The Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ 2026 juvenile striped bass survey recorded a young-of-year index of 5.5. Although it marks the eighth consecutive year of low spawning success for striped bass, this is the highest index recorded since 2018. The survey tracks the reproductive success of Maryland’s state fish in Chesapeake Bay.
During this annual survey, fisheries biologists sample 22 sites located in four major striped bass spawning areas: the Choptank, Nanticoke, and Potomac rivers, and the upper Chesapeake Bay. Biologists visit each site three times per summer, collecting fish with two sweeps of a 100-foot beach seine net. The index represents the average number of 3-inch or smaller juvenile striped bass caught in 132 sweeps of the net. The survey, one of the longest-running continuous fish surveys in the United States, has been conducted in Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay since 1954.
This year’s survey captured 723 juvenile striped bass. The highest performing areas were the upper Bay and Choptank River. Although striped bass catches were below average, the fish were more widely distributed than in recent years, indicating suitable habitat throughout the nursery areas. The long-term average index for the survey is currently 10.8, while the index was 4.0 in 2025 and 2.0 in 2024.
These consecutive below-average year classes will likely become more apparent among the adult population of striped bass in the coming years, as the juveniles reach maturity. A benchmark stock assessment for the coastwide population of Atlantic striped bass is underway and expected to complete peer review in spring 2027. The stock assessment will evaluate the condition of striped bass from Maine to North Carolina and inform future management actions.
| The Virginia Institute of Marine Science conducts a similar survey in the southern portion of the Bay.Read more. |
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