| Summary |
One of the best known sport fisheries for striped bass in the Canadian Maritimes is located on the Annapolis River in Nova Scotia. In the mid-1970s, this population exhibited a decline in numbers. Creel and spawning surveys suggested recruitment failure as one cause for this decline. Since the last creel survey conducted in 1978, a tidally-driven electrical generating station was constructed in the Annapolis River estuary. My study was conducted to determine the present status of the Annapolis striped bass population and to provide post-operation baseline data for future population status assessments. The study was conducted between 1 June and 22 October 1987. During the creel survey, 937 hours were sampled for a total of 898 fishermen and 60 fish. The number of anglers was only 36.6% of that in 1978. Fishing effort was lower compared to 1978, but fishing success was 60% higher (19.8 h/fish). Most anglers (95%) were from Nova Scotia, primarily local residents from Annapolis County. Only 5% were residents of other Canadian provinces or the USA, indicating a decline in non-local and tourist participation from that reported in 1978. Fishing effort was greatest in July and August; success was best in June (13% of the yearly total, averaging 14.8 h/fish). Bucktails were the preferred lure, but live eels resulted in the best catch/effort (1.7 h/fish). Anglers preferred the late afternoon hours for fishing, especially those coinciding with flood tides. A total of 223 striped bass were sampled. Of these, 60.1% were caught on rod and reel and the remainder by gill net. Stomach content analysis indicated that striped bass were opportunistic feeders, primarily piscivorous, although invertebrates made up about 25% of the overall diet by weight. For all fish examined, striped bass averaged 723 ± 195 mm FL (n=213), 5.42 ± 4.99 kg (n=164) and 7.1 ± 4.6 years of age (n=167). These values are significantly lower than those for 1978. The von Bertalanffy growth equation for the Annapolis River striped bass population was Lj= 1260(l-e0-ll(t+0.96)) Data collected during this study suggested that the recruitment failure reported in the 1970s appears to have ended. Tag returns from this and previous studies, combined with the biological data from this study, suggest that the Annapolis River striped bass population is composed of a mixture of migratory and resident fish. The creel survey was an effective method of sampling the population to monitor the effects of the tidal power station on the population. Further study is required to identify the nursery area for striped bass spawned in the Annapolis River, and to determine what percentage ofthe population is migratory. |
