1Kagoshima Prefecture Izumi Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries Administration Office, Satsumasendai, Kagoshima 896-1201, 2Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, Minato, Tokyo 108-8477, Japan
Stocking effectiveness of red sea bream Pagrus major in Kagoshima Bay was estimated based on fish market surveys from 1989 to 2004. Mixing rates of nostril deformity fish, a characteristic of hatchery reared red sea bream, in fish investigated were 8.0-73.5% in number from 1989 to 2004. Estimates of recapture rate of up to 8+ year-old fish for releases from 1989 to 1995 were estimated at 2.6-12.2%. Economic efficiency for these releases was evaluated at 1.4-10.4. The recent decrease in recapture rates and economic efficiency was considered to be caused by some technical problems such as dwarf size at release without cage rearing around release sites due to budgetary cutbacks.