Fish species such as striped bass and summer flounder can show remarkable fluctuations in abundance from year to year. The roots of these fluctuations can be found in differences in the success of spawning and the survival and health of young fish. This grant will support VIMS Ph.D. student Ryan Schloesser working with Mary Fabrizio to measure the lipid content of young striped bass and summer flounder picked up by the VIMS trawl survey in different parts of Chesapeake Bay. This information will be analyzed to help improve the methods that fisheries managers use to measure the success of cohorts of young fish and predict future abundance of adult fish.
Funded by the Virginia Sea Grant Coastal & Marine Science RFP
Project detail: Mary Fabrizio (VIMS) and Ryan Schloesser (VIMS). The role of variation in condition of individual young-of-the-year fish: implications for recruitment dynamics of striped bass and summer flounder in Chesapeake Bay.
