Features Restocking
Balearic study investigates restocking potential for meagre

A study emanating from the Balearic Islands, in the western Mediterranean, has looked into the feasibility of the government carrying out a coastal restocking program using meagre.

         A scientific paper co-authored by three researchers, suggests that the meagre shows some promising characteristics such as high fecundity rate.

         The paper’s conclusion notes, however, that the meagre comes to maturity at a relatively late age, which may be “disadvantageous for recovering a sustainable wild population.”

         The study also raises some doubt about using released artificially-reared meagre from hatcheries. It notes that salmon research “has revealed the existence of reduced reproductive fitness in the majority of cultured fish that are released into the wild.”

– Quentin Dodd