Adult Striped Bass Population Study

PURPOSE:

• Understand striped bass population dynamics.
• Determine how abundance, distribution, and mortality rates of adult striped bass are affected by water development and the sport fishery.
• If the striped bass population is negatively impacted by changes in freshwater outflow and water export associated with water development, develop criteria to reduce the impacts.
• If the sport fishery causes unacceptably high mortality on the population, address through changes in angling regulations.
  

ACTIVITIES:

bundance estimates by age-class and sex have are made using tag and recapture methods. Striped bass are tagged on the San Joaquin River and Sacramento River and released on their spring spawning migrations. Each tagged fish is measured, sexed and aged. A year-round creel census is conducted to learn the tagged to untagged ratio and to determine the size and age composition of catch. Tag returns (corrected for non-response using reward tags) are used to estimate annual harvest rates, mortality rates and migrations of striped bass.

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For more information about this program element contact:
Marty Gingras, California Department of Fish and Game