Aquaculture in the Classroom program is quite the catch
Florida’s redfish fishing for the next generation is in the hands of, well, among others, the next generation.
And the students love it.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s “Aquaculture in the Classroom” program for students from the fifth-grade through college provides hatchery-reared redfish and hands-on education. It gives students the opportunity to learn the basic principles of aquaculture, marine research and how stock enhancement plays a role in marine fisheries in the Sunshine State.
Duke Energy’s Crystal River Mariculture Center and the Coastal Conservation Association supply the redfish fingerlings under the direction of the FWC, which began the program in 2001. More than 25 schools have participated at one time or another from Pensacola to Miami.
Currently, seven schools across the state are part of the program. Five hundred redfish fingerlings were distributed to those schools for aquaculture study.
“We have fingerling redfish right now. So, we’ll raise them throughout the year and then eventually they’ll be released. It’s a good opportunity for the students to learn and get hands-on experience, career experience in the aquaculture industry, hopefully encourage some interest in future careers,” Aimee Owens, Crystal River High School agriculture course instructor, told the Citrus County Chronicle.
The redfish fishery in the Big Bend Region of the Gulf of Mexico, which now includes Citrus County, apparently needs a shot in the arm. The area’s waters received 20,000 4- to 8-inch hatchery-reared juvenile redfish released in December 2021 by CCA-Florida and Duke Energy Crystal River Mariculture Center.
Nevertheless, Citrus County and the Big Bend Region’s daily recreational creel limit remained at one when FWC commissioners voted against increasing it on July 13, 2022. FWC commissioners considered a proposal to raise the Big Bend Region’s creel limit to two but public opinion against the proposal in 12 public workshops the previous month swayed the FWC.
FWC kept the region’s daily creel limit at one and implemented a series of other regulatory changes for the sportfish that went into effect Sept. 1. Charter captains and crews aren’t allowed a redfish creel limit on a trip, off-water transport limits decreased from six to four redfish per person and vessel limits for redfish was cut in half from eight to four.
Other Florida regions with a creel limit of one redfish are Panhandle, Tampa Bay, Sarasota Bay, Charlotte Harbor, Southwest and Northeast.
Stock enhancement should be in good hands based on the level of anthusiasm among the students in the seven schools and educational facilities, including the Energy and Marine Center in Pasco County. They can rear redfish all year round in recirculating aquaculture systems, according to the FWC.
‘It’s the coolest class you can take. The most hands on, too, with the fish. I mean, I like fishing, so it’s fun,” Jesse Paul, a sophomore in the Crystal River class for a second straight year,” said in a story published July 14 by the Chronicle.
John Snowlakatis, another Crystal River sophomore taking the class for a second year, agreed and said, “This is one of my favorite projects, and I look forward to coming in and helping with it,” he said. “My dad and I love (red)fishing, so I get to do hands-on stuff with them. This is pretty cool because I get to see how they actually grow and not just catch them.”