Research Document - 2015/024

Overview of 2013 Bay of Fundy Striped Bass Biology and General Status

By R.G. Bradford, E.A. Halfyard, T. Hayman, and P. LeBlanc

Abstract

Anadromous Striped Bass spawning populations occur in three of the rivers flowing to the Bay of Fundy (BoF): the Shubenacadie and Annapolis rivers, Nova Scotia, and the Saint John River, New Brunswick. The populations collectively define the BoF Striped Bass Designatable Unit (DU). The DU has been assessed as ‘at risk’ by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) on two occasions, the first in 2004 as Threatened and the second in 2012 as Endangered. Declining demographic status resulting from loss of spawning populations and unmitigated threats to extant spawning populations were the most significant factors contributing to the ‘at risk’ designations. The BoF Striped Bass DU is presently under consideration for listing as Endangered on Schedule 1 of Canada’s Species at Risk Act (SARA). A Recovery Potential Assessment completed in 2006 in response to the Threatened designation is, therefore, in need of an update. The aim of this document is to synthesize and to update where possible information relevant to the Recovery Potential Assessment. The information is presented both for the individual spawning populations that define the DU and for the DU as a whole.

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