The Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources says it’s utilizing a recent discovery of dozens of genetic markers that help determine the size of largemouth bass to increase the overall trophy size of the species in Kentucky waters – a move that some say could reel in more opportunities for the commonwealth.
The agency announced last month that department biologists identified over 40 genetic markers that are associated with enhanced size in largemouth bass. The research comes as part of KDFWR’s new Thoroughbred Bass Program, which collected nearly 300 samples of trophy and non-trophy size largemouth bass across 30 Kentucky lakes. These samples were later analyzed using a Genome-Wide Association Study to identify genes in the species linked to higher size potential.
With the collection of this data, the state department is now planning to start selectively breeding largemouth bass to have larger size potential – thus increasing the probability that the fishes would reach trophy size.
Adam Martin is a fisheries program coordinator with KDFWR. He said the initiative was partially driven by a goal of reversing negative effects on one of Kentucky’s most popular fish species, which he said has been caused by a process called “angler induced evolution.”
“The fishing activity by anglers, whether it's catch and release, you do still kill some fish… [and] you see a reduction in the numbers of large fish,” Martin said. “The largest fish are the ones that will get caught and harvested the most, so their genetics kind of get removed from the population.”
Although this was one goal of the study, Martin said the state wildlife department’s main motivation is much simpler.
“The primary driver of this research is simply wanting to get bigger bass to help make our anglers more satisfied with Kentucky's bass fisheries,” Martin said.
Steve McCadams, a professional fishing guide on Kentucky Lake, said increasing the size of one of the state’s most heavily fished species would please many Kentucky anglers, while also enticing new tourists to try out the state’s waters.
“Anytime you've got bigger bass, that sends off a light. I mean, all anglers, young or older… everybody wants a big bass. So if you can get that fishery up and get it where [there are large] trophy size fish… that will make big dollars in tourism,” McCadams said. “You'll get more people involved in the sport. You'll sell more fishing licenses, and tourism dollars will more than pay for the project, and it'd be a positive promotional tool for the whole state.”
McCadams said more importantly, the KDFWR program would help reduce angler-induced evolution, which he thinks has increased in recent years due to longer fishing seasons and newer technology.
“Generally speaking, fishing pressure is putting… more strain on the resource, and the game and fish departments just can't stock enough fish to beat the demand,” McCadams said.
Although he supports the plan, McCadams said there are other factors that need to be considered to maintain an ecosystem balance. One of those, he said, was making sure these larger fish have enough food to facilitate their growth rates.
“If this project is successful, one thing we have to think about is forage base. You've got to have the food there to support the fishery… in this case, threadfin shad,” McCadams said.
McCadams said it will take time for the effects of the selective breeding program to be noticeable. However, he thinks the outcome is well worth the wait for anglers.
Martin said that if the program is a success, the agency may look into increasing the trophy size of other Kentucky fish such as crappie.
