Red Snapper Aquaculture
The red snapper, Lutjanus campechanus, supports a valuable fishery in the Gulf of Mexico and has been designated as an overfished species by NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries).
Need
- Development of a red snapper aquaculture component of the commercial marine aquaculture industry
- Development of techniques for use of hatchery-reared red snapper as a tool in fishery management and stock rebuilding
Culture of Red Snapper
- Wild caught red snapper (Figure 1) are induced to spawn and the eggs are fertilized artificially. (Figure 2).
- Eggs are hatched in egg incubators (Figure 3).
- Larvae (Figure 4) are fed tiny copepod larvae (Figure 5).
- Postlarval juveniles are reared in larger tanks (Figure 6).
- Juveniles are tagged with coded wire tags (Figure 7).
- Tagged juveniles are transported offshore (Figure 8) and released onto artificial reefs (Figure 9, 10).
- Released fish have been recaptured as much as two years after tagging and release (Figure 11).
Red Snapper Aquaculture Team
- Jeffrey M. Lotz, Ph.D.
- Jason Lemus, Ph.D. Post-Doctoral Research Associate
- John Ogle, M.S. email
- Eric Saillant, Ph.D. email
- Angelos Apeitos, Fish Hatchery Specialist - Marine Aquaculture
- Casey Nicholson, Technician II - Aquaculture