Sea Run Fish Facts

Common name: Striped bass, rockfish, striper, linesider

 

Scientific name: Morone saxatilis

 

Range: On the Atlantic coast, striped bass range from the St. Lawrence River in Canada to the St. Johns River in Florida, although they are most prevalent from Maine to North Carolina. They tend to spend most of their time in nearshore coastal waters and brackish estuaries, but are also highly migratory. Striped bass tagged in Maryland have been recaptured in Canadian waters, over 1,000 miles away. 

 

Most of the striped bass found in Maine are part of a population centered in the Chesapeake Bay that come north in the summer to feed. In fact, the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries are the primary spawning and nursery area for 70-90% of the Atlantic coast stocks of striped bass. However, there is a population that has been documented spawning in the Kennebec River.

 

Striped bass were also introduced to inland lakes and reservoirs and to the West Coast, where they’re now found from Mexico to British Columbia.

 

Identification: The striped bass is a large, silvery fish that gets its name from the seven or eight dark, continuous stripes along the side of its body. Striped bass have large mouths and jaws that extend below the eye. The body of the fish is blueish to dark olive, with silver sides and belly. Striped bass can grow as long as 60 inches and weigh over 100 pounds, according to some records, but it is rare to find one over 50 pounds. Females are much larger than males. The all-tackle angling record fish was caught in Connecticut in 2011 and weighed 81½ pounds.

 

Life history: The striped bass is considered to be a semi-anadromous fish. While some swim fully upriver to spawn in freshwater, others spawn in brackish estuaries. Spawning is triggered by an increase in water temperature and generally occurs in April, May and early June in Chesapeake Bay. Males are able to spawn starting when they are two or three years of age, but females do not begin to spawn until they are at least five or six years of age. The number of eggs produced by a female striped bass is directly related to the size of its body. 

 

The fertilized eggs drift downstream with currents and eventually hatch into larvae within 2 to 3 days. The larvae begin feeding on plankton during their downstream journey, and after their arrival in nursery areas in tidal reaches of the spawning rivers, they mature into juveniles. The juveniles will usually remain in these shallow coastal bays for two to five years, and then migrate out to the Atlantic Ocean. Striped bass generally live 10 to 30 years.

 

Behavior and diet: Striped bass tend to move north to nearshore waters of the New England coast during the summer, and south to the North Carolina/Virginia Capes during the winter. They are rarely found more than several miles from the shoreline, where they feed and migrate in large schools. Adults are often found along sandy beaches, rocky shores, in the surf, in areas hollowed out by wave action, around sandbars, and under rafts of floating seaweed. Adult striped bass are piscivorous (fish-eating), and will consume almost any kind of small fish (such as herring, flounder, menhaden, mummichogs, sand lance, silver hake, tomcod, smelt, silversides, and eels), as well as invertebrates like crabs, squid, and sea worms. On the other hand, smaller striped bass are preyed upon by larger fish and fish-eating birds, while adults have few predators besides sharks and seals.

 

Ecological and cultural importance: Like most other sea-run fish, striped bass help transport nutrients between the ocean and freshwater. This connection is important to both aquatic and terrestrial systems. 

 

Striped bass are highly valued for sport fishing, and have been widely introduced outside of their natural range. The species is the state fish of Maryland, Rhode Island, and South Carolina, and the state saltwater (marine) fish of New York, New Jersey, Virginia, and New Hampshire. Striped bass are one of Maine's most important saltwater gamefish, being renowned for their powerful fight and excellent flavor.

 

Threats: The numbers of striped bass along the Atlantic coast have fluctuated greatly over recorded history. More consistent declines in population were caused by many factors, but primarily pollution in spawning grounds and heavy fishing pressure. Atlantic migratory stocks collapsed in the 1980s, leading to the passage of the Atlantic Striped Bass Conservation Act.

 

Restoration efforts: Striped bass, once heavily overfished, have recovered somewhat following the implementation of strict management controls on the commercial and recreational fisheries. Coastwide regulations began to roll out in the 1980s, and by 1995 populations were considered “recovered”. However, management did not stop there. Regular stock assessments show that the coast-wide striped bass population remains overfished, but that overfishing is not actively occurring. Regulations of some level must be maintained to ensure stocks don’t collapse. The most recent update to the ASMFC stock assessment (2024) indicates that female spawning stock biomass is in steady decline, and new regulations will be recommended to take effect in 2025 to meet the goal of rebuilding the stock by 2029. 

 

Fishery: Coastwide regulation of the striped bass fishery is handled by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC). The commercial striped bass fishery is managed by a quota system resulting in relatively stable landings since 2004. The recreational fishery is predominantly catch and release, either due to angler preference or existing regulations. The recreational fishery is managed by bag limits, minimum size or slot size limits, and closed seasons (in some states).

 

Commercial fishing for striped bass is prohibited in Maine, and recreational fishing in state waters is managed by the Department of Marine Resources. In Maine, recreation fishing is limited to hook and line and capped at 1 fish between 28-35 inches in length per day. The sale of wild striped bass caught for personal use or by commercial fisheries in other states or jurisdictions is prohibited in the State of Maine. Striped bass sold in Maine markets and restaurants is therefore a cultured product primarily from the Southern US.

 

Sources:

 

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/atlantic-striped-bass

https://www.asmfc.org/species/atlantic-striped-bass

https://dnr.maryland.gov/Fisheries/Pages/Fish-Facts.aspx?fishname=Striped%20Bass

https://www.mass.gov/info-details/learn-about-striped-bass

https://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/field-guide/entry/striped-bass

https://seagrant.umaine.edu/maine-seafood-guide/striped-bass/

Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission 2024 Atlantic Striped Bass Stock Assessment Update Report. Accessed on 12/9/24 at https://asmfc.org/uploads/file/672288892024_AtlStripedBassAssessmentUpdate.pdf

https://atlanticsalmonrestoration.org/resources/fact-sheets/striped-bass-morone-saxatilis