Striped Bass

Master of Science in Marine Biology 

College of Charleston

Assessment of multiple stocking strategies of striped bass in the Ashley River, South Carolina using multiplexed microsatellite panels.

Advisor: Michael R. Denson, Ph.D.

Committee: Robert W Chapman, Ph.D., Allan Strand, Ph.D., and Anastasia Zimmerman, Ph.D.

Background

Striped bass is an important sport and aquaculture species that is commonly stocked throughout the United States. It is an anadromous fish, which means that it can live in both fresh and saltwater. Historically, the species was found in the Ashley River, South Carolina, but became extirpated (no longer found there). The overall goal of the research group that I worked with at the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources was to reestablish a breeding population of striped bass in the Ashley River. To do this, we first needed to know what stocking strategy would be the most effective at letting striped bass survive. Should we stock a lot of small fish or fewer large fish? Did the salinity of the release site affect survival? Did the salinity of the rearing facility have an effect on survival. To test different stocking strategies we bred the species in captivity and raised them at either a fresh or brackish water hatchery to various sizes and then released them into the river at either a fresh or brackish salinity. Then we sampled the river monthly following release to capture the fish and collect non-lethal tissue samples from them. 

The main purpose of my thesis research was to develop a time and cost-efficient method to genetically identify families of striped bass because tagging hundreds of thousands of fish with physical tags was not possible and would have had a negative effects on their survival. I created three multiplexed panels that collectively incorporated twelve microsatellite loci. I then used these panels to identify from which treatment group recaptured striped bass belonged. In my initial study I found that fish stocked at a larger size survived better than fish stocked at a smaller size. Of course, my thesis was just part of a larger effort to reestablish striped bass in the Ashley River. Click here to read more about the larger project or here to see a news article about its success.


Publications related to this research: