The red drum is an important part of Texas coast. It faces many challenges to survive without the help of man. It has an interesting life cycle, which in itself limits the number of red drum who survive within the first week after hatching. In the 1970's, the red drum was almost faced with extinction. Many causes can be attributed to the decrease in numbers, the biggest factor being human interaction. Laws and regulations were passed to help the red drum maintain its numbers and the hatcheries have done a fine job in restoring the natural stock.

Today, Texas has some of the best hatcheries in the United States (Colura 1990), which not only help numbers of the red drum population, but also inform the public of the importance of caring for natural resources. The restocking effort has done a lot to give the red drum an advantage, but the size and bag limits help keep red drum numbers high.

With all the red drum offers anglers, it is not a surprise that it is one of the most coveted fish along the coast. Anglers spend lots of time and money in the search for a red drum. That commitment and interest translates into money for the government and into pri

Newly hatched red drum feed on zooplankton. When the reach about thirty millimeters, they are considered fingerlings. Fingerlings and juveniles diet consists of a mixture of small crabs, shrimp and crustaceans. Worms and mollusks are other common parts of a red drum's diet. As the fish grows, its diet expands to larger organisms. (Dailey 1992) Through their entire life, starting as fingerlings, red drum are bottom feeders. With their bottom facing mouths, they act as a vacuum along the bottom of the bays. Often red drum are found on flats of only three to four inches of water. When the red drum are feeding in this shallow water, their tails stick out of the water. This is often referred to as "tailing". (Matlock 1984)

Pond culture facilities include thirty-six 1-acre ponds for growth of red drum fingerlings. These ponds were completed during the early spring of 1997 and often produce around twenty million fingerlings annually that are stocked into the Texas bays. Seawater is obtained from an intake located five miles from the hatchery site on Dow Inc. property. (McGoogan 1999) Seawater is pumped into the storage reservoir behind the hatchery for use in filling the ponds.

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Approximate Word count = 2362
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)