Maine striped bass foraging ecology study

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Help scientists document what striped bass are eating in Maine waters by donating your fileted racks

A University of Maine research team is conducting the first ever scientific assessment of striped bass diet in Gulf of Maine waters. While striped bass diet has been well documented in southern waters along the U.S. Atlantic coast, to date there has not been a comprehensive study of what they eat in the Gulf of Maine.

This project seeks to understand how striped bass diet varies across body size, age, sex, location, and season.

How you can help: Donate your fileted racks with the stomach and other organs.

Instructions: 1) Put fish in plastic bags, keep on ice and/or freeze, 2) label the bags with date and location, 3) drop off at a partner location and we will come pick it up. If you don’t want to save the whole rack, put the stomach in a plastic ziplock bag and label the outside with date, location, length, sex (if known).

Partners:

Racks and samples can be dropped off at the following locations:

Southern Maine: Saco Bay Tackle, 977 Portland Rd, US Route 1,  Saco, ME

Portland Area: Gulf of Maine Research Institute, 350 Commercial St, Portland, M

Midcoast: Darling Marine Center, 193 Clarks Cove Road, Walpole, ME

Maine Department of Marine Resources, 194 McKown Point Rd, West Boothbay Harbor, ME

DownEast: coming soon!

 

What do the different organs tell us?

  • Stomach contents tell us what the fish ate that day, while a dorsal muscle sample (see figure below) can be evaluated with molecular tools and tell us what the fish ate over the last month (kind of like ecological C.S.I.)
  • Gonads tell us whether the fish is a male or female and spawning status (immature or ripe and running)
  • The head (w/otoliths) and/or scales allow us to age the fish using multiple methods

Together, all of these samples help us understand what prey are supporting population growth and distribution.

striped bass sampling

 

 

 

 

 

 

Questions?

Abby Remick (401) 651-1034, abrielle.remick@maine.edu

Michelle Staudinger (631) 664-7004, michelle.staudinger@maine.edu