Dispersal of Age-2+ Striped Bass Out of the Hudson River

摘要

Our objective was to determine if dispersal of age-2+ striped bass out of the Hudson River was affected by cohort abundance or stock size. We evaluated dispersal using the location of tagged age-2+ striped bass (in or outside of the Hudson River) anddistance from the mouth of the Hudson River when they were recaptured by anglers. The proportion of age-2+ striped bass recaptured outside the Hudson River annually during May was significantly and positively correlated with cohort abundance (r = 0.978,P < 0.001), but not with stock size (r = 0.739, P = 0.094). The maximum distance at which an age-2+ striped bass was recaptured outside the Hudson River annually was also significantly and positively correlated with cohort abundance (r = 0.869, P < 0.025). Therefore, it appears that dispersal of age-2+ striped bass out of the Hudson River was density-dependent and due to cohort abundance.