Abstract
The restoration of Lake Trafford has been an example of a cooperative restoration project between the government and the community. Efforts have been made to improve the degraded lake plagued by annual algae blooms and dominated by invasive species to a productive ecosystem that can provide habitat to native species and return to an important part of the community. A component of the restoration project is to restore the Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides) population to a sustainable level. Largemouth Bass fingerlings were stocked in Lake Trafford in 2010 and 2011 following restoration and then again in 2020 and 2021. The absence of young-of-year (YOY) Largemouth Bass during monitoring raised concerns that recruitment is unsuccessful. This study aimed to confirm the absence of YOY Largemouth Bass, explore the fish community through alternative trapping methods, determine long-term trends in the Largemouth Bass community, and create a simulation model that analyzes the impact of natural recruitment and stocking on the adult Largemouth Bass population. Utilizing trapping methods YOY Largemouth Bass were confirmed to be absent thus suggesting little or no natural recruitment, though the rest of the small fish community did not vary significantly through time or space. The stocking of Largemouth Bass by FWC appears to be contributing to the increase in mass of the Largemouth Bass population at Lake Trafford. Further action such as improving spawning habitat is crucial for increasing natural recruitment. This study also found until natural recruitment is improved, stocking is necessary to maintain adult populations. Utilizing the simulation model stocking fingerlings was determined to be more efficient at maintaining adult populations than increasing natural recruitment. Overall, this study found that to reestablish a sustainable Largemouth Bass population at Lake Trafford it is important to continue to improve natural recruitment while maintaining stocking inputs. Ultimately, the successful restoration of Lake Trafford, including a sustainable population of Largemouth Bass, is critical to the economic health of Immokalee and may serve as a pilot for the larger challenge of restoration of Lake Okeechobee.
