464 



Fishery Bulletin 94(3). 1996 



and abundance patterns as well as behavior and eco- 

 logical interactions; 2) conserving wild stock genet- 

 ics and health; 3) developing reliable culture tech- 

 niques; 4) establishing and testing a tagging method 

 to identify hatchery fish; 5) evaluating optimal re- 

 lease strategies through experimentation; 6) assess- 

 ing hatchery-release effect on population size and 

 fishery landings; and 7) modeling economic costs and 

 benefits (Richards and Edwards, 1986; Shaklee et 

 al., 1993). These issues are interrelated to some de- 

 gree (Blankenship and Leber, 1995). 



That cultured fish will survive in the wild and con- 

 tribute to stock abundance is a basic assumption that 

 should be tested early in the development stage of 

 planned hatchery-release programs (Richards and 

 Edwards, 1986), notwithstanding the need to con- 

 sider fish genetics and health, as well as economics 

 of the fishery. In coastal ecosystems, understanding 

 the potential of stock enhancement involves at least 

 four levels of investigation in order to quantify growth 



1990 



1991 



1992 



1993 



Figure 10 



Percent contribution of cultured striped mullet to total 

 abundance (wild and cultured striped mullet) in cast-net 

 samples over a three-year study period in Kaneohe Bay 

 l including this study I. Data are from monthly cast-net col- 

 lections at Kahaluu Stream. Arrows identify release peri- 

 ods. Spring and summer releases were conducted in 1991 

 and 1992. Releases in 1990 were made only in summer. 

 Numbers on x-axis represent months of the year. 



