Established in 1995, HSWRI’s Leon Raymond Hubbard Jr., Marine Fish Hatchery is a White Seabass broodstock hatchery built specifically for this purpose in Carlsbad, California. With base funding from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, HSWRI’s team raises, tags, and releases millions of juvenile fish spawned by the resident hatchery broodstock. We also conduct ongoing research efforts to determine optimal hatchery conditions for successful production of juvenile White Seabass, and assess the impacts of introduced hatchery fish on the resident wild White Seabass population in southern California waters.
In 1983, the California State Legislature enacted the Ocean Resources Enhancement and Hatchery Program (OREHP) in an effort to enhance important marine finfish species, such as White Seabass and California Halibut (Statutes of 1983, Chapter 982; Fish and Game Code § 6590 et seq.). The program involved basic research into the captive reproduction and culture of these important finfish. However, due to limited funding, the OREHP has focused solely on the artificial rearing of White Seabass since 1990. Given these budget constraints, the Institute has turned to private fundraising to support White Seabass research at the Carlsbad hatchery and California halibut at HSWRI’s other San Diego location.
More on the OREHP Hatchery program
Selected OREHP Publications:
Aalbers, S.A. , G.M. Stutzer and M.A. Drawbridge. The effects of catch-and-release angling on the growth and survival of juvenile white seabass captured on offset circle and J-type hooks. North American Journal of Fisheries Management. 24:793-800. 2004.
Aalbers, S.A. Seasonal, diel, and lunar spawning periodicities and associated sound production of white seabass (Atractoscion nobilis). Fisheries Bulletin. 106: 143-151. 2008.
Bartley, D.M., D. B. Kent and M.A. Drawbridge. Conservation of genetic diversity in a white seabass hatchery enhancement program in Southern California. American Fisheries Society Symposium. 15: 249-258. 1995.
Curtis, P.A., T. Nakai, M. Drawbridge, R.P. Hedrick, M.S. Okihiro and M. Adkison. Viral Nervous Necrosis (VNN) in White Seabass (Atractoscion nobilis) Cultured in Southern California and implications for Marine Fish Aquaculture. Symposium from Oceans 2003, San Diego, CA.
Drawbridge, M., Shane M., and Silbernagel C. The status of white seabass, Atractoscion nobilis, as a commercially ready species for marine US aquaculture. Journal of the World Aquaculture Society. 2020.
Galaviz, M.A., A. Garcia-Gasca, M. Drawbridge, C.A. Ivarez-Gonales, L.M. Lopez. Ontogeny of the digestive tract and enzymatic activity in white seabass, Atractoscion nobilis, larvae. Aquaculture. 3:18: 162-168. 2011.
Gruenthal, K.M., and M.A. Drawbridge. Toward responsible stock enhancement: broadcast spawning dynamics and adaptive genetic management in white seabass aquaculture. Evol Appl. 5:405-417. 2012.
Hawkyard M, Stuart K, and Drawbridge M. The early life stages of California yellowtail (Seriola dorsalis) and white seabass (Atractoscion nobilis) respond to food particle taste. Aquaculture. 512: 734285. 2019.
Hervas, S., K. Lorenzen, M.A. Shane and M.A. Drawbridge. Quantitative assessment of a white seabass (Atractoscion nobilis) stock enhancement program in California: Post-release dispersal, growth and survival. Fisheries Research. 105: 237-243. 2010.
Jirsa, D.O., D.A. Davis, and M. Drawbridge. Development of a practical soy-based diet for white seabass (Atractoscion nobilis). North American Journal of Aquaculture. 72: 332-337. 2010.
Jirsa, D.O., D.A. Davis, L.A. Roy and M.A. Drawbridge. Response of white seabass Atractoscion nobilis to practical diets with varying levels of protein. North American Journal Aquaculture. Volume 76, Issue 1. 2014.
Jirsa, D.O., M. Drawbridge and K. Stuart. The effects of tank color and light intensity on growth, survival and stress tolerance of white seabass, Atractoscion nobilis, larvae. Journal of The World Aquaculture Society. 40:702_709. 2009.
Lopez, L., E. Durazo, M.T. Viana, M. Drawbridge and D. P. Bureau. Effect of dietary lipid levels on perfomance, body composition and fatty acid profile of juvenile white seabass, Atractoscion nobilis. Aquaculture. 289:101-105. 2009.
Rombenso A.N., Trushenski J.T., Jirsa D., Drawbridge M. Successful fish oil sparing in White Seabass feeds using saturated fatty acid-rich soybean oil and 22:6n-3 (DHA) supplementation. Aquaculture. 448:176-185. 2015.
Rotman, F., Stuart, K., Drawbridge, M. Effects of taurine supplementation in live feeds on larval rearing performance of California yellowtail, Seriola lalandi and white seabass, Atractoscion nobilis. Aquaculture Research. 1-8, doi:10.1111/are.12964. 2016
Salze GP, Davis DA, Jirsa DO, Drawbridge MA. Methionine requirement for juvenile white seabass, Atractoscion nobilis, using nonlinear models. Journal of the World Aquaculture Society. doi: 10.1111/jwas.12418. 2017.
Silbernagel, C., Yochem, P. Effectiveness of the anesthetic Aqui-S ®, 20E in marine finfish and elasmobranchs. Journal of Wildlife Diseases. 52:S96-S103. 2016.
Smiley, J.E., M.A. Drawbridge, M.S. Okihiro, and R.S. Kaufmann. Acute effects of gas supersaturation on juvenile cultured white seabass (Atractoscion nobilis). Transactions of the American Fisheries Society. 140: 1269-1276. 2011.
Stuart, K, Losardo M, Olin P, and Drawbridge M. Optimizing procedures for shipping marine fish eggs using white seabass, Atractoscion nobilis, as a model. Aquaculture. 493(1):229-232. 2018.
Stuart, K., and M. Drawbridge. The effect of photoperiod on larval culture performance of two marine finfish species. Aquaculture. 360-361:54-57. 2012.
Stuart, K.R., M. Keller and M. Drawbridge. Efficacy of formalin and povidone-iodine disinfection techniques on the eggs of three marine finfish species. Aquaculture Research. 41:e838-e843. 2010.
