LIFE HISTORY OF THE STRIPED BASS 
843 
the other side of the fish and secured by twisting the end of the wire. One disk was 
red and bore a serial number to identify the individual fish; the other was white and 
bore the words: “Bureau of Fisheries, Washington, D. C. Return Both Disks. 
Reward.” A nominal fee was paid for the return of the disks together with informa- 
tion as to date and place of capture. 
Soon after marking operations were commenced, on July 7, 1931, disks were 
returned from various localities in upper Chesapeake Bay and they continued to be 
returned over a 2-year period. From July 1931, to September 1933, a total of 89 
marked fish were recaptured either by sportsmen or commercial fishermen. The 
JULY SEPT NOV. JAN. MAR. MAY JULY SEPT. NOV. JAN. MAR. MAY JULY SEPT. 
AUG. OCT. DEC. FEB. APR. JUNE AUG. OCT. DEC. FEB. APR. JUNE AUG. OCT. 
1931 1932 1933 
Figure 23.— Bimonthly recapture of marked striped bass in upper Chesapeake Bay from July 1931 to September 1933. 
recaptured fish totaled 29.1 percent of the number released, or about 1 out of every 
3 fish marked. Twenty percent of these fish were retaken within the first 6 months 
after release. (See fig. 23.) 
None of the marked striped bass were recaptured at the immediate point of 
release. Only 9 fish out of 89 were recaptured south of the point of release off 
Annapolis, Md. The majority of fish were taken at various points along the shores 
of upper Chesapeake Bay from the Magothy River and Love Point north to the 
Susquehanna and Elk Rivers. The point of greatest concentration of marked fish 
was in the vicinity of Rock Hall near the entrance to the Chester River. (See 
fig. 24.) 
Six out of nine marked fish taken in Chesapeake Bay, or tributaries below the 
point of release off Annapolis, were recaptured the following spring after marking. 
One striped bass was recaptured off Maryland Point in the Potomac River on March 
17, 1932, while another was secured in the Wicomico River, near Salisbury, on March 
23, 1932. These localities were the most distant points to which the marked fish 
dispersed over a 2-year period. 
The steady decrease in the number of recaptured fish after the first 2 months 
(see fig. 23) was probably caused by the ultimate detachment of the disks from the 
back of the fish and by the continually reduced number of marked fish available for 
capture. 
