[StBernard] St. Bernard Sportsman's League works with St. Bernard Parish Government to stock the Torres Park lagoon with fish

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard Sportsman’s League works with St. Bernard Parish Government 

To stock the Torres Park lagoon with fish

 

The St. Bernard Sportsman’s League is donating $1,500 of fish to restock the
lagoon at Torres Park so the fish population can grow and support annual
children’s fishing rodeos as the group had sponsored before Hurricane
Katrina. 

 

Adding fish to the pond is one of the final improvements to complement
nearly $1.5 million in renovation work at Torres Park that includes new
playground equipment, two new gazebos, pedal boats, fishing and a rock and
water feature modeled after Monkey Hill at Audubon Zoo. 

 

St. Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro said the renovations also
included improving the pond’s circulation and aerating the pond to support a
healthy fish population.

 

St. Bernard Sportsman’s League President Joey Englert said the group has
just stocked the pond with 2,500 assorted bream, 500 freshwater catfish and
3,000 minnows. They also put in 10 triploid grass carp, which are not meant
to be caught. Their job is to eat the vegetation so the pond doesn’t get
overgrown. The pond is currently considered a catch and release for the
small fish that the Sportsman’s League stocked. The group is donating fish
for the recent effort to stock the pond and an additional effort that will
include 250 bass fingerlings and more minnows and catfish in March.

 

Additionally, Ricky Melerine, St. Bernard Director Fisheries and Water
Management, donated 300 catfish this week that are 11- to 14-inches long and
weigh about ¾-pounds for the children to catch at the first annual St.
Bernard Parish Youth Rock N’ Fish Rodeo that is sponsored by parish
government on Sunday, November 5.

 

Sportsman’s League Board Member Howard Luna said the group is pleased to be
bringing back its youth fishing rodeo that probably will be scheduled
sometime next year. 

 

“I think what it does it is brings children outside and gives them something
different thing to enjoy at the park,” Luna said. 

 

“We are so grateful to the Sportsman League and to Ricky Melerine for their
donations to restock the pond with fish to put the finishing touches on this
important quality of life recovery project,”

Taffaro said. 

 

For more information about St. Bernard Parish and its growth and recovery,
visit www.sbpg.net <http://www.sbpg.net> .

 

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