Thousands of white seabass die in power outage at Redondo captive breeding program

March 10 dock totals

The Dolphin 1/2 Day AM run carrying 16 Anglers reported 1 Sculpin, 94 Rockfish, 1 Lingcod and 3 Calico Bass caught, with 65 Calico Bass Released. Their 1/2 Day PM run with 12 Anglers aboard returned with 6 Ocean Whitefish, 1 Sheephead, 43 Rockfish and 6 Calico Bass, with 48 Calico Bass Released

Down at the Coronado Islands, 16 anglers aboard the Malihini 3/4 Day run caught 7 yellowtail, 20 rockfish and 15 barracuda

The Premier 1/2 Day AM run with 25 anglers aboard called in with 5 sculpin, 41 rockfish and 3 lingcod in the gunnysacks

The Oceanside 95 1/2 Day with 20 anglers on deck reported 1 sculpin, 36 sanddab and 67 rockfish caught

14 anglers aboard the Daily Double 1/2 Day AM run boated 16 ocean whitefish, 2 sheephead, 18 sculpin and 41 rockfish

The Sea Watch 1/2 Day AM run carrying 23 anglers returned to the dock with 138 rockfish

5 anglers aboard the Alexes 1/2 Day AM run sacked up 1 ocean whitefish, 1 sheephead, 1 sculpin and 18 rockfish

39 anglers boarded the San Diego for a 3/4 Day run to the Coronados and returned with 95 yellowtail in the gunnysacks

33 anglers aboard the Sea Watch 1/2 Day PM run off the Point Loma kelp caught 122 rockfish

On a sad note, it has been reported that 3000 8-to-9 inch juvenile white seabass in the captive breeding program at the Redondo Beach facility died due to a power outage on Sunday, March 8th. The facility did have a backup power source for the tanks, but no one was aware of the power outage so it wasn't turned on.

The Redondo program, a part of the larger Ocean Resources Enhancement and Hatchery Program, releases approximately 12,000 fish per year — so the fish lost on Sunday represent about 1/4 of their total annual release. The facility is one of 13 grow-out facilities operated in Southern California where fish are sent from a breeding facility owned by Hubbs-Sea World Research Institute in Carlsbad on the shores of Agua Hedionda Lagoon. This breeding program began in 1982 with the initial release of 2,000 juvenile white seabass in Mission Bay.