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Maturation and Fecundity of Roanoke River‐Albemarle Sound Striped Bass
Author(s) -
Olsen Erik J.,
Rulifson Roger A.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8659(1992)121<0524:maforr>2.3.co;2
Subject(s) - fecundity , sexual maturity , bass (fish) , biology , fish measurement , serranidae , population , fishery , zoology , fish <actinopterygii> , demography , ecology , sociology
Since the early 1940s, several investigators have determined age‐at‐maturity schedules for female striped bass Morone saxatilis at various locations along the Atlantic coast of the USA. These researchers have used one of two sets of criteria to determine whether a female is sexually mature; however, recent work suggests that these methods may underestimate the number of females entering the spawning population at an early age (e.g., ages 3 and 4). The objectives of our study were (1) to compare three methods and criteria for establishing sexual maturity and (2) to use all three methods in establishing a maturity schedule for female striped bass. Also, we estimated potential fecundity of the fish as a function of size, weight, and age. Two hundred sixty‐five female striped bass were collected from the Roanoke River–Albemarle Sound system of North Carolina during the prespawning and spawning seasons (March–May) of 1989 and 1990. Females ranged in size from 344 to 1,172 mm fork length and in age from 2 to 16 years. Age‐3 females produced approximately 200,000 eggs. The relationship between fish age and the number of eggs produced was statistically linear; one age‐16 female produced approximately 5,000,000 eggs. Maturity estimates based on three methods were not significantly different; they indicated that about 44% of age‐3 females were sexually mature and that all females examined were mature by age 6. These data suggest that female Roanoke striped bass may mature at an earlier age than striped bass in other systems. The proportion of females reaching sexual maturity by age 3 appears to be increasing in the Roanoke–Albemarle system; however, viability and year‐class contribution of eggs spawned by age‐3 females are unknown. The cause of the apparent downward shift in the maturation schedule is undetermined; environmental stress, fishing pressure, and genetic changes are possible factors. Until the viability and recruitment potential of eggs spawned by age‐3 females can be ascertained, we recommend that management agencies consider age‐4 females to be the first age‐class that contributes to formation of Roanoke–Albemarle year‐classes.