Abstract
In winter and spring of 1957 and 1958, 2429 striped bass ranging in length from 7 to 35 inches were tagged in the York, James, and Rappahannock Rivers of Virginia and 675 were recaptured. Fish were recaptured by stake, drift, and anchor gillnets, fyke nets, pound nets, hook and line and an oyster dredge. Ninety-four percent of the recaptured fish were taken in the same river system in which they were tagged. Striped bass from the York River moved more extensively than those from the Rappahannock; those from the James River moved least. Twelve fish moved outside of Chesapeake Bay and were recaptured in coastal waters between Maine and North Carolina. Most fish recaptured in fall and winter were taken in the same river system in which they were tagged, while some of those recaptured in spring and summer moved considerable distances. Almost all striped bass less than 12 inches in length remained in the river system in which they were tagged. The distribution of tag returns suggested that subpopulations of striped bass were present in the York and Rappahannock and James Rivers. The James River fish rarely mixed with those from other areas in Chesapeake Bay.
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Contribution No. 97, Virginia Fisheries Laboratory, Gloucester Point, Virginia.
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Massmann, W.H., Pacheco, A.L. Movements of striped bass tagged in Virginia waters of Chesapeake Bay. Chesapeake Science 2, 37–44 (1961). https://doi.org/10.2307/1350718
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/1350718