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 recap- 

 ture 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 main 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 fall 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 indi- 

 viduals 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 ma- 

 turity 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., be- 

 fore 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 per- 

 centage 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 in or close to areas that have been estab- 

 lished 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 



