fish population

Good news for people who love to fish: almost 100,000 new fish were added to local waters.

From the lab to the bayou, these fish have traveled a long way. They’re called spotted sea trout and the University of Southern Mississippi has been working to add more of them to the waters of the Gulf. Aquaculture Center Director Kelly Lucas said, “The spotted sea trout, or speckled trout, is the number one sports fish in the Gulf of Mexico. So, over 29 million fish are caught each year so recreational and commercial fishing.”

Recently, the number of spotted sea trout in Mississippi has been declining which is one of the reasons to add more of them to the water. “The spotted sea trout was picked in conjunction with stakeholders in the community who really felt like that was the species we should concentrate on enhancing,” said Lucas.

This year, USM has added more than 250,000 sea trout into waters around the Gulf Coast. On Wednesday, they released 88,000 into Fort Bayou. “The spotted sea trout program in particular has been here since 2006. We’ve released over 1.5 million spotted sea trout.”

Before all of the fish can head out into the bayou, they have to go through an acclimation process to get used to the water’s condition.

For the students who raised the fish, letting go isn’t always easy. USM grad assistant Robert Gonzales said, “I’m not a dad, but it feels like raising your own kids, I’d have to think that.”

Even though the group might be a little sad to see the fish go, Kelly said, “At the end of it they will feel really great that they were able to be a part of this conservation effort.”