Redondo White Sea Bass

[Saba Slayer]

It's that time of year again and our WSB babies are ready to be released again.
This is from Rich Ford…he and John Whittaker run the WSB grow-out tanks in Redondo…

"We will release our fish August 6. Hubbs will be there at 9AM . We will have 2 times for people to help. 930 AM and 1230PM. hopefully we have enough people for each shift. There still will be some to work from beginning to end. No none will ever be turned away and want all to have a chance to help. Hubbs is bringing counters, pump to fill tanks, fine mesh nets. I hope nets are deeper than ones we used during the sluice from tent to truck as several fish jumped out of nets. I expect release to last 6 to 8 hours depending how many fish in Hubbs tanks, number of loads determine length of time . We have just under 7900 fish. Thanks to Fish and Wildlife for checking our fish.We will release our fish August 6. Hubbs will be there at 9AM . We will have 2 times for people to help. 930 AM and 1230PM. hopefully we have enough people for each shift. There still will be some to work from beginning to end. No none will ever be turned away and want all to have a chance to help. Hubbs is bringing counters, pump to fill tanks, fine mesh nets. I hope nets are deeper than ones we used during the sluice from tent to truck as several fish jumped out of nets. I expect release to last 6 to 8 hours depending how many fish in Hubbs tanks, number of loads determine length of time . We have just under 7900 fish. Thanks to Fish and Wildlife for checking our fish."

Also...we got some good news the other day...!

“Good Afternoon Rich,
I thought you'd be interested to learn that last Friday we recovered the tagged head of a 13-year old fish from our commercial market sampling that was released from King Harbor in 2003! Below is more information on that fish and another tag that was recovered by DFW.
Thank you as always for your ongoing efforts and participation in our program.”

[King Saba]

Just curious, but are the fish released into the harbor?

[onetriphudson]

That's awesome, what a great program. A few weeks back I caught 7 juvenile in a single morning and I figured it was because of this. If I can get away that day, I'd be honored to help!

Are families allowed to view or help? Or is it just for dudes?

[ful-rac]

I'll be there! I figure I owe it to the WSB population!

[farmer]

Count one me thanks

[GregAndrew]

Originally Posted by onetriphudson

That's awesome, what a great program. A few weeks back I caught 7 juvenile in a single morning and I figured it was because of this. If I can get away that day, I'd be honored to help!

Are families allowed to view or help? Or is it just for dudes?

Generally, if you are finding shorts in an area you will find more of them. I like to move on when I find them because they tend to engulf the bait and often are throat or gut hooked.

There are lots of tanks of fish and critters that the whole family may enjoy. But the release duties, tanks and enclosure are not friendly to either the young or those not fleet of foot. Especially with the conflicting objectives of speed and care in getting the fish to the transport tanks. There is only enough room for one way traffic through the tank enclosure. The raised floor has lots of gaps around the tanks. The tanks you need to scoop the fish from are about 4 feet tall, and you need to be able to see what you are scooping up. That is because they only want you to scoop a few fish at a time. And if you have to make several scoops, you hold the line up. Even the most able people will drop fish to the ground but, from my experience,children and the less agile drop more. I do appreciate the fact that everyone wants to help, and realize there are times when any extra help is necessary (especially in the afternoon). But, the purpose of the release is to get all of the fish safely into the water. It is not about teaching anyone anything or including them to feel better. Hell, even some of the able bodied adults get in the way trying to reinvent the wheel on things like priming the pumps. I would not tell anyone not to come, but just to be aware of when they are more in the way than helping. The last time we released around 8000 fish, it took 10 full hours of work.

[theluckypig]

i'll be there

[jorluivil]

Originally Posted by onetriphudson

That's awesome, what a great program. A few weeks back I caught 7 juvenile in a single morning and I figured it was because of this. If I can get away that day, I'd be honored to help!

Are families allowed to view or help? Or is it just for dudes?

Originally Posted by GregAndrew

Generally, if you are finding shorts in an area you will find more of them. I like to move on when I find them because they tend to engulf the bait and often are throat or gut hooked.

There are lots of tanks of fish and critters that the whole family may enjoy. But the release duties, tanks and enclosure are not friendly to either the young or those not fleet of foot. Especially with the conflicting objectives of speed and care in getting the fish to the transport tanks. There is only enough room for one way traffic through the tank enclosure. The raised floor has lots of gaps around the tanks. The tanks you need to scoop the fish from are about 4 feet tall, and you need to be able to see what you are scooping up. That is because they only want you to scoop a few fish at a time. And if you have to make several scoops, you hold the line up. Even the most able people will drop fish to the ground but, from my experience,children and the less agile drop more. I do appreciate the fact that everyone wants to help, and realize there are times when any extra help is necessary (especially in the afternoon). But, the purpose of the release is to get all of the fish safely into the water. It is not about teaching anyone anything or including them to feel better. Hell, even some of the able bodied adults get in the way trying to reinvent the wheel on things like priming the pumps. I would not tell anyone not to come, but just to be aware of when they are more in the way than helping. The last time we released around 8000 fish, it took 10 full hours of work.

What Greg said and if you plan to help around the tanks you might want to bring a set of dry clothes and shoes.

[ful-rac]

[Saba Slayer]

Bump...Release is tomorrow..Saturday.
As Rich Ford said...."No none will ever be turned away and we want all to have a chance to help."