In 2002 and 2003, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (DNR) stocked more than a million red drum, each treated with a dye that stained a bone in the fish’s head. Now anglers are returning the heads of legal-sized fish to collection centers as they catch them. They are also clipping fins of any undersized fish they release for DNA studies. The purpose of the effort is to determine if the stocked fish have had a significant impact on local red drum populations, which the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission determined to be overfished. For more information, visit www.dnr.state.sc.us.
