Sonic Tracking Striped Bass in the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal

Abstract

To observe striped bass, Morone saxatilis (Walbaum), migration through the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, we placed ultrasonic transmitters in the stomachs of five adult bass and traced their movements for as long as 4 days and nights in the spring of 1971. Three bass were prespawning and 2 postspawning. The tags were Smith-Root SR-69B; the receiving equipment consisted of an SR-70H hydrophone and a TA-60 sonic receiver. Tagged bass ranged from 470 to 908 mm in fork length. We experienced no shedding of tags, nor difficulty with sound transmission and reception. No bass tracked was travelling at all times; on the contrary, there were long rest periods between moves during both day and night. Fish were more active during the night than during the day. Prespawning adults tended to be moving more constantly than postspawning fish which tended to linger more within the canal. Lost signal could be picked up again fairly easily. One tagged fish was refound after a 24-hour interval.