The primary goal of the survey is to monitor relative annual recruitment success of juvenile striped bass, Morone saxatilis, in the spawning and nursery areas of lower Chesapeake Bay by developing an annual index of abundance for each year class. The survey also generates indices of abundance for a number of other recreationally, commercially, and otherwise ecologically important species. Click here to go to the Indices page.
Specific Program Objectives:
- Measure the relative abundance of young-of-the-year striped bass in the James, York and Rappahannock river systems
- Quantify environmental conditions at the time of collection
- Examine relationships between juvenile striped bass abundance and measured or proxy environmental and biological data
