Below Average “YOY” Striper Results On Chesapeake In 2021 - The Fisherman

Below Average “YOY” Striper Results On Chesapeake In 2021

Since 1954 the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has monitored the annual reproductive success of striped bass in Maryland’s portion of Chesapeake Bay.  During their 2021 research at 22 different survey sites located in four major spawning areas of the Chesapeake, the Maryland DNR found that the 2021 young-of-year index for juvenile striped bass is 3.2, only slightly higher than the 2020 survey but but still below the long-term average of 11.4.

In their ongoing research to the reproductive success of this iconic fish in the Chesapeake Bay, biologists visit each site three times per summer, collecting fish with two sweeps of a 100-foot beach seine net. The index represents the average number of recently hatched striped bass – commonly called rockfish on the Chesapeake – captured in each sample.  The four Chesapeake spawning areas spawning areas represented in the surveys are the Choptank, Nanticoke, and Potomac rivers, as well as the Upper Chesapeake Bay.

According to Maryland’s DNR, the coastal striped bass population has decreased in size, but is still capable of strong reproduction with the right environmental conditions. “Variable spawning success is a well-known characteristic of the species,” the agency said a release announcing the survey results, adding “The index is slightly higher than 2020 but consecutive below average indices are a concern, and biologists continue to examine factors that might limit spawning success.”

Other noteworthy observations of the survey were increased numbers of Atlantic menhaden in the Choptank River and healthy reproduction of American shad in the Potomac River. The survey also documented reproduction of invasive blue catfish in the upper Chesapeake Bay for the first time.

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