[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 15 (Thursday, January 23, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3499-3500]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-1654]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
[I.D. 011497A]


Atlantic Striped Bass Fishery; 1995 Survey of Atlantic Striped 
Bass Fisheries

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: NMFS announces the availability and summarizes the results of 
a survey of the Atlantic coast striped bass fisheries for 1995. The 
Atlantic Striped Bass Conservation Act (Act), requires NMFS to provide 
information on the status of the fisheries.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the survey results are available from Paul Perra, 
NOAA/NMFS/FX2, 8484 Georgia Avenue, Suite 245, Silver Spring, MD 20910.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul Perra, (301) 427-2014.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    The Act requires the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of the 
Interior to conduct a comprehensive annual survey of the Atlantic 
striped bass fisheries. The following is a summary of the survey for 
1995. Management measures that severely restricted the harvest of 
striped bass by commercial and recreational fisheries were moderately 
relaxed in 1995, as the stocks continue to rebuild.
    The 1995 commercial harvest of striped bass was 3,810,608 lb 
(1.728.5 mt), an increase of 98 percent above the landings of 1,923,000 
lb (872.3 mt) in

[[Page 3500]]

1994. The Chesapeake Bay area (Maryland, Virginia, and the Potomac 
River) accounted for 52 percent of the 1995 commercial landings, while 
Massachusetts and North Carolina accounted for 21 percent and 9 percent 
respectively.
    The recreational catch in 1995 was an estimated 9.6 million striped 
bass, of which 1.1 million were harvested; the remaining 8.5 million 
were released. The estimated weight of the recreational harvest was 
12.1 million lb (5,492.4 mt).
    Juvenile production in 1995 was lower than in 1994 but remained at 
levels above the long term averages for New York, Maryland, North 
Carolina, and Virginia. The Delaware juvenile production index of 7.6 
was the highest in the time series for that index, which began in 1980.
    Information from sampling the population of striped bass shows an 
increased relative abundance from recent year classes. Copies of the 
survey are available upon request (see ADDRESSES).

    Dated: January 16, 1997.
Rolland A. Schmitten,
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 97-1654 Filed 1-22-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F