An Overview of Morone Culture

Reginal M. Harrell; Donald W. Webster

1.1 HISTORY OF STRIPED BASS AQUACULTURE

The genus Morone is comprised of four species found in North America and is a member of the family Percichthyidae, the temperate basses (Setzler et al., 1980). Johnson (1984) placed the Morone in their own family, Moronidae, but they still are recognized by Robins et al. (1991) as belonging to Percichthyidae. Of the four species, the striped bass, M. saxatilis, and white perch, M. americana, are principally Atlantic coast drainage species. Striped bass also are found in the coastal tributaries of the Gulf of Mexico from western Florida to Louisiana (Meriman, 1941; Raney, 1952; Brown, 1965). The other two species, white bass, M. chrysops, and yellow bass, M. mississippiensis, are principally Mississippi River drainage species (Lee et al., 1980). There are also two similar European species, Dicentrarchus labrax and D. punctatus, which have had their nomenclature fluctuate between Morone and Dicentrarchus (Setzler et al., 1980). Historical and current vernacular retains the genus Dicentrarchus. Habitat, spawning, and culture requirements of Dicentrarchus and Morone are very similar, and there are a few excellent publications covering this information in detail. Most notable among the references are Pickett and Pawson (1994) covering the biology and conservation, and Barnabe (1980, 1990) for biology, life history, and culture requirement information.

Due to man’s movement of these species, today Morone can be found in almost all 48 contiguous United States. Striped bass have also been exported to the former USSR (Doroshev, 1970), France and Portugal (Setzler et al., 1980), and most recently Israel, Taiwan, and Germany (Striped Bass Growers Association, Raleigh, NC, personal communication). Several synopses of the biological data of striped bass are available (Westin and Rogers,1978; Setzler et al., 1980; Hill et al., 1989).

Artificial culture of Morone was initiated in the early 1880s when S.G. Worth constructed a hatchery on the banks of the Roanoke River in Weldon, NC (Worth, 1884). Eggs were collected from gravid females as they were spawning in the river below the hatchery, fertilized with captured males, and incubated in standard MacDonald incubating jars. During the first year of operation over two million eggs were collected and almost 300,000 fry were hatched and stocked into the river (Worth, 1884). It was not until the mid 1960s in South Carolina that a means to hormone-induce spawning was developed, which allowed culturists to artificially ovulate gravid females taken from areas removed from their natural spawning grounds (Stevens et al., 1965; Stevens 1966, 1967). A good review of the history and overview of striped bass culture and management can be found in Stevens (1984) and Whitehurst and Stevens (1990). See Chapter 8 of this volume for an overview of hybridization.

The seminal reproduction efforts in South Carolina were subsequently refined and the information developed into a variety of publications including Bayless (1972), Bonn et al. (1976),Kerby (1986),Harrell et al. (1990a), and Chapter 2 of this volume. Essentially all the knowledge we have today regarding culture requirements of Morone, including that necessary for food-fish production, came from the expansion of a concerted effort throughout the southeastern United States to provide striped bass and interspecific hybrid Morone for stocking public reservoirs for recreational fishing and fisheries management (Whitehurst and Stevens, 1990; Harrell et al., 1990b). Readers interested in the more practical aspects of culture should refer to these references. This book, although it will cover considerable aspects of the culture of the fish, is more focused on the science of Morone biology and culture rather that the “how to” approaches that can be found in those referenced publications.

1.2 COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION

Due to the success associated with Morone population enhancement efforts in inland systems and an associated decline in wild commercial harvests from coastal populations, a food-fish industry began to develop in the mid 1980s. As a result of its success and market acceptance, today striped bass and hybrid commercial aquaculture is considered the fastest growing segment of the U.S. aquaculture industry (USDA, 1992). The industry also is heavily supported by its own producers association, the Striped Bass Growers Association.

Millions of Morone fingerlings are produced annually in state and federal hatcheries for population enhancement and in private hatcheries as seed stock for food-fish production and fee fishing operations (Table 1.1, Figure 1.1). These fingerlings are stocked in earthen ponds, flow-through and closed recirculating tanks, and net-pens throughout the U.S., and currently yield millions of pounds of food-fish annually (Table 1.2, Figure 1.2). Upon examining the information provided in Table 1.2, one quickly realizes that there has been over a 1,400% increase in production in 10 years, and the industry is still growing annually in the number of producers and production.