Albemarle/Roanoke
Stock (A/R) - Recovered
Albemarle Sound Management Area (ASMA): North of a line from
Roanoke Marshes Point across to Eagle Nest Bay, which includes
Albemarle, Currituck, Roanoke and Croatan sounds and the joint and
inland water tributaries (management responsibility- NCMFC). Roanoke
River Management Area (RRMA): Roanoke River and its joint and inland
water tributaries, including the Cashie, Eastmost, and Middle rivers,
up to the Roanoke Rapids Dam (management responsibility- NCWRC)
The A/R stock of striped bass was overfished during the late 1970s
through the mid-1990s. Juvenile production dropped to all time lows,
harvest declined and age composition of the stock was truncated. In
1994, the NCMFC and the NCWRC approved a joint management plan for the
A/R stock. Management measures were implemented on all fisheries and
the stock began to respond. In 1997, the stock was declared recovered
by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. The 2001 stock
assessment shows that the A/R stock is currently at a high level of
biomass and abundance. Biomass and abundance have increased steadily
since 1989. Recruitment is above average for 7 of the last 9 years,
with the 1999 and 2001 cohorts below average, and spawner abundance is
at a series (1982-1999) high. The stock is fully exploited based on
the current reference values; fishing mortality on the reference ages
(age 3-7) is estimated at 0.23 in 2000, slightly below the target of
0.28. Fishing mortality (age 3-7) peaked in 1988 at 1.59 then fell
sharply, and annual age 3-7 fishing mortality fluctuated around the
target over the last 6 years. Average landings from 1995-2000 were
about 25% higher than those from the first years of the analysis
period (1982-1986).
Stock Status:
Central/Southern Internal Stocks-
Concerned
Management Area– All coastal, joint and contiguous inland waters of
North Carolina south of a line from Roanoke Marshes Point across to
Eagle Nest Bay.
NCDMF has not conducted any directed biological sampling for
striped bass in the other coastal rivers since the early 1980s due to
loss of federal aid funds and staff. Commercial landings have been
collected annually by NCDMF. The Marine Recreational Fishery
Statistics Survey is ongoing in the coastal waters of these systems
but existing coverage does not provide a precise estimate of harvest
and there are no other directed creel. The NCWRC has conducted some
spawning stock surveys in some systems since the middle 1990s.
Striped Bass FMP Process
Stock Status
Issues Goal
and Objectives
Terms and Definitions
Contact Information