© 2006 International Council for the Exploration of the Sea
Interactions between striped bass (Morone saxatilis) rebuilding programmes and the conservation of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and other anadromous fish species in the USA
New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, 225 Main Street, Durham, NH 03824, USA
e-mail: dgrout{at}nhfgd.org.
Anadromous populations of striped bass occur along the Atlantic coast of the US from Maine to North Carolina. Recruitment overfishing and declining water quality led to substantial reductions in striped bass abundance during the 1970s and 1980s. Cooperative interstate fishery management of striped bass began in 1981, with the development of a fishery management plan by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, an organization of Atlantic coastal states. Effective fishery management and additional research and monitoring contributed to a tenfold increase in abundance of striped bass stocks by the late 1990s. This dramatic increase resulted in increased predation on a variety of anadromous fish species including American shad, blueback herring, and alewives. Predation by striped bass on Atlantic salmon smolts in North America has been documented, but the impact of this predation has not been quantified. Moderate to strong correlations were found between estimates of striped bass abundance and the return of Atlantic salmon to three of the four major New England salmon rivers. Further research is required to quantify the proportion of smolt production consumed by striped bass, particularly for salmon populations listed as endangered under the US Endangered Species Act.
Keywords: anadromous fish, Atlantic salmon, management, predation, striped bass
Received 13 October 2005; accepted 18 March 2006.