Researchers from William & Mary’s Batten School and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) are out on the Rappahannock River each spring doing something most anglers have never seen up close: running an electrofishing boat through known striped bass spawning grounds, temporarily stunning fish to tag, measure, and release them. It’s hands-on science with direct stakes for everyone who chases stripers along the Atlantic coast.
The VIMS Striped Bass Program has been tagging spawning bass in Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay tributaries since 1988, building one of the longest-running datasets on striper survival rates and migration patterns on the East Coast. That data feeds directly into state and federal management decisions, and right now, what researchers are seeing isn’t encouraging.
The striped bass population is currently classified as overfished, with declines driven by years of consecutive low recruitment numbers. Senior marine scientist Jameson Gregg and his team are tracking those trends in real time. “Overall catches in both the Rappahannock and James Rivers have declined since 2020,” Gregg explained. “We’re seeing a big decline in male striped bass in our spawning areas. And of those we’re catching, the majority are on the younger side.”
The electrofishing method itself is worth understanding. A generator passes current through booms extending from the bow of the aluminum jonboat, emitting spheres of electricity five to fifteen feet into the water in any direction. Fish are temporarily stunned and float to the surface, where the team nets them, collects data on size, sex, and tissue samples, checks for existing tags or applies new ones, and returns them to the water.
One finding that stands out: the importance of big females. Striped bass over 28 inches — mostly coastal migrant females — are considered critical to rebuilding the stock because of the sheer volume of eggs they produce. Current management measures are specifically designed to protect those larger fish, which is the science behind slot limits and one-fish bag limits that anglers have been living with in recent seasons.
The ASMFC’s 2019 benchmark assessment found striped bass to be overfished and experiencing overfishing. The commission now considers the stock overfished but no longer experiencing overfishing, with current regulations targeting a stock rebuild by 2029.
The VIMS program is part of a cooperative tagging study involving 15 state and federal agencies along the Atlantic coast, coordinated by the ASMFC and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
For the full story on how the electrofishing surveys work and what the data means for striped bass management, read the complete piece at VIMS.edu.