Striped Bass Annual Site Fidelity and Habitat Utilization in J. Strom Thurmond Reservoir, South Carolina-Georgia

Abstract

Forty-eight adult striped bass Morone saxatilis (3.2-19.1 kg) were captured by electrofishing in the tailrace of Richard B. Russell Dam and in the upper reaches of two major tributaries; they were implanted with temperature-sensitive radio transmitters and tracked approximately bimonthly for 20 months. As J. Strom Thurmond Reservoir downstream from the dam became thermally stratified in May, fish vacated the tributaries. From June to October, all striped bass were found within the reservoir's historical Savannah River channel. By August, most of the instrumented fish were found in the upper section of the reservoir, where optimal habitat was available throughout the summer owing to cool, artificially oxygenated hypolimnetic discharges from Richard B. Russell Dam. In mid-October the reservoir destratified, and fish dispersed from their up-reservoir summering areas and redistributed themselves throughout the reservoir. During early winter, the striped bass returned to tributary habitat or down-reservoir areas and generally used these locations throughout the winter. The fish exhibited a high degree of site fidelity to their summering areas, source tributaries (after fall dispersal and throughout the winter), and spring spawning areas. Mean movement rates were highest in the spring and fall, corresponding to the migration from tributaries in May and the return migration after fall dispersal. Mean movement rates were lowest in summer and winter, corresponding to the periods of high fidelity to summering and wintering areas. The average monthly temperatures and dissolved oxygen concentrations in areas used by striped bass were 19.0-20.4ЊC and 4.86-6.44 mg/L during May-October, which corresponded to average monthly habitat suitability index values of 0.76-0.98. Striped bass avoided temperatures above 25.1ЊC and dissolved oxygen concentrations less than 2.3 mg/L.

Residency and movement patterns of bonnethead sharks, Sphyrna tiburo, in a large Florida estuary

“…However, the advent of radio, acoustic, archival and satellite tracking technology has provided researchers new avenues for examining the residency of target species within a specific habitat (e.g. Wilkerson and Fisher 1997;Meyer et al 2000;Block et al 2001;Boustany et al 2002;Young and Isley 2002;Sims et al 2003;Wetherbee et al 2003). More recently researchers have begun to use acoustic monitoring technology to simultaneously provide long-term data about the presence and movement patterns of groups of individuals within a population (e.g.…”

Temporal and Spatial Estimates of Adult Striped Bass Mortality from Telemetry and Transmitter Return Data

“…During the habitat and seasonal-distribution portion of this telemetry study (Young and Isely 2002), we observed that striped bass were segregated by size during the summer months. Fish weighing more than 7 kg used different summering areas than those weighing less than 7 kg, and optimal habitat was found at the main summering areas of both size-classes.…”

“…Forty-eight harvestable striped bass (3.2-19.1 kg) were captured by electrofishing in J. Strom Thurmond Reservoir (Figure 1) and implanted with radio transmitters during May-June 1999 and March-June 2000. Radio transmitters were surgically implanted using standard techniques (see Young and Isely 2002 for details), and striped bass were released near the capture site.…”

“…Although commonly reported for terrestrial animals, the analysis of telemetry data for the purpose of estimating and partitioning mortality for fish has only recently been reported Heupel and Simpfendorfer 2002). Advances in biotelemetry technology have increased tracking success rates Schaffler et al 2002;Young and Isely 2002) and study durations Young and Isely 2002), and have provided fisheries scientists with a reliable method for determining the extent, timing, and cause of mortality in an aquatic system. The incorporation of motion-, temperature-, and depth-detecting microprocessors in transmitters now allows scientists to gather information at a level similar to that collected in the terrestrial environment without the need for direct observation.…”

Phosphorus reduction by dilution and shift in fish species in Moses Lake, WA

“…Further, LMB are warm water species and tolerate higher temperatures and thus do not suffer as much from the temperature/dissolved oxygen (DO) "squeeze" characterized for cool-water striped bass (Coutant 1985, 1987, Zale et al 1990, Young and Isely 2002. Walleye have similar temperature and DO requirements as striped bass, with SMB temperature requirements intermediate between LMB and WAL (Fry 1947, Kitchell and Stewart 1977, MacClean et al 1981, Hurley 1986b, Buynak et al 1991.…”