Lead scientists, Dr. Delbert Gatlin from TAMU and Dr. Mike Frinsko from North Carolina State, along with cooperators from Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, University of Alabama at Birmingham, NCSU Raleigh and Texas Agrilife Extension (Dr. Todd Sink), have recently been awarded a grant from the USDA Southern Regional Aquaculture Center to evaluate probiotics in finfish hatcheries to improve larval production.
Trials to determine the effectiveness of various probiotics and prebiotics in larval production will be performed with southern flounder, red drum, and striped bass.
The portion of the TAMU team involved in the project visited TPWD’s Sea Center Texas marine fish hatchery on Tuesday. The team was involved in a training session lead by Sea Center’s hatchery manager, Paul Cason. Current southern flounder and red drum larval culture methods were shared in an effort to maximize the impact of the research on TPWD’s stock enhancement activities.
Pre-metamorphic larval southern flounder
Dr. Delbert Gatlin and TPWD hatchery manager Paul Cason
Delbert Gatlin and graduate student Grayson Clark
To see more about what the Aquacultural Research and Teaching Facility entails, head over to the ARTF Facility‘s page. For information on how to Give to the Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences Department to support our research and opportunities, visit our Giving page.