Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo also contributes to science

DAUPHIN ISLAND, Ala. (WALA) - The Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo is the largest multi-species fishing tournament in the country, but anglers arnt the only ones that show up.

The Food and Drug Administration, Dauphin Island Sea Lab and Alabama Marine Resources all take advantage of the thousands of fish anglers bring in.

Robert Dickey with the FDA said it's the perfect opportunity to get a broad spectrum of research samples.

"It's a wonderful opportunity to get a broad variety of many different species from different geographics, for a wide range,” Dickey said.

Friday, the agency sampled each fish brought in for toxins, making sure there was nothing there that would jeopardize our seafood. The FDA also barcoded fish.

“We take a tissue sample, analyze its DNA, and we use that to finger print the fish so that fish that are sold on the market, so that, for example, if they serve it at a restaurant and say it's snapper, we can say for sure it's snapper,” Dickey added.

Crystal Hightower with the Dauphin Island Sea lab was out sampling red drum.

“Were taking muscle tissue samples. We were also taking the odelets to get the age composition, so that should tell us a lot about the status of red drum in the Gulf of Mexico,” Hightower said.

Each fish brought in was sampled and some were even given to the scientists.

Hightower said in 2012, she has only been able to sample 86 red drum. But on Friday alone, she sampled 20.