October 21, 2024 — Concerns about striped bass have been mounting for years, and catch limits have been tightening. But the tighter limits apparently aren’t doing enough to help this popular fish rebound. And when coastwide fishery managers meet next week, there will be some tough conversations.
On Thursday, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) released the results from their annual surveys of juvenile striped bass (rockfish) in the Chesapeake Bay. For the sixth consecutive year in Maryland and second consecutive year in Virginia, both states’ juvenile indexes came in well below the states’ long-term averages.
The surveys are conducted by field biologists in multiple locations over three months during the summer with 100’-foot long beach seine nets. These surveys track reproductive success and juvenile survival for rockfish spawned in the spring in upper tidal reaches of the Bay’s big rivers. According to this year’s surveys, the 2024 young-of-year index for Maryland was 2.0 fish per sample, much lower than the long-term average of 11.0. In Virginia, the index was 3.43 fish per sample, against the historic average of 7.77.