Evaluation of Supplemental Crappie Stocking in Small Southern Reservoirs

Supplemental stocking of crappie is a primary management strategy in many small southern reservoirs, but survival and contribution to the year‐class in these systems is not known. We assessed the contribution of hatchery fish to the age‐1 year‐class within established crappie populations in four reservoirs ranging 29–74 ha in surface area. Chemically marked White Crappie Pomoxis annularisand magnolia crappie (Black Crappie Pomoxis nigromaculatus× ♀White Crappie) were stocked at 125 fish/ha in 2015 and 2016, respectively. We also stocked a renovated reservoir (40 ha) with White Crappie in 2015 to serve as a reference without intraspecific competition and to provide an estimate of marking efficacy and mark retention. The total length of wild age‐0 fish at the time of stocking averaged 52–60 mm larger than that of their hatchery conspecifics. We only recaptured 11 marked crappie, 10 of which were from the reference reservoir. The recovery of only one hatchery fish from the supplemental stockings yielded a combined stocking contribution of 0.59%, or 0.71% when adjusted for marking efficacy (at least 83%). We concluded that supplemental stocking of crappie in smaller reservoirs is not effective under current the stocking protocols, as contributions <1% cannot justify hatchery and personnel costs. It may be possible to modify the stocking procedures, and potential modifications are discussed.