| 09 September 2009
In 2007, Mote and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission released 3,000 snook into area waters. The release marked the first time that wild snook were held in captivity, matured to spawn, and their offspring raised and then released.
The 11th Annual William R. Mote Memorial Invitational Shindig Co Sponsored by the Snook Foundaiton is coming up
Loss of habitat, increased fishing pressure and the occasional Florida freeze have combined to force the decline in snook numbers since the 1950s. Since the 1990s, Mote has been working on scientifically and environmentally sound methods to help restore depleted snook populations and raise their numbers in the wild.
The Snook Foundation was founded by William Mote, in 1997, to support Snook Research, Education, Conservation and Enhancement initiatives, and to engage anglers in the stewardship of this species, as well as all inshore game fish. The Snook Foundation is the Inshore Angler Alliance. Support the Snook Foundation click here
The Snook Shindig celebrates its 11th Anniversary this year. The fishing event focuses on capturing tagged snook that have been released in previous years. more Shindig info
Mote scientists first released hatchery-reared snook in 1997 and since then have released more than 52,000 fish in Sarasota-area waters. Mote's is the only snook stock enhancement research program in the world.
The largest recovered snook was 34 inches long and the oldest was age 8. These results mean that the snook released by Mote are surviving to spawning age and have the potential to help replenish wild stocks.
Now, Mote’s efforts are including new studies of snook released into freshwater ponds. “Snook are in trouble,” says Dr. Nathan Brennan, Mote staff scientist. “The idea is that perhaps we can stock snook into ponds to create a new snook fishery in these freshwater systems and help turn the fishing pressure away from wild snook in marine systems. Snook do very well in freshwater, and it’s unlikely that they can reproduce there.”
According to Dr. Ken Leber, following two years of successful preliminary trials in a pond at Mote Aquaculture Park, creation of snook fisheries in inland ponds now seems feasible. With funding from Florida Fish and Wildlife and our NOAA funded Science Consortium for Ocean Replenishment, we are now planning with private land owners to tag and release these hatchery-reared saltwater fish into 6 freshwater ponds.
"Volunteer help will come from the landowners who will track growth, survival and "catchability" of these snook. Creating saltwater fisheries in freshwater farm ponds and community reservoirs is a novel concept first explored by Florida Fish and Wildlife biologists, and could provide new opportunities (e.g. alternative fisheries on park land; fee-for-fishing on private land, etc.) for Florida fishery management, private citizens, and the aquaculture industry," said Dr. Leber
"The evaluation of stocking snook in inland ponds is a natural extension of several years of research to evaluate the results of stocking snook into Sarasota Bay. These studies examined (1) whether stocking hatchery-reared juvenile snook affected wild snook; (2) juvenile snook habitat selection and the effects of release habitat on snook growth and survival; (3) the effectiveness of acclimating snook in cages at release sites for 3 days prior to release; (4) contributions of stocked snook to local snook fisheries; and (5) snook cannibalism. The portions of this research that are already published are posted at the links below:
The Science Consortium for Ocean Replenishment (SCORE) is developing responsible, effective, and scientifically-based marine stock enhancement & restocking technologies:The Science Consortium for Ocean Replenishment
(http://www.stockenhancement.org/)
More information on Mote's stock enhancement program can be found at:
Mote Marine Laboratory
(http://www.mote.org/)
Other highlights from Mote’s snook research:
- Mote has been the first organization to use environmental factors to artificially control snook breeding in captivity. Mote successfully spawned snook a full two months before the natural spawning season. Being able to spawn snook in captivity will allow for large-scale snook production.
- Mote has recaptured more than 1,600 hatchery-reared snook. These snook, which were released with coded wire tags, tell us about the growth, survival, movement patterns and habitat use of snook that were raised and released by Mote. Hatchery-reared snook make up from 1 percent to 5 percent of the total local snook population.
- Juvenile snook need a variety of different habitat types to grow through adulthood. The habitat juveniles live in has a strong influence on the later stages of their lives. These results point to the strong need to protect habitat in addition to having restocking programs and fishing regulations.
