02-04-2004, 11:12 PM
[font "Arial"][size 2]Two popular fishing spots in Baton Rouge will be receiving special attention from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. University and City Park Lakes will be stocked with catfish by the department on February 3. A fish kill in City Park Lake in 2003 and white pelicans feeding in the lakes have damaged the fish populations in these popular capital city fishing spots. [/size][/font]
The catfish are broodstock from the Booker Fowler Fish Hatchery in central Louisiana. They have been used at the hatchery to produce fingerlings that were stocked elsewhere in the state. These fish are no longer to be used in the hatchery system, so they are being brought in to enhance urban fisheries. They average about eight pounds each and are expected to breed this spring. This will be helpful in strengthening the genetic make-up of the lakes' catfish populations. This should result in better catches for the locals who like to dip their lines in these urban waterbodies.
LDWF Biologists Robert Gough, Mark Lawson and Howard Rogillio are heading up this effort. They have also planned a stocking of 125 catfish in the New Orleans area.
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