STUDIES ON THE STRIPED BASS OF THE ATLANTIC COAST 



41 



tremendous size that in 1936 and 1937 its members either spread or were crowded 

 farther north than in recent times. It is also the case that the widening and enlarge- 

 ment of the Cape Cod canal in the past few years has undoubtedly provided an easy 

 means for fish to reach northern New England waters, and reliable witnesses attest 

 to the fact that striped bass passed through the canal in large quantities in the 

 summer of 1937. 13 



The most northerly return of a striped bass tagged in southern New England or 

 Long Island waters was from Cape Cod Bay. But there can be little doubt from the 



20*C 



io'c 



s-c 



o'c^ 



TEMPERATURES 



A 





/ !xv\x 



,*n/ 



©---© surface, niantic r. 

 a, — & bottom. niantic r. 



A 



bo-p 



60-F 



50*F 



. 40'F 



ib do 'id 20 io so io 3S 10 20 10 20 ' 10 20 ' 10 20 



APRIL MAT JUNE JULY AU6. SEPT. OCT NOV. 



& 



2 5°C-- 

 20°C-- 



I^C-f 



IO°C 



6*C 



TEMPERATURES 



_..-o v 



^ 



d'.A 



•*>.. 



-* 





\ &-£* 



\ 



-1 



10 20 

 APRIL 



\ 



10 20 

 MAY 



-s- 



O O 6URFACC, MIANTIC R 

 A A BOTTOM, NiANTiC R 

 A b. OPEN SEA 



  





10 20 



JUNE 



+ 



10 20 

 JULY 



10 20 



AUO 



10 20 

 SEPT 



H 



50°F 



10 20 

 OCT 



NOV 



Figure 30.— Water temperatures in the Niantic River, Conn. The surface and bottom temperatures were taken in an area where 

 striped bass were caught throughout the season. The open sea temperatures were taken at the mouth nf the Niantic tuver, 

 where the water passes through a narrow gut on the incoming tide with such force that the surface and bottom temperatures 

 are the same. The open sea temperatures were taken during the spring and fall migrations of the striped bass. Arrows indicate 

 when the.flrst and last bass of the season were caught. Upper graph is for 1936, lower for 1937. 



catch records and the examination of scale samples that the migration north in 1936 

 and 1937 at least reached Maine, and that north of Cape Cod the migrants from further 

 south mingled with resident populations that probably had been isolated for some years 

 past. In the summer of 1937 striped bass were taken in large quantities in Nova 

 Scotia, but it is almost certain that there are self-supporting resident populations in 

 various localities along the Canadian coast, and in the absence of length measurements 

 and scale samples it is impossible to be sure of the origin of these fish. Two alternative 

 possibilities suggest themselves in explanation of tbe presence of striped bass in Nova 

 Scotia; first, that these fish are of northern origin and are completely separate from the 



i! Part of a letter to tbe author from Mr. John R. Webster, of the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries, dated March 8, 1938. reads, ". . . it 

 now seems almost certain that these flsh passed through the Canal. Mr. Churbuck told me the water around State Pier was loaded 

 with bass and thatjieople fished for them all along the banks of the Canal with great success." 



