Results of Chesapeake Bay 2024 Young-of-Year Striped Bass Survey Show Little Change
October 17, 2024
Low spawning success documented for sixth consecutive year
A juvenile striped bass caught and released by a survey crew in the Nanticoke River. Photo by Joe Zimmermann, Maryland DNR.
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources announced results of this year’s juvenile striped bass survey, which tracks the reproductive success of Maryland’s state fish in the Chesapeake Bay. The 2024 young-of-year index is 2.0, well below the long-term average of 11.0, and marks the sixth consecutive year of poor reproduction.
“These results underscore the complexity of managing a coastal migratory species whose life-cycle is influenced by environmental conditions during a brief spawning period,” said Maryland DNR Fishing and Boating Services Director Lynn Fegley. “We will continue to explore ways to conserve and enhance the spawning population during this time when we are adding fewer young fish to the population.”
During this annual survey, fishery managers examine 22 sites located in four major striped bass spawning areas: the Choptank, Nanticoke, and Potomac rivers, and the upper 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 young-of-year striped bass found in each sample. The juvenile striped bass average less than 3 inches long and are not usually encountered by anglers. Similar fish surveys conducted this summer in the Patapsco, Magothy, Rhode, West, Miles, and Tred Avon rivers found fewer striped bass, also known as rockfish.
Biologists use a seine net to capture fish for the annual striped…
