The striped bass (Morone saxatilis), also called the Atlantic striped bass, striper, linesider, rock, or rockfish, is an anadromousperciform fish of the family Moronidae found primarily along the Atlantic coast of North America. It has also been widely introduced into inland recreational fisheries across the United States. Striped bass found in the Gulf of Mexico are a separate strain referred to as Gulf Coast striped bass.[2]
The history of the striped bass fishery in North America dates back to the Colonial period. Many written accounts by some of the first European settlers describe the immense abundance of striped bass, along with alewives, traveling and spawning up most rivers in the coastal Northeast.[4]
Morphology and lifespan
The striped bass is a typical member of the family Moronidae in shape, having a streamlined, silvery body marked with longitudinal dark stripes running from behind the gills to the base of the tail. Common mature size is 20to 40 pounds (9–18kg). The largest specimen recorded was 124 pounds (56kg), netted in 1896. Striped bass are believed to live for up to 30 years.[5] The average size in length is 20to 35 inches (50–90cm) and approximately 5to 20 pounds (2–9kg).[citation needed]
Distribution
A researcher holding up a large striped bass
Natural distribution
Striped bass are native to the Atlantic coastline of North America from the St. Lawrence River into the Gulf of Mexico to Louisiana. They are anadromous fish that migrate between fresh and salt water. Spawning takes place in fresh water.[6][citation needed]
The spawning success of striped bass has been studied in the San Francisco Bay-Delta water system, with a finding that high total dissolved solids (TDS) reduce spawning. At levels as low as 200mg/L TDS, an observable diminution of spawning productivity occurs.[13] They can be found in lakes, ponds, streams, and wetlands.[14]
Though the population of striped bass was growing and repopulating in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, a study executed by the Wildlife and Fisheries Program at West Virginia University found that the rapid growth of the striped bass population was exerting a tremendous pressure on its prey (river herring, shad, and blueback herring). This pressure on their food source was putting their own population at risk due to the population of prey naturally not coming back to the same spawning areas.[15]
In the United States, the striped bass was designated as a protected game fish in 2007, and executive agencies were directed to use existing legal authorities to prohibit the sale of striped bass caught in federal waters in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico.[16] In addition, Connecticut, Maine, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina have designated striped bass as a game fish in state waters.[17]
In Canada, the province of Quebec designated the striped bass population of the Saint Lawrence as extirpated in 1996. Analysis of available data implicated overfishing and dredging in the disappearance. In 2002, a reintroduction program was successful.[18][19]
Striped bass spawn in fresh water, and although they have been successfully adapted to freshwater habitat, they naturally spend their adult lives in saltwater (i.e., they are anadromous). Five important bodies of water with breeding stocks of striped bass are: Miramichi River, Chesapeake Bay, Massachusetts Bay/Cape Cod, Hudson River, and Delaware River. Many of the rivers and tributaries that emptied into the Atlantic, had at one time, bred stock of striped bass. This occurred until the 1860s.[4] One of the largest breeding areas is the Chesapeake Bay, where populations from Chesapeake and Delaware bays have intermingled.[20] The very few successful spawning populations of freshwater striped bass include Lake Texoma, Lake Weiss (Coosa River), the Colorado River and its reservoirs downstream from and including Lake Powell, and the Arkansas River, as well as Lake Marion (South Carolina) that retained a landlocked breeding population when the dam was built; other freshwater fisheries must be restocked with hatchery-produced fish annually. Stocking of striped bass was discontinued at Lake Mead in 1973 once natural reproduction was verified.[21]
Hybrids with other bass
Striped bass have also been hybridized with white bass to produce hybrid striped bass also known as wiper, whiterock bass, sunshine bass, palmetto bass, and Cherokee bass. These hybrids have been stocked in many freshwater areas across the US.[22][23]
Edibility: Poor. Slot sized Striped Bass have almost no flavor aside from blood lines that cause a very fishy aftertaste. Many people now consider Striped Bass to be a trash fish calling them “Striped Trash”. Smaller fresh water hybrid bass may be better table-fare depending on their diets compared to their larger saltwater cousins. Many seasoned anglers will often return all slot sized bass to the water and focus on harvesting tastier fish for a meal.
Striped bass are of significant value for sport fishing, and have been introduced to many waterways outside their natural range. A variety of angling methods are used, including trolling and surf casting. Lures such as wooden plugs, plastic swimmers, poppers, and metal spoons all work very well for fishing off of the surf. Utilizing live and dead bait can also be a deadly technique when targeting Striped bass from land. Striped bass take a number of live and fresh baits, including bunker, clams, eels, sandworms, herring, bloodworms, mackerel, shad, bluegill, and crayfish.[citation needed]
The largest striped bass ever taken by angling was an 37.14kg (81lb 14oz) specimen taken from a boat in Long Island Sound, near the Outer Southwest Reef, off the coast of Westbrook, Connecticut. The all-tackle world record fish was taken by Gregory Myerson[24] on the night of August 4, 2011. The fish took a drifted live eel bait, and fought for 20 minutes before being boated by Myerson. A second hook and leader was discovered in the fish's mouth when it was boated, indicating it had been previously hooked by another angler. The fish measured 54 in long and had a girth of 36 in. The International Game Fish Association (IGFA) declared Myerson's catch the new all-tackle world record striped bass on October 19, 2011.[25] In addition to now holding the all-tackle record, Meyerson's catch also landed him the new IGFA men's 37kg (80 -lb) line class record for striped bass, which previously stood at 70lb. The previous all-tackle world record fish was a 35.6kg (78lb) specimen taken in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on September 21, 1982, by Albert McReynolds, who fought the fish from the beach for an hour and 20 minutes after it took his Rebel artificial lure.[26] On March 20, 2023, then 12 year old Henry Bulgin set the first Junior IGFA All-Tackle Length world record by landing a 98cm (39in) striped bass while fishing the Chesapeake Bay just south of Annapolis, Maryland, but this was beaten by the end of that year by a 114cm (45in) specimen in the same bay, just off Virginia.[25] Recreational bag limits vary by state and province.[citation needed] On July 4, 2008, David Hochman shot a 68.4 lb specimen off the coast of Rhode Island to set the world record for Striped Bass taken by speargun.[27]
Landlocked striped bass
Striped bass are anadromous, so their upriver spawning migrations led some individuals to become "landlocked" during lake dam constructions. The first area where this was documented was at the Santee-Cooper River during the construction of the two dams that impounded Lakes Moultrie and Marion, and because of this, the state game fish of South Carolina is the striped bass.[28]
Recently, biologists came to believe that striped bass stayed in rivers for long periods of time, with some not returning to sea unless temperature changes forced migration. Once fishermen and biologists caught on to rising striped bass populations, many state natural resources departments started stocking striped bass in local lakes. Striped bass still continue to exhibit upstream migrations from freshwater lakes during the spawning period. Landlocked stripers have a hard time reproducing naturally, and one of the few and most successful rivers in which they have been documented reproducing successfully is the Coosa River in Alabama and Georgia.[29]
A 31.55kg (69lb 9oz) landlocked bass was caught in February 2013 by James R. Bramlett on the Warrior River in Alabama, a current world record.[30] This fish had a length of 44 inches (110cm) and a girth of 37.75 inches (95.9cm).[31]
A self-sustaining population of striped bass also exist in Lake Texoma, a brackish lake.[32] In Canada there are no landlocked striped bass, but a large number of bass overwinter in Grand Lake, Nova Scotia. They migrate out in early April into the Shubenacadie River to spawn. These bass also spawn in the Stewiacke River (a tributary of the Shubenacadie). The Shubenacadie River system is one of five known spawning areas in Canada for striped bass, with the others being the St. Lawerence River, Miramichi River, Saint John River, Annapolis River, and Shubenacadie/Stewiacke Rivers.[33]
Management
The striped bass population declined to less than 5 million by 1982, but efforts by fishermen with throw back lengths for smaller striped bass and management programs to rebuild the stock proved successful, and in 2007, the nearly 56 million fish included all ages. Recreational anglers and commercial fisherman caught an unprecedented 3.8 million fish in 2006. In New Jersey, alone among states, there is no legal commercial fishery for Striped Bass, it is against the law to sell Striped Bass in wholesale markets, retail, or in restaurants.[34] The management of the species includes size limits, commercial quotas, and biological reference points for the health of the species.[citation needed]
The Atlantic coast-wide harvest of striped bass is managed by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (AMSFC). In October 2019, the AMSFC announced that the 2018 Benchmark Stock Assessment indicated that "the resource is overfished and experiencing overfishing."[35] Following a series of hearings during March and April 2021 to gather public input, the ASMFC Striped Bass Technical Committee will make recommendations for a new 10-year management strategy, Amendment 7 to the Interstate Management Plan for Atlantic Striped Bass, to replenish striped bass to sustainable levels throughout its traditional migratory range from North Carolina to Maine. Amendment 7 will be finalized and adopted in late 2021 and implemented in 2022.[36] Conditions of the Striped bass fishery have continued to get worse with Striped bass stocks nearly at the low hit all the way back in 1985. There is major controversy in the fishing community on whether this data is correct because many anglers have seen great fishing in recent years.
Striped bass has white meat with a mild flavor and a medium texture. It is extremely versatile in that it can be pan-seared, grilled, steamed, poached, roasted, broiled, sautéed, and deep fried (including batter-frying).[40] The flesh can also be eaten raw or pickled.[41][42]
The primary market forms for fresh bass include headed and gutted (with the head and organs removed) and filets; the primary market forms for frozen bass include headed and gutted and loins. It can also be found in steaks, chunks, or whole.[37] Fresh striped bass is available year-round,[40] and is typically sold in sizes from two to fifteen pounds, and can be sold up to fifty pounds.[42]
Striped bass has firm and flavorful flesh with a large flake.[42] The hybrid striped bass yields more meat, has a more fragile texture, and a blander flavor than wild striped bass.[43] The fish has a mild and distinctive flavor. In recipes, it can be substituted for milder fish like cod, as well as for stronger fish like bluefish. Other fish can substitute it, including weakfish, tilefish, blackfish, small bluefish, catfish, salmon, swordfish, and shark. Striped bass is easily grilled in fillets, and is therefore popular in beach communities.[37]
In Virginia, anadromous striped bass caught from the Chesapeake Bay and its small tidal tributaries have been found to be contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), leading to the issuance of a fish consumption advisory by the Virginia Department of Health.[44]
Related Research Articles
Menhaden, also known as mossbunker, bunker, and "the most important fish in the sea", are forage fish of the genera Brevoortia and Ethmidium, two genera of marine fish in the order Clupeiformes. Menhaden is a blend of poghaden and an Algonquian word akin to Narragansett munnawhatteaûg, derived from munnohquohteau, referring to their use of the fish as fertilizer. It is generally thought that Pilgrims were advised by Tisquantum to plant menhaden with their crops.
The white bass, silver bass, or sand bass is a freshwater fish of the temperate bass family Moronidae. commonly around 12-15 inches long. The species' main color is silver-white to pale green. Its back is dark, with white sides and belly, and with narrow dark stripes running lengthwise on its sides. It has large, rough scales and two dorsal fins. They are widely distributed across North America, inhabiting large reservoirs and rivers. When mating in the spring, they are more often found in shallow rivers, creeks, and streams. They have been introduced in some places as sport fish and also to predate on nuisance fish, such as gizzard shad. It is the state fish of Oklahoma.
The white perch is not a true perch but is a fish of the temperate bass family, Moronidae, notable as a food and game fish in eastern North America. In some places it is referred to as "Silver Bass".
Fish migration is mass relocation by fish from one area or body of water to another. Many types of fish migrate on a regular basis, on time scales ranging from daily to annually or longer, and over distances ranging from a few metres to thousands of kilometres. Such migrations are usually done for better feeding or to reproduce, but in other cases the reasons are unclear.
The alewife is an anadromous species of herring found in North America. It is one of the "typical" North American shads, attributed to the subgenus Pomolobus of the genus Alosa. As an adult it is a marine species found in the northern West Atlantic Ocean, moving into estuaries before swimming upstream to breed in freshwater habitats, but some populations live entirely in fresh water. It is best known for its invasion of the Great Lakes by using the Welland Canal to bypass Niagara Falls. Here, its population surged, peaking between the 1950s and 1980s to the detriment of many native species of fish. In an effort to control it biologically, Pacific salmon were introduced, only partially successfully. As a marine fish, the alewife is a US National Marine Fisheries Service "Species of Concern".
Steelhead, or occasionally steelhead trout, is the anadromous form of the coastal rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus) or Columbia River redband trout. Steelhead are native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific basin in Northeast Asia and North America. Like other sea-run (anadromous) trout and salmon, steelhead spawn in freshwater, smolts migrate to the ocean to forage for several years and adults return to their natal streams to spawn. Steelhead are iteroparous, although survival is only approximately 10–20%.
The Atlantic salmon is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. It is the third largest of the Salmonidae, behind Siberian taimen and Pacific Chinook salmon, growing up to a meter in length. Atlantic salmon are found in the northern Atlantic Ocean and in rivers that flow into it. Most populations are anadromous, hatching in streams and rivers but moving out to sea as they grow where they mature, after which the adults seasonally move upstream again to spawn.
The American shad is a species of anadromous clupeid fish naturally distributed on the North American coast of the North Atlantic, from Newfoundland to Florida, and as an introduced species on the North Pacific coast. The American shad is not closely related to the other North American shads. Rather, it seems to form a lineage that diverged from a common ancestor of the European taxa before these diversified.
The Arctic char or Arctic charr is a cold-water fish in the family Salmonidae, native to alpine lakes, as well as Arctic and subarctic coastal waters in the Holarctic.
The blue catfish is a large species of North American catfish, reaching a length of 65 in (170 cm) and a weight of 143 lb (65 kg). The continent’s largest catfish, it can live to 20 years, with a typical fish being between 25–46 in (64–117 cm) and 30–70 lb (14–32 kg). Native distribution is primarily in the Mississippi River and Louisiana drainage systems, including the Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, and Arkansas Rivers, the Des Moines River in south-central Iowa, the Rio Grande, and south along the Gulf Coast to Belize and Guatemala.
The Atlantic menhaden is a North American species of fish in the herring family, Alosidae.
The rainbow smelt is a North American species of fish of the family Osmeridae. Walleye, trout, and other larger fish prey on these smelt. The rainbow smelt prefer juvenile ciscoes, zooplankton such as calanoid copepods, and other small organisms, but are aggressive and will eat almost any fish they find. They are anadromous spring spawners and prefer clean streams with light flow and light siltation. The rainbow smelt face several barriers. They are weak swimmers and struggle to navigate fish ladders preventing them from making it past dams to the headwater streams where they spawn. The rise in erosion and dams helped to decimate the smelt population in the 1980s. There are currently plans to try to reduce damming and to help control erosion.
The yellow bass is a member of the family Moronidae. This species is a deep bodied fish that possesses five to seven dark stripes laterally along the sides, the lowest few of these are often broken or disrupted anterior to the origin of the anal fin. This species is somewhat similar to two other species in the family Moronidae, the white bass and the striped bass. The yellow bass is distinguishable from both of these species by having the offset lateral stripes above the anal fin and from not possessing tooth patches on the tongue. The yellow bass differs further from the white bass by having nine to ten anal rays in comparison to eleven or thirteen. The back of the fish is usually a dark olive green, and the abdomen and sides are often a silvery yellow.
Great Bay is located in southern New Jersey's Atlantic Coastal Plain in Ocean and Atlantic Counties, about ten miles (16 km) north of Atlantic City and is about 5.5 miles northwest of Brigantine, and 5.5 miles southwest of Beach Haven. The Mullica River flows into the bay, and together they form the Mullica River - Great Bay estuary habitat. The bay is connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Little Egg Inlet. Great Bay is considered one of the least-disturbed marine wetlands habitats in the northeastern United States.
A hybrid striped bass, also known as a wiper or whiterock bass, is a hybrid between the striped bass and the white bass. Hybrid striped bass are considered better suited for culture in ponds than either parent species because they are more resilient to extremes of temperature and low dissolved oxygen, although they gravitate toward areas of moving water within impoundments.
The hickory shad, fall herring, mattowacca, freshwater taylor or bonejack is a member of the family Alosidae, ranging along the East Coast of the United States from Florida to the Gulf of Maine. It is an anadromous fish species, meaning that it spawns in freshwater portions of rivers, but spends most of its life at sea. It is subject to fishing, both historic and current, but it is often confused with or simply grouped together with American shad in catch statistics.
Striped bass are perciform fish found all along the Atlantic coast, from Florida to Nova Scotia. A distinct strain has historically existed in the Gulf of Mexico, but the fishery that exists there today is for stocked or reservoir-escapee fish. Striped bass are of significant value as sporting fish, and have been introduced to many areas outside their native range.
The blueback herring, blueback shad, or summer shad is an anadromous species of herring from the east coast of North America, with a range from Nova Scotia to Florida. Blueback herring form schools and are believed to migrate offshore to overwinter near the bottom.
On The Water is an American fishing and boating magazine, covering both freshwater and saltwater topics in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic United States.. The majority of its articles are submitted by freelance authors, usually local fishermen and charter-boat captains. On the Water publishes two versions of the magazine, a Mid-Atlantic edition and a New England edition. The magazine includes annual special editions such as the Striper Edition, which focuses on Striped bass, the Angler's Almanac, which forecasts next year's fishing season, and the newly-created BASS edition, with a focus on Northeast Bass fishing.
Anchoa mitchilli is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Engraulidae, the anchovies. Its common names include bay anchovy and common anchovy. It is native to the western Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. It is one of the most common fish species along the coastlines of the western Atlantic.
1 2 Little, Michael J. (1995). "A Report on the Historic Spawning Grounds of the Striped Bass, "Morone saxatilis"". Maine Naturalist. 3 (2): 107–113. doi:10.2307/3858211. JSTOR3858211.
↑ "Chapter 21: Temperate Basses". Gallery of Pennsylvania Fishes. Pennsylvania State Fish & Boat Commission. Archived from the original on July 5, 2011. Retrieved June 10, 2007.
↑ "Smith Mountain Lake". Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
↑ "Leesville Reservoir". Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
↑ Kaiser Engineers, California (1969). Final Report to the State of California, San Francisco Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Program, State of California, Sacramento, CA
↑ Hartman, K. J. (2003). "Population-level consumption by Atlantic coastal striped bass and the influence of population recovery upon prey communities". Fisheries Management and Ecology. 10 (5): 281–288. Bibcode:2003FisME..10..281H. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2400.2003.00365.x.
↑ Wilde, G. R. & L.J. Paulson (1989). "Food habits of subadult striped bass in Lake Mead Arizona-Nevada". The Southwestern Naturalist. 34 (1): 118–123. doi:10.2307/3671816. JSTOR3671816.
↑ National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Health and Medicine Division; Food and Nutrition Board; Committee to Review the Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium (2019). Oria, Maria; Harrison, Meghan; Stallings, Virginia A. (eds.). Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium. The National Academies Collection: Reports funded by National Institutes of Health. Washington, DC: National Academies Press (US). ISBN978-0-309-48834-1. PMID30844154. Archived from the original on May 9, 2024. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
↑ Ainsworth, Mark (2009). Fish and Seafood: Identification, Fabrication, Utilization. Clifton Park, New York: Delmar, Cengage Learning. p.44. ISBN978-1-4354-0036-8.
1 2 3 The Culinary Institute of America (2011). The Professional Chef (9thed.). Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. p.108. ISBN978-0-470-42135-2. OCLC707248142.
↑ McGee, Harold (2004). On Food and Cooking: the Science and Lore of the Kitchen. New York, New York: Scribner. p.200. ISBN978-0-684-80001-1. LCCN2004058999.
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