Survival Of Advanced-Fingerlings Of Florida Largemouth Bass Stocked In Small Florida Lakes

Numerous stocking evaluations of pellet-reared advanced-fingerling (80-120 mm TL) Largemouth Bass Micropterus salmoides have assessed the contribution of stocked fish to the wild population, but few studies have quantified longer-term (1-2 years) survival. Hatchery researchers have developed spawning Florida Largemouth Bass Micropterus salmoides floridanus (hereafter, "Florida Bass") out of season (i.e., in fall), allowing for a similar-sized product to be stocked earlier in the spring. Managers are interested in whether poststocking survival is improved by new culture techniques and whether survival can be affected by conditioning (acclimating to the natural environment) the fish before stocking. In this study, we stocked 11 small (<100 ha) lakes in central Florida with pellet-reared advanced-fingerling (mean 105 mm TL) Florida Bass that were spawned out of season, and we conducted mark-recapture population estimates at 1 and 2 years poststocking to assess survival. In the second year of the study, four lakes were stocked a second time with two treatments of Florida Bass (naive and conditioned) to test for the effects of conditioning the fish on survival within the stocked lakes in 0.1-ha predator-limited enclosures for 7 d. At 1 year poststocking, survival ranged from 0.0% to 8.2% (values were <2.5% for all but one lake) and averaged 1.8%. At 2 years poststocking, survival ranged from 0.0% to 2.4% and averaged 0.9%. From the restocked lakes in year 2, we found no effect of conditioning (P = 0.57) on the number of stocked Florida Bass that were caught at 1 year poststocking, and survival ranged from 0.1% to 1.5% for the naive treatment and 0.2% to 1.4% for the conditioned treatment. Despite improved culture techniques and the attempt to acclimate the stocked fish to the wild, survival averaged <2% at 1 year poststocking. Knowledge of projected Florida Bass survival can help managers make informed stocking decisions that are more likely to meet their desired outcome.