THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 19, 1996 TAG: 9609190406
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SCOTT HARPER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 74 lines
Virginia biologists reported Wednesday the biggest baby boom for striped bass in nearly three decades - a sign that one of the most popular game fish in the Chesapeake Bay is rebounding from near-collapse in the 1980s.
Also known as rockfish, striped bass have become a symbol of sorts for efforts at reviving Bay species threatened by overfishing and pollution, which now include oysters and blue crabs.
Since the Bay is the nursery for as much as 90 percent of the rockfish sought after by commercial fishermen and sportsmen on the Atlantic coast, the stakes are high.
Virginia's boom, combined with surveys showing a record number of births in Maryland this year, pleased environmentalists and wildlife officials who have supported strict conservation measures for rockfish, including a controversial fishing ban in 1989 and 1990.
``It proves the approach we've taken is a good one, and should continue to be followed,'' said Bill Goldsborough, a fisheries scientist with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in Annapolis, Md.
The 1996 juvenile index for striped bass in Virginia was 23.05 - meaning that every time a state biologist cast a net into traditional spawning runs this spring and summer, an average of 23 youngsters were snared.
The previous index high was 18.1, in 1993. And since 1967, when the Virginia Institute of Marine Science first began sampling in the James, Rappahannock, Pamunkey, Mattaponi and Chickahominy rivers, the 29-year average has been 5.5, according to VIMS professor and researcher Herbert M. Austin.
Austin attributed the record upswing this year to a large spawning stock of adults, created from years of government limits and protections, and to mild, wet weather this spring.
The Virginia half of the Bay was closed to striped bass fishing from June 1989 to November 1990, after stocks dwindled to the point where conservationists and scientists feared that they could not recover.
A small, controlled harvest was allowed in the winter of 1990, and quotas have slowly increased as stocks have gradually repopulated.
Austin and other scientists cautioned against reading too much into this year's spawning results, noting that rockfish births can be great one year and awful the next.
For example, the juvenile index dropped sharply for two years following a boom in 1993. Then, just as unpredictably, the index skyrocketed this year to a 29-year high.
The results, while positive, are not likely to generate a big change in federal quotas for catching rockfish in the Bay or along the coast. At least not now.
Since it takes about three years for newborns to reach the legal minimum harvest size of 18 inches, anglers and watermen should not expect to see any major quota adjustments until 1999, if not later, said Rob O'Reilly, assistant fisheries chief for the Virginia Marine Resources Commission.
Indeed, because of relatively weak spawns in 1994 and 1995, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which sets quotas from Maine to Florida, is eyeing a quota decrease in most coastal states next year, said Tina Berger, an ASMFC spokeswoman in Washington, D.C.
A decision is expected later this month or in October, Berger said.
The annual spawning survey is conducted at 30 monitoring stations within the five rivers, Austin said. Biologists stand on shore and stretch nets into the rivers five times between June and late August.
The number of baby rockfish are counted in each test and averaged with results in other river systems.
To account for possible damage from Hurricane Fran, which sent floodwaters and debris that could swamp fragile fish eggs, biologists are expected to make one more round of sampling, Austin said.
But since most eggs are hatched by late August, experts don't expect to see any marked damage. ILLUSTRATION: Color graphic by Robert D. Voros/The Virginian-Pilot
Baby Bass Booming
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KEYWORDS: STRIPED BASS ROCKFISH by CNB