Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute (HSWRI) has announced the scheduled release of approximately 15,000 juvenile white seabass at Santa Catalina Island through California’s Ocean Resources Enhancement and Hatchery Program (OREHP) the week of October 7, 2024, while also asking anglers to exercise restraint and care if they encounter schools of these hatchery-reared fish.

Anglers are likely to encounter schools of these small white seabass—which were around 15 inches in length at the time of release—while fishing at Catalina and elsewhere. If anglers begin catching these sub-legal fish, HSWRI asks that they move their boat from the spot, as white seabass are extremely fragile and suffer high mortality rates when subjected to catch-and-release fishing activities. Short white seabass rarely associate or mingle with larger individual white seabass, so the chances of catching any keepers amid a school of shorts is unlikely.

In addition, HSWRI urges anglers to treat any hooked short white seabass gingerly during the release process by keeping the fish in the water at boat side, and avoid gaffing, netting or handling it or laying it on the deck. If the hook cannot be quickly and easily removed without injuring the fish, anglers should cut the leader as close to the hook as possible. The minimum legal size to keep a white seabass under California Department of Fish and Wildlife regulations is 28 inches in total length.

The Coastal Conservation Association of California and scores of its volunteer members serve as strong and active partners in the OREHP Program by maintaining grow-out pens at several harbors in Southern California, assisting with broodstock collection and gathering genetic samples to help measure the effectiveness of the white seabass hatchery program. The program is funded largely by the sale of the Ocean Enhancement Validation Stamp required for each 365-day California State license for recreational fishing in ocean waters south of Point Arguello, California.