Striped Bass Survey Assessment and Habitat Connections

February 13, 2025 - February 14, 2025
Edgewater, MD

This workshop convened in-person on Thursday and Friday, February 13-14, 2025 at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) in Edgewater, Maryland.

The Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) hosted a two-day workshop to investigate the environmental and ecological factors contributing to the low recruitment of Striped bass. The workshop aimed to review current survey approaches and identify priority science needs, supporting the management of this marquee sportfish, which is vital to both the recreational fishing industry and commercial harvest along the Atlantic Coast. The workshop focused on exploring research needs, sharing insights, and fostering collaboration among participants to support effective management strategies.

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Workshop Agenda: STAC Striped Bass Workshop agenda

Workshop attendees can be viewed here.

Workshop Steering Committee:
*STAC Member

• Carrie Kennedy, MD DNR, Chair
• Bob Beal, ASMFC
• Ingrid Braun-Ricks, PRFC
• Patrick Campfield, ASMFC
• Lynn Fegley, MD DNR
• Christina Garvey, CRC
• Pat Geer, VMRC
• Mark Monaco*, NOAA
• Kenny Rose*, UMCES
• Daniel Ryan, DC Division of Fish and Wildlife
• Troy Tuckey, VIMS
• Bruce Vogt, NOAA

Presentations

• Session 1: Surveys and Stock Assessment
  • Overview of MD Striped Bass Surveys — Beth Versak and Eric Durrell (MD DNR)
  • Overview of VA Striped Bass Surveys — Troy Tuckey (VIMS)
  • General Overview of the Stock Assessment — Gary Nelson (Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries)
• Session 2: Habitat and Early Life History (TOR: Spawning, Recruitment)
  • Habitat Impacts on Early Life History — Jim Uphoff (MD DNR)
  • Adapting Plankton Scope Technology for Monitoring Eggs in Spawning Areas — Hongsheng Bi (UMCES)
  • A First Look at Microplastics in Juvenile Striped Bass — Ryan Woodland (UMCES) and Robert Murphy (TetraTech)
  • Examining Striped Bass Recruitment-Environment Relationships With Quantile Regression — Simon Brown (MD DNR)
  • Modeling the Effects of Environmental Conditions on Poor Striped Bass Recruitment, as Measured by the Juvenile Abundance Index — Julie Gross (VIMS)
  • Investigating Synchrony in Striped Bass Recruitment Indices Across Chesapeake Bay Tributaries — Rachel Dixon (VIMS)
  • Over-Predation of Striped Bass by Blue Catfish: A speculative hypothesis — Dave Secor (UMCES)
• Session 3: Movement
  • Demonstrating the Value of the Chesapeake Bay Backbone Telemetry Array — Pat Geer and Ethan Simpson (Virginia Marine Resource Commission)
  • Migrations, Water Quality Selection, and Mortality of Chesapeake Striped Bass: Inferences from telemetry — Dave Secor (UMCES)
  • Diet and Movement of Young Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis) Within and Among Shallow Tributary Habitats of Chesapeake Bay — Rob Aguilar (SERC)
• Session 4: Mortality
  • Recreational Release Mortality in the Chesapeake Bay — T. Reid Nelson (GMU)
  • Impacts of Changing Bay Habitat Conditions on Summertime Resident Striped Bass — Tom Parham (MD DNR)
  • Trends in mycobacteriosis and associated relative mortality in Striped Bass in Maryland waters of the Chesapeake Bay — Genny Nesslage (UMCES)

If you have any questions, please contact Meg Cole, STAC Coordinator, at colem@chesapeake.org.