Pacemaker Fishing Forum

Maryland's annual YOY (young of the year) index was released yesterday. There's good news for several species. This copied from an e-mail from MSSA in MD.....

2011 Young of the Year Striped Bass Survey Shows Fourth Highest Reproduction On Record

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) today announced that the 2011 Young of the Year (YOY) Striped Bass Survey is 34.6, well above the long-term average of 11.9, and exceedingly higher than 2010’s results of 5.9. This is the fourth highest measure of striped bass spawning success in the Chesapeake Bay in the survey’s 58-year history.

“This reinforces our understanding that when conditions are right, the striped bass population is capable of producing robust year classes of young rockfish,” said DNR Fisheries Service Director Tom O’Connell.

The survey also documented an increase in the abundance of juvenile blueback herring- a population that had previously decreased dramatically in the Chesapeake Bay and along the coast. White perch, another important food and sportfish species, saw near record reproduction.

“We are extremely pleased to see this year’s results,” said DNR Biologist Eric Durell. “It is interesting to note that the four largest year classes on record have occurred since the moratorium was lifted in 1990.”

DNR biologists have monitored the reproductive success of striped bass and other species in Maryland’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay annually since 1954. Twenty-two survey sites are located in the four major spawning systems: Choptank, Potomac, and Nanticoke rivers, and the Upper Bay. Biologists visit each site monthly from July through September, collecting fish samples with two sweeps of a 100-foot beach seine.

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