ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) — While recent ice and cold temperatures have created problems around the region, those snow clouds may also come with a silver lining. Extended winter weather could ensure a quality Atlantic striped bass spawn.
Atlantic striped bass provide a billion dollar commercial and sportfishery from North Carolina to Maine. While those fish migrate through the year, 70% to 90% of them are spawned in the Virginia and Maryland portions of the Chesapeake Bay.
The past five Atlantic striped bass spawns have been dismal. The past five winters have been warmer than average. Fisheries experts say there is a connection between the poor spawns and warm winters.
It is a matter of zooplankton hatches syncing up with striped bass hatches. Newly-hatched striped bass, known as fry, feed primarily on tiny zooplankton. However, when winters are warmer, zooplankton hatches come earlier, well before striped bass hatches. Consequently, those zooplankton are gone by the time striped bass have spawned and hatched.