Holding tanks should be covered to provide shading that will help quiet excitable species and prevent the fish from jumping to their death. Conclusions Brood fish must be handled carefully to minimize physical injury and stress. Speed and gentleness during fish capture and handling are of utmost importance. Crowding, dissolved oxygen depletion, rapid changes in temperature, and osmotic imbalance are well known causes of stress and must be avoided when transporting fish. Females that have eggs in a sufficiently advanced stage of development for successful hormone-induced spawning should be injected as soon as possible.
Any delay greatly diminishes the chance for a successful spawn.
The work reported in this publication was supported in part by The Southern Regional Aquaculture Center through Grant No.