Recovery Strategies

Recovery Strategy for the Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis), St. Lawrence Estuary Population, in Canada

Until the end of the 1960s, the St. Lawrence River was home to a native population of striped bass (Morone saxatili), an anadromous fish typical of eastern North American estuaries and coastal waters. The striped bass population of the St. Lawrence proved to be quite resilient and, since the 19th century, had been the object of intensive commercial and sports fisheries. The striped bass fishery was characterized by periods of great abundance and plentiful harvests alternating with years of scarcity during which the population was able to recover. However, the population recovery which was expected in the early 1960s failed to materialize and the striped bass disappeared completely in the following years. Analysis of biological data collected between 1944 and 1962 indicates a reduction in the distribution range of this fish, a period coinciding with the expansion and regular dredging of the Traverse du Nord, the Île d'Orléans section of the shipping channel. Changes to habitats used by immature striped bass may have compounded the effects of the fisheries and brought mortality rates to a level the population could no longer support.

Consultation period: 2011-07-06 to 2011-09-04

File(s)

Get Adobe Reader

Contact Person(s)

Director
SARA Directorate
Department of Fisheries and Oceans
200 Kent St.
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0E6
Send e-mail


Related Species

Links

  • No links available.