White seabass (atractoscion nobilis) has been a popular sport fish in southern california for over a century

The California Department of Fish & Wildlife (CDFW) received a Formula Grant award of $654,973 from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the Sport Fish Restoration program (CFDA 15.605) for the period July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026. This award supports the Ocean Resources Enhancement and Hatchery Program (OREHP), which administers research and operations focused on enhancing sport fish populations in Southern California waters. The primary deliverable is the artificial propagation, rearing, and stocking of white seabass and other important marine finfish species, with particular emphasis on assessing whether hatchery-released fish effectively enhance wild populations and contribute to improved recreational and commercial fisheries.

The award funds ongoing operations and research managed by CDFW in partnership with the Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute (HSWRI), which operates the Leon Raymond Hubbard, Jr. Marine Fish Hatchery. Key services delivered include juvenile white seabass production and hatchery release, development and refinement of culture protocols for marine finfish species, fisheries monitoring and assessment to measure hatchery contribution to wild populations, and disease management oversight. These activities support CDFW's administration of OREHP through an advisory panel comprising academic scientists, management agencies, and industry representatives to ensure research and enhancement efforts align with conservation and recreational fishing objectives.

Dueto concerns over the decline of white seabass landings in the mid-late 1900 s, the california legislatureestablished the ocean resources enhancement and hatchery program (orehp) in 1983, under california fish and game code, section 6590, ET. SEQ. The primary goal of the orehp was to conduct basic and applied research into theartificial propagation, rearing, and stocking of important marine finfish species occurring in ocean waters offsouthern california. Over the years, the legislature has amended the intent language of the program. Currentlegislation focuses on advancing research in determining if hatchery released fish can enhance importantrecreational and commercial species through increased production of fish and increased monitoring of fisheries toassess the hatchery contribution. The goal of the legislation is to enhance populations of marine finfish speciesimportant to california for their sport and commercial fishing value. White seabass has been the focus of thisresearch since 1990.the department of fish and wildlife (cdfw) administers the orehp, with the assistance of a 10-member oceanresources enhancement advisory panel (oreap). The oreap consists of academic and management agency scientists, representatives of both commercial and recreational fishing groups, the aquaculture industry, and non-government organization interests. Cdfw also employs a research scientist (fish pathologist) to investigate and manage disease issues with the orehp.cdfw s main contractor is hubbs-seaworld research institute (hswri). Hswri owns and operates the marine fishhatchery (leon raymond hubbard, JR., marine fish hatchery). Hswri has developed the culture protocols requiredfor the program and assessment techniques required to evaluate the impact of hatchery-reared fish on the wildfishery. The primary function of the hatchery is to provide juvenile white seabass to growout facilities operatedby volunteer organizations and hswri. The hatchery can produce several million juvenile white seabass annually however, current release goals are set at up to 350,000 juvenile white seabass per year. Specific release goalsare based on the number of adult broodstock fish available and the potential genetic impact of hatchery releaseson wild white seabass stocks. In addition to hswri, the orehp receives considerable support (5,000 hours per year) from volunteers, primarilyrecreational angler and educational groups, who own and operate eleven growout facilities in southern california. These growout facilities provide a cost-effective way to increase post-release survival rate by releasing largerwhite seabass. In 2017, california sea grant (casg) completed a multi-year evaluation of the orehp to determine if the programhas been a successful and cost-effective tool for white seabass enhancement and management. With guidance fromcdfw, casg created a 9-member science advisory committee, comprised of scientists from around the country whowere responsible for evaluating the program. The evaluation report (casg 2017) concluded that while the orehp hassignificantly contributed to the scientific understanding of marine enhancement science, IT has not substantiallyincreased the abundance of legal-sized white seabass, resulting in less than one percent contribution torecreational and commercial fisheries catches. The evaluation report did not make a recommendation as to whetherthe orehp should continue however, IT does include objective-specific and program-wide recommendations shouldthe orehp continue with either white seabass or another marine species, as well as recommendations on how todiscontinue the orehp. The information generated by the program, to date, can be used as a learning experiencefor enhancement of wild populations, whether focusing on white seabass or other species.