Overview
Blackwater Fisheries Research and
Development Center is located in scenic Blackwater River State
Forest near Holt, Florida. Constructed in 1938 and operated by the
Commission since 1940, the Center has stocked millions of bass, bream and
catfish into Florida waters. In recent years production of fish
has emphasized striped bass and striped bass
hybrids (sunshine bass) and advanced fingerling largemouth
bass. Also produced are black crappie, white bass and shoal bass.
From the years 2000 to 2011 this facility has produced over 6.3
million striped bass and striped bass hybrids and over two million
largemouth bass, bream and channel catfish for stocking in public
waters. As a result several notable fisheries have developed.
Hatchery produced largemouth bass were stocked into Lake Talquin
near Tallahassee for five years beginning in 1999. These bass
averaged three inches in length when stocked in the spring. By fall
hatchery produced largemouth bass were significantly larger than
naturally spawned fish in the lake. October fish samples showed
hatchery fish averaging almost nine inches in length compared to
just over five inches for naturally produced fish. In addition,
angler surveys showed that hatchery largemouth bass contributed
from 26 to 39 percent of the fish caught in largemouth bass
tournaments on the lake from 2004 to 2006.
Hybrid striped bass, sometimes called sunshine bass, produced at
this facility have been stocked in many rivers and lakes in Florida
to supplement existing fresh water sport fisheries. As a result of
these stockings significant seasonal hybrid fisheries have
developed in the Escambia, Choctawhatchee, and Apalachicola rivers
and Bear Lake in Santa Rosa County.
Reestablishment of a reproducing population of native striped
bass in the Blackwater and Yellow rivers is a joint effort by the
FWC and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Earlier this century
striped bass virtually disappeared from both rivers, probably due
to pollution of the Pensacola Bay estuary. Releases of young
striped bass each year in the Blackwater River since 1987 and in
the Yellow River since 1990 have this trophy fish on the road to
recovery, with catches of stripers in the 30 pound class reported
by anglers.
In 1995 the Institute collected the
first mature female striped bass weighing 20 pounds from the
Blackwater River. Since then over 200 mature striped bass have been
collected from the Blackwater and Yellow rivers. Some of these
brood fish were brought to this facility and spawned. To date brood
fish from these two systems have produced over 7.5 million fry.
These fish have been used to enhance or reestablish striped bass
populations not only in these systems but in the Apalachicola,
Ochlocknee, and Choctawhatchee rivers and Lake Seminole and Lake
Talquin in Florida, as well as other river systems in Alabama,
Georgia, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
In addition to fish production, researchers at the facility have
developed numerous systems and designs to improve efficiency of
fish production. These include the design and implementation of a
water conditioning system to optimize water quality for egg and fry
incubation, and the development of a water acclimation technique to
increase survival rates of fry when transferred from incubation
aquaria to grow out ponds. Another technique has been developed
using hormone therapy to induce spawning in female striped bass
with eggs in early developmental stages. As a result female brood
fish which were once considered not ripe enough for fish production
can now be used for spawning. Numerous tanks with water
recirculation and filtering systems have been set up to hold adult
brood fish. By controlling temperature and light cycles in these
tanks, brood fish held for extended periods of time have been
condition to spawn successfully. Another major project completed
was the installation of plastic liners in 10 of the Center's fish
production ponds.
The Center is also credited with much of the early work in
developing a method for culturing largemouth bass on artificial
food. Bass are difficult to raise past the fingerling stage (2 to 3
inches) because of their strong preference for natural food, such
as zooplankton. The new technique begins by starting the bass fry
on live brine shrimp, then gradually mixing in a high-protein diet
of pelleted feed. As the young bass adapt to the mixture, the live
food is withdrawn, until they are feeding entirely upon the
artificial feed.
By allowing biologists to raise Phase
II (6 to 8 inch fish) on artificial feed, it is hoped these new
techniques will ensure greater survival of bass stocked into the
wild. This is especially important in waters where there is
inadequate food for juvenile fish and where massive cannibalism
occurs. Stocking bass at a larger size, and properly timing the
stocking, may allow biologists to bypass this natural ecological
"bottleneck" and hopefully improve survival of the stocked fish
until they reach the angler's creel.
Past research on bass and bream was directed toward
understanding how these popular sport fish relate to various
habitat types in the Escambia and Yellow rivers. Also, the bass and
bream research team evaluated the effects of size regulations on
bass in the Escambia River delta marsh. The Escambia River delta is
a very popular fishing spot for anglers living in the extreme
western end of the Panhandle.
The Blackwater facility has also been heavily involved with much
of a statewide river monitoring project which provided background
fish assemblage information needed to evaluate the long-term
impacts of development and pollution.
The Center also serves as a reservoir of information regarding
the status of Florida's rare and endangered fishes (see our List of Florida Freshwater
Fishes for photos of many of these), most of which occur in the
northwestern section of the state. Personnel of the Institute also
maintain a computerized bibliography of references to Florida's
freshwater fishes and the ecology of the state's rivers. This
information is available to the public and scientists alike.
Personnel of the facility have published numerous scientific papers
on fish production methods, fish biology, and stream ecology.
The Center is also currently working on an illustrated book of
Florida's freshwater fishes. The book will offer color photographs
of each fish, and a description of each species, its life history
and distribution within the state.
The Center also manages six very
popular fishing lakes in the northwestern section of the
state. Management practices on Stone, Bear, Hurricane,
Victor, Juniper and Karick lakes include special fishing
regulations, water quality enhancement, fish stocking, fish
attractors, vegetation control, access improvements, and lake
drawdowns. Karick, Hurricane and Bear lakes lie within
Blackwater River State Forest and are managed in cooperation with
the State Division of Forestry. Lake Stone, in Escambia
County, near Century, is managed in cooperation with Escambia
County. Juniper Lake is near DeFuniak Springs in Walton
County, while Lake Victor is in Holmes County, near New Hope. This
year (2011) lakes Victor, Stone and Bear Lake were stocked with
black crappie. Brochures describing theses lakes are
available from the Center.
An important function of the facility is providing information
to the public regarding all aspects of Florida fish and fishing. An
updated Checklist is
available which lists the occurrence of fishes in the state, with
emphasis upon those inhabiting the state's major rivers. The
Institute is an excellent place to begin with questions regarding
the biology of bass, bream, striped bass and the status of Florida
fishes, especially those of the Panhandle.
The Center also provides office space for several personnel from
our Wildlife Division. Wildlife personnel are currently working on
both game and non-game species including deer, turkey, black bear,
gopher tortoise, and red cockaded wood pecker.