Striped bass

Appearance

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 20 to 40 pounds . The largest specimen recorded was 124 pounds , netted in 1896. Striped bass are believed to live for up to 30 years. The maximum weight can be more than 80 pounds . The average size in length is 20 to 35 inches and approximately 5 to 20 pounds .

Distribution

Striped bass are native to the Atlantic coastline of North America from the St. Lawrence River into the Gulf of Mexico to approximately Louisiana. They are anadromous fish that migrate between fresh and salt water. Spawning takes place in fresh water.

Habitat

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 reduce spawning. At levels as low as 200 mg/l TDS, an observable diminution of spawning productivity occurs. They can be found in lakes, ponds, streams, and wetlands.

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 . 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.

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.

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.

Food

Striped bass Nutritional value per 100 g Energy461 kJ Carbohydrates0 g
Fat3 gSaturated1 gPolyunsaturatedomega‑30.8 g
Protein19 g

History and timeline

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.

Cultural

The striped bass is the state fish of Maryland, Rhode Island, and South Carolina, and the state saltwater fish of New York, New Jersey, Virginia, and New Hampshire.