MARYLAND -- The Maryland Department of Natural Resources says the state’s striped bass population is showing only slight improvement, with reproduction levels still well below average.
The department’s 2025 juvenile striped bass survey recorded a young-of-year index of 4.0 — an uptick from recent years, but far below the long-term average of 11. It marks the seventh straight year of low spawning success for the species, which is Maryland’s state fish.
“Management actions taken over the last decade have resulted in a healthy population of spawning-age striped bass,” said Lynn Fegley, director of DNR’s Fishing and Boating Services. “However, continued low numbers of striped bass entering the population is a threat to this progress.”
Biologists sample 22 sites across the Chesapeake Bay each summer to measure the number of young fish. DNR says environmental conditions such as drought and warm winters continue to impact survival rates for striped bass eggs and larvae.
Similar struggles were also reported for other fish that migrate to freshwater to spawn, including white perch, blueback herring and American shad.
Maryland and other coastal states are expected to continue working together through the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission on new conservation measures to help rebuild the striped bass population.