Redbreast Sunfish - Current Management

Current Management

Currently the Redbreast Sunfish is not on the federally or state listed endangered or threatened species list. The species is alive and well and thriving in its naturally occurring environment. However, just because this species is not threatened now doesn’t mean the situation cannot occur. There are state management practices ready to be implemented in the case that the species could encounter becoming endangered. A few things that could be done to limit human impact in the case of an emergency would be increased habitat creation, fishing limits or complete halt of harvest, and decrease competitive invasive species that may be out competing the sunfish species. In the case that the Redbreast Sunfish encountered endangerment; management practices are ready and proven to be effective. If the fish were to become endangered it would most likely be due to over fishing or pollution. Both of these factors can be avoided with guidelines and regulations. State agencies such as TWRA conduct fish counting exercises where the use electro fishing to gather the best understanding of fish species populations. This exercise which is usually done in shallow water, where redbreast sunfish thrive, is the best way to keep up with management practices for this particular species. There are not currently any conservation easements set up for the redbreast sunfish because of its excellent success rate.