329 
Abstract — For most migratory fish, 
little is known about the location 
and size of foraging areas or how 
long individuals remain in foraging 
areas, even though these attributes 
may affect their growth, survival, 
and impact on local prey. We tested 
whether striped bass ( Morone saxatilis 
Walbaum), found in Massachusetts in 
summer, were migratory, how long 
they stayed in non-natal estuaries, 
whether observed spatial patterns 
differed from random model predic- 
tions, whether fish returned to the 
same area across multiple years, and 
whether fishing effort could explain 
recapture patterns. Anchor tags were 
attached to striped bass that were 
caught and released in Massachu- 
setts in 1999 and 2000, and recap- 
tured between 1999 and 2007. In 
fall, tagged striped bass were caught 
south of where they were released in 
summer, confirming that fish were 
coastal migrants. In the first summer, 
77% and 100% of the recaptured fish 
in the Great Marsh and along the 
Massachusetts coast, respectively, 
were caught in the same place where 
they were released. About two thirds 
of all fish recaptured near where they 
were released were caught 2-7 years 
after tagging. Our study shows that 
smaller (400-500 mm total length) 
striped bass migrate hundreds of 
kilometers along the Atlantic Ocean 
coast, cease their mobile lifestyle in 
summer when they use a relatively 
localized area for foraging (<20 km 2 ), 
and return to these same foraging 
areas in subsequent years. 
Manuscript submitted 27 August 2008. 
Manuscript accepted 26 March 2009. 
Fish. Bull. 107:329-338 (2009). 
The views and opinions expressed 
or implied in this article are those 
of the author and do not necessarily 
reflect the position of the National 
Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA. 
Use of non-natal estuaries 
by migratory striped bass 
( Morone saxatilis) in summer 
Martha E. Mather (contact author ) 1 2 - 3 
John T. Finn 2 
Kristen H. Ferry 3 - 5 
Linda A. Deegan 4 
Gary A. Nelson 5 
Email address for contact author: mather@nrc.umass.edu 
1 U. S. Geological Survey 
2 Department of Natural Resources Conservation 
3 Massachusetts Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit 
University of Massachusetts 
160 Holdsworth Way, Room 226 
Amherst, Massachusetts 01003 
4 The Ecosystems Center 
Marine Biological Laboratory 
7 MBL Street 
Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543 
5 Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries 
30 Emerson Ave 
Gloucester, Massachusetts 01930 
For most migratory fish species, little 
is known about the size of their feed- 
ing areas, the duration of time that 
individuals spend there, and whether 
fish return to the same feeding area 
year after year. Migration is an essen- 
tial part of the life history and ecologi- 
cal niche of many taxa and has been 
observed in marine, freshwater, and 
diadromous fish (Thorrold et ah, 2001; 
Dingle and Drake, 2007). Many fish 
migrate between some combination 
of spawning area, feeding area, and 
overwintering area (Harden Jones, 
1968; Robichaud and Rose, 2001). 
Many anadromous fish return to natal 
systems for spawning (Klemetsen et 
al., 2003; Quinn and Myers, 2004), 
but a return to feeding areas has 
been shown for only a few fish species 
(Buzby and Deegan, 2000; Solmunds- 
son et ah, 2005). Consequently, an 
important but unresolved issue is the 
extent to which individuals migrate 
to the same specific, non-natal, feed- 
ing area. 
Populations of striped bass ( Morone 
saxatilis Walbaum) exhibit a variety 
of movement patterns. Coastal popu- 
lations at the northern and southern 
end of their range may move offshore 
from their natal estuaries in summer 
but do not migrate north and south 
along the coast (Collette and Klein- 
MacPhee, 2002). The U.S. Atlantic 
coast striped bass stocks spawn in 
the Chesapeake Bay, Delaware River, 
and the Hudson River. In the spring, 
some members of these stocks migrate 
northward along the coast to New 
England (Maine; New Hampshire; 
Massachusetts; Rhode Island; and 
Connecticut) and then return south 
in the fall (Berggren and Lieberman, 
1978; Dorazio et al., 1994). Coastal 
migrants are caught seasonally in 
fisheries off all U.S. states between 
Chesapeake Bay and Canada (Bore- 
man and Lewis 1987, Rulifson et al. 
2008). Many of these fish are caught 
by hook and line, a method that tar- 
gets feeding fish. These captures in- 
dicate that a wide range of possible 
foraging areas exist for coastal mi- 
grants. Although the spawning loca- 
tions of migratory striped bass, the 
basic directions of coastal movements, 
and some size and sex-specific char- 
