The charter of the Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute really says it all; “To return to the sea some measure of the benefits derived from it.” Founded in 1963, HSWRI conducts research in the tradition of world-renowned scientists, Dr. Carl L. and Laura C. Hubbs. They are a non-profit charity dedicated to providing effective solutions to conflicts that arise between human activity and the natural world.

Of much interest to us is their Aquaculture Program which focuses on stock replenishment. We agree with HSWRI when they state that their work is an effort to “achieve a balance between more traditional fishing, supported by stock replenishment and farming.” We couldn’t be more supportive of efforts that work to replenish natural populations. Last year HSWRI researchers released just over 150,000 juvenile white seabass (a fish we love!) into the ocean waters off southern California; which is the limit of fish they were allowed by regulators to release during the 2009 calendar year.

The HSWRI project is comprised of three separate programs; hatchery, grow out and monitoring. The grow out portion begins with the injection of tiny pencil lead size marker tags inserted in the cheeks of 4-month old 3-inch fish raised in the Carlsbad Hatchery. Those fish are then distributed to 15 volunteer sites, like the San Diego Oceans Foundation, up and down the Southern California coast. Here independent volunteer groups maintain small grow out pens (roughly the size of a boat slip), refill solar powered feeders, care for and monitor the fish’s health for the 5-8 months it takes to grow them to 8 inches. Then comes the most rewarding part of all for these volunteers, counting and releasing the fish one by one into the wild, as many as 3000 at a time.

A separate program sends Hubbs biologists and volunteers to commercial white seabass landing areas all along the coast to collect heads. The heads are scanned with a metal detector and if they find a tag, they remove it to read the numbers. In this manner they are able to determine survival rates, program efficacy as well as how far the fish travel from their release sites and how fast they grow. For the record, the oldest fish they have recovered spent 12 years in the wild and the furthest one has traveled is over 140 miles!

This is the nation’s largest marine fish enhancement program, the only one on the West Coast and is 100% supported by fishing stamps, state grants and private donations. Started in 1982, the program was created in response to a dramatic decline in recreational seabass landing from a high in the 50’s of over 55,000 to a low of 3500 in the 80’s.

To date, nearly 2 million white seabass have been released to the ocean through the ORHEP Program – 90,000+ of which were reared by San Diego Oceans Foundation volunteers!

Logan had a chance recently to visit one of the growout facilities and was truly impressed by the dedication of these people.

“The growout pen we visited today had about 10 volunteers brailing young California white seabass into the cool, morning lit bay. I was told that some of them have been doing this for over a decade, but I also noticed a few that were barely a decade old and should have been in school! But it didn’t seem matter to these intent volunteers who spent hours releasing fish back to the wild. It’s amazing to think that there are these little mom and pop grow out operations all over southern California that we don’t hear much about, staffed by volunteers quietly working to rebuild wild fish stocks.”

As part of our commitment to active involvement in the sustainable seafood arena, we have designated funds from our RSVP program to assist HSWRI in their aquaculture research.

You can learn more about HSWRI’s aquaculture program at their website.

We’re looking forward to seeing what’s next; we’ll keep you updated!