Lakes on campus to be stocked with fish

By Raquel Manning
Contributing Writer

Students at the University of North Florida will soon be able to catch more fish in the lakes on campus because of a near-$4,000 restocking project.

The project consists of stocking lakes on campus with thousands of farm-bred fish, including bass, bream and catfish.

“We felt like we should offer students an additional recreational idea,” said Jerry Watterson, director of Individual Enhancement.

Watterson said the idea to restock the lakes began last summer when he and student Sen. Brian Dunmire were discussing ways to improve campus recreation for students. Since Watterson and Dunmire said they both enjoyed fishing, they presented the idea to the university.

“We had to prove to them that students actually fished on campus,” Dunmire said.

Watterson said although students already fished in the lakes on campus, the variety and quantity of fish was never acceptable.

Students will soon enjoy thousands of fish stocked in both Lake Oneida located near the nature trails and the lake located at the corner of University of North Florida Drive and Alumni Drive.

The fish are bred and transported from Dave Walen Aqua Farming, located near the Suwannee River in Branford, Fla.

According to Dave Walen, owner and proprietor, all fish in the farm are natural to Florida.

Walen said bream is a generic term in the South for all fish in the sunfish family. Specifically, UNF will receive blue gills, red-eared sunfish, which are also called shell crackers because they eat snails, and golden red breasts, which are also called red-bellies.

The farm is also providing bass, ranging from 5 inches to 3 pounds, and catfish, ranging from 1/2 to 2 pounds. The catfish includes channel catfish and fingerling catfish, so named because they are about the size of a finger.

The fish are gathered from the farm with an electric shocker and then transported in a trailer specifically designed for moving fish.

“It’s a well-practiced method of moving fish,” Walen said. “We don’t injure them.”

With Lake Oneida already partially stocked, the project is expected to be complete by the end of the semester.

According to Walen, most fish that are being transported are available for fishing upon arrival.

“That’s what we provide - instant fishing,” Walen said.

But Watterson said UNF has a policy that forbids students from using live bait to catch fish, and Watterson encourages students to de-barb their hooks to keep the fish healthy.



E-mail Raquel Manning at uspinnak@unf.edu.