The Louisiana
Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Inland Fisheries Division
is restocking lagoons at City Park in New Orleans and LaFreniere
Park in Jefferson Parish today as part of the department's
Operation Jumpstart program.
Operation
Jumpstart began this past spring as LDWF staff targeted areas
affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita as the highest priority
in the department's annual fish stocking program. Katrina
created massive fish kills in the southeastern part of the
state by raising salinity levels and churning up decaying
vegetation that deprived many water bodies of oxygen.
The City
Park and LaFreniere Park lagoons will receive Florida largemouth
bass, bluegill and redear sunfish from LDWF's Monroe fish
hatchery to help re-establish the fish populations.
"This
stocking is part of a continuing effort to restore water bodies
affected by the hurricanes to their previous state,"
said Inland Fisheries Biologist Program Manager Joey Shepard.
LDWF biologists
have been assessing the impacted areas in the southern part
of the state to ensure that the water bodies can sustain a
fish population. They look at salinity levels, water quality
and the food source to help decide if a water body is ready
for a fish stocking.
"We
have not overlooked any area, but some areas received less
damage and recover quicker than others," Shepard said.
"We don't want to stock fish in an area where they have
little to no chance of survival at this time when we have
other areas that are ready and in need."
