State’s striped bass population rebounding

Associated Press//October 18, 2011//

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ANNAPOLIS — Maryland‘s striped bass population is rebounding, according to new survey results released by state fisheries scientists.

The Department of Natural Resources said its Young of the Year survey released Tuesday shows striped bass spawning at the fourth-highest level in the survey’s 58-year history. DNR biologist Eric Durell said the four largest spawns on record have occurred since a moratorium was lifted in 1990. The survey also found increases in two other species — white perch and blueback herring.

The survey comes as federal regulators consider harvest cuts and Maryland considers regulation changes. DNR officials say Maryland’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay is the primary nursery area for Atlantic striped bass, also known as rockfish, an important commercial and recreational fish species.

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