Spatial and temporal patterns of abundance of juvenile black sea bass (Centropristis striata) in Maryland coastal bays

The views and opinions expressed or implied in this article are those of the author (or authors) and do not necessarily reflect the position of the National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA. Abstract—Black sea bass (Centropristis striata) is a warm temperate species that is associated with structured habitats along the U.S. Atlantic coast and Gulf of Mexico. The northern stock is considered data poor, and the lack of information on the life history, especially at the juvenile stage, is a concern. We analyzed trawl survey data collected during 1989–2013 from the Maryland coastal bays (MCBs) by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and used catch-perunit-of-effort (CPUE) to determine spatial and temporal patterns in abundance of black sea bass. The highest CPUE occurred at sites close to the MCBs inlets, suggesting the presence of suitable habitats for this species in these areas. Spatial patterns of abundance of black sea bass showed no consistent relationship with temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and Secchi disk depth, a measure of water transparency (P>0.05), but CPUE was positively correlated with water depth (P=0.025). Average growth rate of the fish was 0.58 mm total length (TL)/day, ranging from 0.46 to 0.72 mm TL/day. Results of a generalized linear model with a Poisson distribution indicated that salinity and the North Atlantic Oscillation index best predicted interannual variation in CPUE of age-0 fish, but not CPUE of age-1 black sea bass. Information from this study can be used to form a basis for future studies in the coastal bays of Maryland and other coastal lagoon systems. Estuaries on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States serve as nursery areas for many commercially and recreationally harvested fish species. However, some smaller estuaries throughout this region are relatively understudied, resulting in a limited understanding of how important they are as habitats for some marine fish species. This lack of information causes difficulties for the protection of nursery areas of a particular species (Beck et al., 2001). One such species is the black sea bass (Centropristis striata), which is currently considered data poor owing in part to its protogynous hermaphroditic nature (Able et al., 1995; Shepherd1). The black sea bass is a temperate fish species that occupies an extensive range from the Gulf of Maine to the Gulf of Mexico (Steimle et al., 1999). It is commercially and recreationally harvested throughout its range, requiring management by state and federal fishery management agencies. Because of the large extent of its