Common Name	Striped Bass	Conservation Notes
Scientific Name	Morone saxatilis	Sustainability Ratings/Certifications
Market Names	Bass, Striper, Rockfish, Linesides	Buying Tips
Sushi Name	Suzuki	Health/Nutrition

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STRIPED BASS MARKET ALERT - updated Apr. 2011

Look for catches of high-quality wild striped bass to pick up starting in June, when the commercial hook-and-line fishery opens June 1 in Chesapeake Bay targeting resident populations of the smaller male striped bass.  At the same time, the bigger female stripers will begin migrating inshore off New York and Massachusetts, where they are landed by commercial hook-and-line fishermen in Massachusetts and by gillnets and hook-and-line fishermen in New York.  

Commercial landings of stripers have been very steady at between about 3,000 and 3,500 metric tons since the fishery was declared “recovered” in 1995 after overfishing in the 1970s and 1980s threatened the resource of this great-tasting fish. (The annual recreational harvest of this popular game fish, which is considerably larger, has been more than 10,000 metric tons in recent years.)  Stripers are fished heavily in the winter in the Chesapeake Bay during the commercial gillnet season, which runs from early December through February. Landings pick up again in June and remain strong through September when the fish migrate inshore up and down the Northeast Coast.

With landings of this prized fish so limited, don’t expect any bargains. Last summer the price to New York distributors for whole fresh stripers (stripers are rarely, if ever, frozen) ran between $4 and $5/lb. With fuel costs up this year and landings predicted to be about the same, don’t look for prices to be any lower than last summer. 

Conservation Notes

Advantages: Striped Bass are extremely fecund with a long reproductive lifespan so this anadromous species tends to be resilient. Most of the fish use the Chesapeake Bay for spawning. Although it was overfished in the 1970s and 1980s, effective management caused the striped bass to return to very healthy levels of abundance. Fish caught with hook and line gear carries a low risk of bycatch. The striped bass fishery in Maryland is currently undergoing full assessment for certification against the Marine Stewardship Council standard for sustainable fisheries.

Challenges: Striped bass are primarily caught using gillnets and handlines, and there is moderate concern over bycatch of endangered and protected species such as sea turtles and birds. While the overall level of bycatch in the fishery is not known, undersized striped bass are often caught and discarded.

Sustainability Ratings and Certifications

	Seafood Watch	SeaChoice	FishWise	Blue Ocean Institute	New England Aquarium	Marine Stewardship Council
U.S. Haul seine, pound net, hook and line, gillnet	Best Choice	Best Choice	Best  Choice	Green	A List
U.S.  Trawl	Best Choice	Best Choice	Best Choice	Green
U.S. Longline				Green

Rating Explanation

Seafood Watch and New England Aquarium's ratings for U.S. striped bass includes all the gear types listed above except longline. Blue Ocean Institute's rating includes all gear types.

Buying Tips

• About half of striped bass sold in markets is farmed and referred to as hybrid striped bass.
• The highest quality stripers are caught in the late fall and winter. After stripers spawn in the spring and summer, their flesh loses fat—and flavor.
• Smaller stripers under 10 pounds also have more tender flesh, say some buyers
• More than two-thirds of the striped bass harvest is landed by fishermen from Maryland and Virginia

Nutrition and Health

 *There are several local advisories cautioning consumption of wild striped bass due to PCBs, mercury, and pesticides.

Acknowledgements

• Seafood Watch by Monterey Bay Aquarium
• Blue Ocean Institute
• SeaChoice
• Seafood Choices Alliance
• Environmental Defense Fund
• NOAA Fisheries