Fishery bulletin of the Fish and Wildlife Service - NOAA

44 FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE
The recapture of tagged fish as well as observations on the commercial and sports
fisheries for striped bass along the Atlantic coast from Maine to North Carolina gives
abundant proof that this species is preeminently coastal in its distribution. But
studies of the migrations by tagging experiments give convincing evidence that bass
do at times cross open bodies of water of considerable size. Thus the spring migration
route north apparently takes striped bass from the tip of Long Island straight across
to Connecticut and Rhode Island shores, and in the fall the reverse appears to be true—
that bass travel from Rhode Island and Connecticut to Montauk and do not follow
all the way around the shore line of Long Island Sound. This is shown by the recapture
of tagged fish at Montauk shortly after their release in Connecticut waters in the
fall, and by the almost complete absence of tag returns at any time from the western
half of Long Island Sound. A few fish do round Montauk Point and go west along the
north shore of Long Island in the spring (see fig. 27), but the majority go to the north
and east. Commercial fishermen of long experience in Rhode Island are convinced
that in the fall migration to the south a heavy offshore wind causes the mam body
of fish to go straight from a point at least as far east as Newport to the tip of Long
Island, and that a storm from the south causes the bass to follow down the coast of
Rhode Island and part of Connecticut before crossing to Montauk. The evidence
from the catch records of pound-nets under different conditions in the faU tends to
confirm this view. It also is probable that striped bass often cross the mouths of
Delaware and Chesapeake Bays in much the same way that they cross the tip of
Long Island Sound.
It has been pointed out (see p. 20) that approximately 90 percent of the individuals
examined for sex in Long Island and New England waters in 1936 and 1937
were females, and it also appears that there is an increasingly smaller percentage of
males in northern waters among the large size-categories. On the other hand, this
strikingly abnormal sex ratio does not exist in waters farther south, and the following
theoretical explanation of this condition is offered. The spring coastal migration to the
north in April and May coincides with the spawning season in the south, and is mainly
composed of small immature fish and a relatively small number of individuals that are
not spawners in that particular year. Because of the discrepancy in the age at maturity
of the males and females, the males spawning for the first time at the end of
their second year while the females do not become mature at least until the end of their
fourth year, many of the males do not take part in the spring migration but stay behind
to spawn with the larger females. Thus the migration northward at this time of year
is largely made up of immature females 2 and 3 years old. The examination of the
size-categories making up the catch in northern waters at different seasons indicates
that there is a less intensive migration along the coast in June, which is composed of
fish of a much larger average size. In all probability these are mainly females which
have completed spawning farther south and have moved up along the coast singly or
in small groups. This is demonstrated in figure 31, where the different sizes of striped
bass making up the annual catch of a haul-seine fisherman at Point Judith, R. I., before
and after June are shown. It is apparent that the small fish make up the bulk of
the catch before June each year, but that thereafter bass of the larger size-categories
comprise a far greater part of the catch. In 1936 and 1937 an unusually large percentage
of the total were small fish, due to the dominance of the 1934 year-class.
There is no evidence that striped bass younger than 2 years old undertake the
coastal migrations discussed above. The complete absence of juvenile and yearling
individuals anywhere along the coast, save hi or close to areas that have been established
as being places where striped bass spawn, is proof that the coastal migrations
do not occur until this species becomes 2 years old. In northern coastal waters,
where the author handled many thousands of striped bass, individuals less than 2
years old were only encountered on the rarest of occasions.
Two interesting tagging experiments were conducted in North Carolina during
March, April, and May, 1938. These were carried on for the purpose of determining
to what extent the bass from this region take part in the spring migration to the north,
and how much they contribute to the population in northern waters during the
spring, summer, and fall. This whole question is discussed in some detail under the
section on the origin of the dominant 1934 year-class, where evidence is presented