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Identification of Important Habitats in Coastal New Hampshire

Chapter 17. Striped Bass

Striped bass, Morone saxatilus, are perhaps the most important game fish of coastal New England. Stripers apparently do not spawn in New Hampshire, but adults and juveniles migrating up the coast from Chesapeake Bay and Hudson River breeding centers can be seasonally abundant in coastal and estuarine waters. The following describes a simple habitat model for striped bass. The information was compiled from the literature, discussions with biologists from New Hampshire Fish and Game, and information provided by local anglers.

We attempted to identify striped bass feeding/resting habitats in Great Bay and the Hampton/Seabrook Estuary using base maps which depict the following factors:

DEPTH

Striped bass occur in water depths ranging from the deepest sections of the Piscataqua River (-70' mean low water) to relatively shallow flats (approaching the mean high water line).

STRUCTURE

Bass use drop-offs, where deeper water is adjacent to tidal creeks and flats, as feeding or holding areas. These offer cover, and supply food organisms carried out with the tide. For the same reasons bass frequent oyster, mussel or eelgrass beds. We digitized drop-off from color infrared 1:12000 aerial photos, including the edges of flats, marsh or shallower tributaries and adjacent deeper channels.

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE

We were provided with information on areas which are persistently used by fishermen (courtesy of Doug Grout, NHF&G, and by Al Gonsalves, John Cloyd and Richard White). Areas worked regularly by anglers in boats can be taken to indicate relatively high concentrations of striped bass, since most of the open waters of the bay are just as available. Land based anglers, in contrast, are more limited by access to areas which may or may not be attractive to fish.

We scored habitat suitability based on the occurrence of one or more of the above factors; overlapping occurrences were taken to indicate particularly attractive habitat. Therefore, areas having either 1) suitable water depth, 2) deeper water adjacent to flats and marshes, 3) known oyster, mussel or eelgrass beds, or 4) favored fishing locations, were each scored as 2.5 out of a possible 10. Areas in which any of the 4 factors overlapped were scored an additional 2.5 per factor, giving a maximum score of 10 (Figure of Adult/Juvenile Habitat).

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