| 29 September 2010
Visitors to the MAP Kids Clinic Oct 2 are asked to keep a lookout
Baby Snook are part of Snook Foundation's educational outreach.
Several years ago, I began taking
care of hatchery-born snook, as part of my duties as one of the volunteer outreach
coordinators for the Snook Foundation. Baby snook were part of a Snook Foundation's educational exhibit that was shown at various events.
Over time, I have become a competent ‘snook mom’. It’s really a lot of work for a human to try to provide all the things snook babies need to grow up healthy and smart. Nature, given a chance, does such a great job of it, that we might think it’s simple.
I, on the other hand, found it quite a challenge to look after just the basics of food, water quality, temperature, light…on a daily, and sometimes hourly basis. As I learned more about growing snook, I was grateful to see that I was not also going to have to teach them anything about survival. All seem to have sufficient self-protective instincts, like... look out above!
Snook grow about an inch each month for the first year or two.This August, I was truly proud, when
we were able to release 3 of the slowest-to-mature fish from our tank to the
Mote Aquaculture Park (MAP) Pond, in Sarasota.
These three snook, Sandy, Pokey and BB (big boy), had grown from 2 inches to 10.5- 11.5 inches and were more than ready for life in the big pond. Their siblings had all been returned to Mote senior biologist Dr. Nate Brennan about six months before, and were released in Sarasota Bay with sonic tag implants.
Sandy,Pokey and Big Boy, for whatever reason, had lagged behind in growth, but now appeared healthy and ready to roam.
Dr. Nate Brennan deftly creates an incision in Pokey, for sonic tag implant.Dockside, Dr. Brennan implanted each with a sonic tag inserted through a
quarter inch knife slit in the abdomen. Under
Nate’s expert hand, the insertion takes about 10 seconds; the wound closes with very little blood and heals
within a day.
Sandy, Pokey and BB will hopefully be swimming in the Mote Aquaculture Park pond for years to come, their sonic tags pinging the transmitter each time they pass by that area of the pond. These fish will be part of an educational outdoor exhibit where they can be caught and released by visiting schoolchildren, including those who come on October 2nd to the Annual Snook Shindig Kids Clinic.
Sandy, Pokey and BB, age 1.2 years, free to roam in Mote Aquaculture Park Demo Pond
I have to admit I feel a little sad
for our snook, that they don’t get the full ‘wild life – a channel out to sea
to spawn, roam and enjoy whatever mysteries are set aside just for snook.
And I feel a little sad for us, so limited in our vision that we have navigated ourselves into a world where lack of healthy habitat makes fish farming seem like a good idea, or at least an acceptable necessity.
But this is our world, and while I am often clumsily destructive, there is something also in me that yearns to care well for it. I’m thankful that I had the opportunity to learn from Sandy, Pokey and BB, a little more about the ways of snook – and if you see them at MAP, please let me know!
About Mote Aquaculture Park
Mote Aquaculture Park is located on Fruitville Road in Sarasota. The center is conducting research, development and commercial demonstration projects with marine and freshwater species for both food production and stock enhancement. Learn more, visit Mote Aquaculture
