The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) issued an update on the Hudson River’s Atlantic striped bass Juvenile Abundance Index (JAI) survey, along with ongoing collaborations on the management of this important fishery. DEC’s JAI determined poor reproductive success in the river for the third consecutive year. In light of the ongoing poor reproduction and concerns about poor coastwide recruitment, DEC made a motion that initiated the formation of a work group at the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) to discuss upcoming striped bass management challenges. That motion received strong support to begin discussions to make informed decisions for managing this important fishery into the 2030s, when the coastal population is expected to be much smaller.
“For the third straight year, DEC’s annual juvenile striped bass survey in the Hudson River documented poor striped bass reproduction, heightening concerns about future abundance and long-term management implications for this critical resource,” Commissioner Lefton said. “The most recent findings confirm that it is more important than ever that DEC continue to engage with the interstate management process, as well as with the coastal community of stakeholders, to take a leadership role in responsibly managing the striped bass population over the next decade.”
DEC surveys juvenile striped bass at their spawning grounds in the Hudson River by making a series passes with a sein net and counting the number of juvenile stripers captured per haul. The 2025 value for the DEC’s Hudson River striped bass young-of-year index was 8.27 fish per haul. This value is below the long-term average, and for the third consecutive year, survey values were below the 25th percentile. The index value, which provides an estimate of annual reproduction success for striped bass in the Hudson River, is generated surveying 13 sites in the lower Hudson River conducted bi-weekly from July to November. The survey details can be found on DEC’s Striped Bass webpage.
The recent dip in juvenile reproduction in the Hudson River, along with consistent poor reproduction in the Chesapeake Bay over the last seven years, indicates that there will be a significant future decrease in catchable striped bass beginning in 2030. The Hudson and Chesapeake combined contribute approximately 90 percent of the coastal population of striped bass. Reproduction of migratory fish in estuaries along the Atlantic Coast is typically highly variable and is heavily dependent on environmental conditions such as precipitation, water temperature and salinity, but it remains unclear what is driving this pattern of striped bass spawning failure.
The next striped bass stock assessment will take place in 2027 and the results of that assessment will inform ASMFC striped bass management decisions starting in 2028. Recognizing the concerning poor juvenile reproduction in recent years, DEC proactively proposed that ASMFC create and convene a work group to meet between now and the upcoming assessment to be fully prepared to make management decisions upon receipt of those results. The goal is to prepare fishery managers to adapt successfully to the lower population level in the 2030s while maintaining access to striped bass and its important societal, cultural, and economic benefits. The initial step of forming the work group occurred on February 5, 2026, at the ASMFC Winter Meeting in Arlington, Virginia.
