oundToSea 



Natural Wonders of the Coast 



Striped Bass: A Heritage of Good Taste 



Twenty-five years ago, anglers could wade knee-deep in the 

 Hatteras surf, cast a line just beyond the breakers and expect the 

 tug-of-war it took to haul in a 40-pound striper. 



Not anymore. 



Stripers, more correctly known as striped bass, have suffered 

 sharp declines in populations all along the East Coast during the 

 last 20 years. The reason? Pollution, overfishing and loss of 

 spawning habitat. 



In fact, populations became so scarce that federal and state 

 fishery resource managers along the Eastern Seaboard slapped a 

 bevy of regulations, restrictions and moratoriums on the recre- 

 ational and commercial capture of stripers. 



Everyone was interested in rescuing the fish that meant so 

 much to sportsmen, commercial fishermen and the history of this 

 nation. 



From his Jamestown settlement in Virginia, Captain John 

 Smith made early note of the abundance and size of the striped 

 bass he found in the rivers of the Chesapeake. 



"The Basse is an excellent Fish, both fresh and sake." he 

 wrote. "They are so large, the head will give a good eater a dinner, 

 and for daintinesse of diet they excell the Marybones of Beefe. 

 There are such multitudes that I have seene ... so many as will 

 bade a ship of 100 tonnes." 



The Plymouth colonists also found the striped bass in ample 

 supply and made them a regular part of their diet. In fact, they 

 prefened the stripers to salmon. 



The Massachusetts colony became so zealous in their 

 consumption and use of striped bass as a fertilizer for farm crops 

 that harvests diminished. In 1639, the Massachusetts Bay Colony 

 ordered that neither striped bass nor cod could be used as 

 fertilizer. 



A subsequent act in 1670 declared that income derived 

 from the Cape Cod striped bass, mackerel and hening fisheries be 

 used to build a free school. This legislation resulted in the first 

 public school in America. It was made possible largely through the 

 sale of striped bass. 



After the colonial period, striped bass were abundant along 

 the East Coast. Prior to the Civil War, stripers became a fashionable 

 sport fish, and after the war, associations of sportsmen dedicated 

 to their capture were formed in New England. 



Stripers are distributed along the Atlantic Coast from the St. 

 Lawrence River in Canada to the St. Johns River in Florida. 

 Biologists divide East Coast striped bass into nine populations, 



which are associated with their spawning rivers. Two of the 

 populations. Roanoke River/ Albemarle Sound and Cape Fear, call 

 North Carolina home. 



Most striped bass are dark olive-green to dark gray along 

 their backs, silvery along their sides and white on the belly. They 

 have seven or eight dotted dark stripes along their sides. 



Striped bass, like salmon, are anadromous. They move from 

 the ocean up rivers to spawn in fresh water. 



Spring is spawning season for stripers. They like to choose 

 river areas where the water is fast-moving or turbulent. 



One large female striped bass is surrounded by several 

 smaller males. The bass begin thrashing the water in a courtship 

 ritual fishermen call "rock fights." During the fight, the female 

 releases 3 million to 4 million eggs that the males fertilize. 



If not caught, striped bass can grow to be large. A seven- 

 year-old fish can weigh 20 pounds and measure 36 inches in 

 length. By the time a striper reaches the age of 14, it can weigh 40 

 pounds and measure 40 to 42 inches in length. 



The largest striper ever caught tipped the scales at 125 

 pounds. It was caught in Edenton in 1891. Biologists estimate that 

 the fish measured at least 6 feet in length. 



Although sportsmen love to haul in the big stripers, it's the 

 smaller ones that make better table fare. Striped bass are best eaten 

 when they weigh 6 to 8 pounds. As the fish grows heavier, its 

 flesh becomes more coarse. 



Today, because of catch restrictions, it's rare to see a striper 

 grace the table. But fisheiy resource managers are hoping that 

 fishery restrictions and hatcheries will once again boost popula- 

 tions of this popular fish. %# 



KathyHart 



COASTWATCH 15 



