Staff transfers a net full of juvenile red drum from the hauling trailer to the release boat.

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   Staff transfers a net full of juvenile red drum from the hauling trailer to the release boat.

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   Matt Perkinson releases 1 month old juvenile cobia produced at the Waddell Mariculture Center into the nearby Colleton River.

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   Upon arrival at a release site, fish are acclimated to the local temperature and salinity water conditions by exchanging water at the boat ramp.

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   Yearling red drum released in the May River.

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   Releasing red drum at Cherry Point always draws a crowd of onlookers.

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   Advanced juvenile red drum released directly from the hauling trailer.

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   Red drum released into Murrell’s Inlet.

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   Juvenile red drum are released at about 1-2 inches in size.

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   Tyler Grespin prepares to release juvenile red drum into the marsh along the Wando River.

Recent activities, news stories, research updates, etc.

DNR Seeks Anglers Help with Cobia Again in 2014

April 9, 2014 - The S.C. Department of Natural Resources is seeking help from anglers targeting cobia to collect DNA samples of fish caught in 2014 for ongoing research projects. These DNA samples will be used to identify hatchery released cobia and characterize the population structure of cobia captured along our coast. You can request a fin clip collection kit online. Anglers who do not collect fin clips are asked to donate filleted carcasses to the freezer collection program. There are four freezer locations or carcasses may be dropped in person at the Waddell Mariculture Center on Sawmill Creek Rd in Bluffton, SC. For more information on the cobia stock enhancement research program:

• Aquaculture
• Population health
• Population structure
• Setting stock boundaries
• Spawning grounds
• Stock enhancement

Restoring Rockfish in the Ashley River

November 21, 2013 – The SCDNR marine stocking research program recently harvested and released over 16,000 striped bass in the Ashley and Cooper Rivers. Biologists have been stocking striped bass in the Ashley since 2006 in an attempt to reestablish a population of stripers that once existed in the river. The study is a cooperative effort between the Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries and Marine Divisions within the DNR focusing on understanding striped bass usage of coastal estuaries. Striped bass fry provided by the WFF Division are reared in brackish water ponds at the Waddell Mariculture Center and unique genetic families are released into brackish water and freshwater sections of the Ashley River. Long-term survival of each unique family is tracked by geneticists as they identify hatchery reared fish. In this way, the effects of the location of release can be compared. Stocking of 2013 year class striped bass in the Ashley is estimated to be completed in early December.

2013 Red drum stocking almost completed

October 28, 2013 - The SCDNR marine stocking program recently distributed over a quarter of a million hatchery reared red drum juveniles in the marsh along the northeastern corner of Winyah Bay. These juvenile fish were a month old and approximately 1-2 inches in length at release. This release brings the total number of red drum released in Winyah Bay to over 400,000 for the 2013 season. In September, more than 150,000 juveniles from a different genetic family were released in a single location near the Thousand Acre bridge. The research is designed to determine the most effective release strategy for red drum. Is it better to swamp the local predators to improve the odds of escape or to maximize the habitat available for refuge by distributing the fish across a broad area? Scientists will evaluate the results using genetic tags to determine the release treatment of each individual hatchery fish recaptured in 2014.