Ah, the majestic striped bass. It’s been called the “perfect fish” by enthusiastic anglers, and represents one of the greatest successes of fisheries management in North America. It fights like a demon when hooked and is delicious when baked. Anglers are so enthusiastic about them that they will turn on commercial fishermen at the slightest evidence that a handful of stripers are getting caught in their gear, and this fish has considerable political clout thanks to the massive amounts of money brought in by the recreational fishing industry. Other popular sportfish like bluefish and false albacore are mere peons compared to them. In North Carolina, only red drum are mentioned with the same reverence and sought with the same obsession. All hail Morone saxatilis, the mighty striped bass!
It’s not that I don’t like striped bass. Stripers are a fun fish to catch and taste great, and are one of the better excuses to call out sick and get on the water. I just get tired of hearing about them on a near-constant basis. North Carolina is a state with many interesting and worthwhile fish to catch, but sometimes it seems like the entire state’s recreational fishing culture lives and dies solely on these black and white brutes, and this is reflected in the amount of research and management effort that goes into them.
So I’m here to tell you that striped bass are not all that. In fact, they eat way too much.
Spiny dogfish, blamed for single-handedly keeping every valuable fish stock in the Atlantic down, are density-dependent feeders, which means that their diet typically reflects whatever is abundant in the local environment. As foraging strategies go, this could be considered one of the more “responsible”, as it prevents dogfish from over-consuming any one species and also allows them to switch prey when necessary.
Read the complete blog from The Southern Fried Science Network.