Message from the Cap’n: Rockfish Young of the Year Survey

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources has monitored the annual reproductive success of striped bass in Maryland’s portion of Chesapeake Bay since 1954. (Photo by Stephen Badger, Maryland Department of Natural Resources)

Message from the Cap’n is a compilation of fishing advice, waterman and weather insights, Chesapeake lore, and ordinary malarkey from the folks who keep their feet wet in the Potomac and St. Mary’s rivers.

The interpretive buoy system has the  salinity near Point Lookout at 13 PSU (Practical Salinity Unit) and water temperature at 69 degrees F.

Everyone is interested in the health of the Rockfish or Striped Bass industry in the Chesapeake Bay.

Maryland and Virginia actively conduct studies to help keep us informed. Maryland’s spawning area test sites are in the Choptank, Nanicoke, and Potomac rivers.

Virginia’s test sites are in the Rappahannock, James, and York rivers.

The Juvenile Striped Bass Young of the Year represents fish that were hatched this spring and will be able to be harvested in three or four years.

The surveys are released in advance of the Atlantic States  Marine Fisheries Commission annual fall meeting and may result in fisheries management changes.

Here are two articles about the surveys:

DNR’s yearly study of the striped bass fishery for 2021 is completed. The young of the year index is a little better than last year but still below the long-term average.

The Virginia Institute of Marine Science conducts a survey also in their portion of the Chesapeake Bay.

 

Till next time,

Remember: It’s Our Bay, Let’s pass it on.

Cap’n Jack

To learn about tours and trips into the Chesapeake, keep in touch with Fins + Claws on Facebook. Catch up on Messages from the Cap’n Member Page. Please visit Cap’n Jack’s lore and share with your social media sites. Or reach him here: [email protected] or 240-434-1385.