The Striper Think Tank. Rutgers University Marine Field Station, Tuckerton, New Jersey.
Rutgers University is tracking the migratory patterns of striped bass from their Marine Field Station, which is located within the 110,000-acre Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve in southeastern New Jersey. Through Rutgers’ StriperTracker program, scientists hope to gain a better understanding of the striped bass population size and structure, and to learn about the differing migratory patterns exhibited within the striper population. This information is of particular importance to recreational fishermen as it would encourage sound regulation of the striper fishery, and keep the stocks at a healthy level.
StriperTracker began in 2003 and to date 87 recreationally caught stripers have been tagged with internal acoustic transmitters. The fish were returned to the Mullica River/Great Bay ecosystem just south of Atlantic City and then monitored by 13 hydrophone (listening) stations. Each transmitter has a unique sequence of tones that can be heard by the hydrophones up to a half-mile away, and the hydrophones are strategically positioned at inlets and channels so that any passing striper will be recorded into a database.
Researchers nicknamed these state-of-the-art tags, "Mr. Noodles" tags.
The study has found that some tagged stripers have never left the estuary, while others have migrated to Maine every year and returned the following spring to spawn. To date, the program has maintained contact with 70 percent of the tagged stripers, with the remaining being unaccounted for or caught by anglers throughout the entire Mid-Atlantic region.
A Rutgers University student tags and releases "Sparky" the striped bass. Scientists hope to learn about differnt migration petterns within the population.
As technology improves, Rutgers scientists plan to place more hydrophones at the entrances of various East Coast bays, and eventually expand their study to include bluefish, sturgeon and summer flounder. The transmitters currently in use have a life span of about two years and cost $315 per unit. Many fishing clubs, businesses and classrooms have sponsored and named the stripers that are being studied, and the tracking information for each fish is available on-line. For more information on this project, or to sponsor your own fish, visit www.StriperTracker.org.
