FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 72. NO. 1 



VZVs - 3V2" stretch mesh) are anchored in the 

 summer and staked from late fall to winter. 

 Large mesh "shad nets" (51/2 " stretch mesh) are 

 staked or drifted in late winter and spring. Haul 

 seines are used sporadically throughout the 

 warmer months, but most effectively in the 

 spring. 



Sport fishing for striped bass is intensive in 

 the lower Chesaj^eake Bay. especially along the 

 Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel in spring and 

 fall. The sport fishery extends from the mouth 

 of the Bay to the freshwater regions of major 

 river systems from March through December. 

 Attraction of small striped bass to the 

 numerous lighted piers extends sport fishing 

 well beyond daylight hours. 



Commercial landings of striped bass in Vir- 

 ginia^ for the 40-yr period 1930-1969 show a 

 ninefold increase from a low of 0.3 million 

 pounds in 1934 to 2.8 million pounds in 1966 

 (Figure 1). The overall trend in landings (and 

 striped bass populations) has been rising during 

 this period. Two definite peaks of abundance are 

 evident, one in the late 1940's and the other in 

 the 1960's. Not included in these landings are 

 sport catches, which have increased to as much 

 as 50 percent of the total catch in certain areas 

 (Grant, unpublished data). Averaged commer- 

 cial landings .in the most recent years have 

 declined; continuation or reversal of this decline 

 depends on contributions to subsequent catches 

 by successful year classes such as those of 1966 

 and 1970 (Grant and Joseph, 1969; Grant, 

 Burrell, and Kriete, 1971). 



AGE COMPOSITION 



Methods and Materials 



Pound nets and fyke nets trap striped bass 

 over their entire size range, except for the 

 young-of-the-year which are incompletely 

 recruited to the gear. These two gear types 

 were, therefore, considered to be essentially 

 nonselective (allowing for escapement of Age 

 fish) and were sampled for estimates of the 

 age composition of striped bass stocks residing 

 in the James, York, and Rappahannock rivers. 

 Although differences in the age composition of 



2.8 n 



' ■[ " l " l "T"f '| " l " l' T '[' I' I I 

 1930 1935 1940 



I 'I' I I I I I I I I I I 

 1945 1950 1955 



I I I I I I I I IT 

 1960 1965 



■* Data from K.00 ( 1970) and from annual summaries of 

 regional fisheries statistics published by the Bureau of 

 Commercial Fisheries. 



Figure 1. — Annual landings of striped bass in Virginia, 

 1930-69. Moving averages (indicated by heavy line for 

 6-yr average and light line for 3-yr average) incorporate an 

 interpolated value of 1,321,000 pounds for 1943. 



catches by pound and fyke nets did occur, no 

 consistency was evident in these differences, so 

 catches were pooled for analysis. Rappahannock 

 River samples were taken from pound nets only. 



The scale method was used for age determina- 

 tions. Scales were first used in age analysis of 

 striped bass populations by Scofield (1931); 

 this method was fully developed and validated 

 for striped bass by Merriman (1941). Samples 

 of approximately 50 striped bass were obtained 

 from each river system semimonthly. Scales 

 were removed from individual fish at the site 

 specified by Merriman (1941). Cellulose acetate 

 impressions of scale sculpturing were prepared 

 using five or six scales from each fish. Annuli 

 were counted at a magnification of 15 x with 

 all scales being read at least twice and instances 

 of disagreement re-examined. 



Annuli on the scales of Virginia strijied bass 

 form between April and June, coincident with 

 the spawning season and hatch of a new year 

 class. The growth year of local populations, 

 therefore, may be considered to extend from 

 July to June. Young-of-the-year do not become 

 Age I fish until late spring of the year following 

 their hatch. In this paper, July 1 is designated 

 as the start of each year so that a member of 

 the 1966 year class caught between 1 July 1967 

 and 30 June 1968 would be called Age I. Season- 

 al designations are used as follows: winter 

 (Jan. -Mai'.), s])ring (A])r.-June), summer (July- 

 Sej^t.). fall (Oct. -Dec); these quarterly periods 



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