10 



FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



magnitude of the increased abundance resulting from the 1934 dominant year-class. 

 The peaks at 1894 and 1895, 1906, and 1922 perhaps also represent good year-classes 

 that bolstered the stock temporarily, but there is no adequate means of checking this, 

 since practically no other records covering the same period are available. Striped 

 bass tend to school heavily, and the presence of several schools might easily form the 

 main part of such a peak as the ones shown at 1906 or 1922 in figure 4. Consequently, 

 it may have been that in these years striped bass were not more numerous, but that 

 one or more large schools hit the traps while on migration and gave a false impression 

 of abundance. In another year the reverse situation might have taken place — that 

 is, that the population was unusually high, but that comparatively few bass happened 

 to strike the pound-nets, thus producing a low point on the curve that is not a true 

 indication of abundance. It is, therefore, best not to assume that these fluctuations 

 represent actual changes in the size of the population — at least not until there is further 

 evidence on this score. 



STRIPED BASS IN POUND NET 

 CATCHES AT FORT POND BAY, 

 LONG ISLAND, N Y 

 1884-1937 



Figure 4.— Numbers of striped bass taken each year in the pound nets at Fort Pond Bay, L. I., N. Y., from 1SS4 to 1937. The fish- 

 ing intensity has been equalized throughout (see Table 4). 



The peak years mentioned by Bigelow and Welsh (1925) for the catches from Boston 

 to Monomoy, Mass., from 1896 to 1921, show some discrepancy with those in figure 4. 

 In this area 1897 and 1921 were years in which exceptional catches were made. It will 

 be noticed, however, that these years are close to the peaks at 1895 and 1922 shown 

 in figure 4. It may therefore be true that dominant year-classes were present from 

 1895 to 1897, and in 1921 and 1922, but that they made their presence felt in successive 

 years in somewhat different areas. 



The peaks at 1936 and 1937, however, are no doubt reasonably accurate indica- 

 tions of the increased abundance in those years. In 1936 the enormous numbers of 

 striped bass that appeared along the Atlantic coast were mainly made up of fish 2 

 years old, the age at which this species first makes its appearance in the commercial 

 and sport fishermen's catch in Long Island and New England waters. In 1937 a large 

 proportion of the population along the Atlantic coast was composed of 3-year-olds. 



