California Sea Grant College Program

White seabass (Atractoscion nobilis) are a popular sportfish (also fished commercially) whose numbers have declined dramatically since the early 1950s. Prompted by the stock’s troubles, the California Department of Fish and Game established the Ocean Resources Enhancement and Hatchery Program in the 1980s. Since 1986, Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute’s seabass hatchery in Carlsbad, California has released about 744,000 fish.