California Sea Grant College Program

In 1998, an unrecognized disease spread through the Leon Raymond Hubbard, Jr., Marine Fish Hatchery in northern San Diego County. This forced hatchery operators to destroy some 10,000 to 20,000 juvenile whitesea bass in order to halt the outbreak at the facility and to prevent disease from spreading into the wild. The hatchery, operated by the Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute, raises white seabass (Atractoscionnobilis) for release in the wild. The California Department of Fish Game supports the $1-million-a-year stock-enhancement program through the sale of sport fishing permits. White seabass are a popular sport fish whose numbers were severely reduced by intense fishing.