ESTIMATING SURVIVAL OF STOCKED HYBRID STRIPED BASS

The overall goal of this project is to determine the survival rate (%) of stocked fingerling hybrid Striped Bass to the point when they recruit to the fishery (i.e. age-2 and ~350 mm total length). The activities outlined below in the objectives are needed to achieve the overall goal. The objectives of the project are to:1. Re-analyze existing creel survey data to determine the annual hybrid Striped Bass harvest, the size structure of the harvest, and the proportion of harvest attributed to guided trips on DeGray Lake, Arkansas;2. Re-analyze existing population demographic and mark-recapture data to determine annual total mortality, annual exploitation, and annual natural mortality of fish recruited to the fishery;3. Use data and statistics from objectives 1 and 2, as well as historical stocking records, to determine the survival rates of year classes stocked in the years just before the creel surveys; and 4. Enlist guides and other avid hybrid Striped Bass anglers to keep diaries of harvest numbers and lengths to determine the survival rates of year classes stocked in the years before the collection of current annual harvest data.