Long Distance Truck Transport of Intensively Reared Largemouth Bass

Abstract

Five lots of advanced fingerling largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) shipped from the San Marcos National Fish Hatchery and Technology Center in 1981 were in transit 30 hours or longer. Three of the five lots were successfully transported; nearly all fish of the other two lots died. It appears that the weight per unit volume suitable for shipment of largemouth bass about 12.7 cm long is less than that for fish about 20.3 cm long. Blood samples from fish in one successful shipment showed that plasma corticosteroid and plasma glucose levels, remained high for 24 hours after transport, and that plasma chloride continued to decrease for 24 hours after transport. Plasma chloride returned to nearly normal levels after 63 hours. Advanced largemouth bass fingerlings seemed to require a substantial acclimatization period of 64 hours or more to recover from long periods in transit. When the fish were not permitted to recover completely, a second, normally nonfatal, stressful occurrence, was fatal.