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FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



In 1915 the greatest catch in the history of the fishery was made, when 1,784,448 

 pounds of striped bass were delivered to the markets. Since the World War the 

 annual catch has varied between 500,000 and 1,000,000 pounds. The Division of 

 Fish and Game of California has made thorough studies on the life history of the 

 striped bass, as well as the conservation needs of this species. These have been pub- 

 lished in a long series of papers from 1907 to the present, of which the outstanding 

 publication is that by Scofield (1931). But, because the conditions of the fishery on 

 the Pacific coast differed so much from those on the Atlantic coast, much of the 



CENTIMETERS- ZO t 30 MO SOt 60 t TO J BO \SO IOO* I/O t 120 I 130 140 



INCHES— 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 



LENGTHS 



Figuke 2.— Length-weight relationship of the striped bass, based on o26 fish. Measurements are to the fork of the tail. 



information presented by the Division of Fish and Game of California cannot be 

 applied to the striped bass of the Atlantic. On the Pacific coast the main method of 

 capture was by gill net, and it was easy to eliminate the capture of small fish by 

 regulating the mesh size. At the present time commercial fishing for striped bass is 

 prohibited in California. On the Atlantic coast, however, pound-nets, seines, and 

 other methods of capture are used, and striped bass are taken indiscriminately with a 

 great many other species — a situation which would make it highly impractical and 

 most unfair to the commercial fishermen involved if any attempt were made to control 

 the size categories of striped bass taken in these nets by regulating the mesh size. 



