Striped Bass Break Even in 2014

Striped Bass Survey Reveals Healthy 2014 Reproduction

If by healthy you mean slightly below average:

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources today announced that the 2014 juvenile index ─ a measure of striped bass spawning success in Chesapeake Bay ─ is 11.0, nearly equal to the 61-year average of 11.7. The results indicate a healthy level of reproduction for Maryland’s state fish.

My mom always wanted me to grow up to be slightly below average; how about yours?

“These findings reinforce that, although the coastal striped bass population has recently decreased from historically high levels, the spawning stock in the Chesapeake Bay is capable of producing healthy year-classes as defined in the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) Striped Bass Management Plan,” said DNR Fisheries Service Director Tom O’Connell. “We will continue to work with our partners along the Atlantic Coast to conservatively manage the striped bass population.”

 Well, yes, that's your job.

Striped bass, also called rockfish in Maryland, spawn in Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries each spring when individual females produce millions of eggs. The ASMFC’s management framework includes measures to conserve spawning-aged female striped bass to ensure adequate reproduction over time. Because the survival of striped bass eggs and larvae is largely influenced by environmental factors such as water temperature, salinity and flow rates, the annual juvenile index naturally varies with occasional strong year classes, as observed in 2011, intermixed with average and below average indices.

That's plenty of lipstick on that pig. Sure, it's better than the last two years, and the management really has little to do with the reproductive success; a few females in a really good year can produce a good year class, and those good years form the bulk of the population.

Wombat-socho has the father of all Rule 5 posts "Rule 5 Sunday: Ricochet"  posted at The Other McCain.