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Sustain the fishery.

• Striped bass once formed the basis of one of the most important fisheries--both commercial and recreational--on the Atlantic seaboard. Over-harvesting contributed heavily to the striped bass decline by disrupting the balance of the spawning stock. Additional influences included loss of habitat--such as SAV beds, which serve as nurseries for juvenile fish--disease and pollution.
• Striped bass are anadromous fish - they spend much of their life in the ocean and return to the Chesapeake's tributaries to spawn.
• The 1979 Emergency Striped Bass Research Study resulted in the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) preparing a coastwide management plan severely restricting harvests.  In 1984, Congress authorized a forced moratorium for states found out of compliance with the ASMFC plan.  Maryland and Delaware self-imposed moratoria in 1985, and Virginia and the Potomac River Fisheries Commission followed suit in 1989. Limited seasons resumed in 1990. In January 1995 the ASMFC declared the stock restored.
• The striped bass success story is due to interagency cooperation and management at the federal and state levels.

• Striped Bass Abundance (Spawning Female Biomass)

For more information contact: Mike Fritz at 800-968-7229 ext. 721 or Derek Orner at 800-968-7229 ext. 676

Chesapeake Bay Program