Migration, environmental change and pollutants

We will focus on Striped Bass migration that is an annual (seasonal event) and the associated migration of Striped Bass predators (animals that eat Striped Bass) and Striped Bass prey (animals they eat).

Striped Bass north of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina undergo two types of migration,

1. spawning migration and
2. coastal migration.

Striped Bass are considered an anadromous fish because during their spawning migration they go from salt water, their preferred environment, to fresh water to breed. Breeding occurs in the Savannah River, Georgia near the end of March while breeding occurs in mid-June in the Miramichi River of New Brunswick. The highest concentration of Striped Bass spawn in the Albemarle Sound and tributaries including the Roanoke River in North Carolina, Delaware River, in the Cheasapeake Bay and its tributaries and in the Hudson River in New York.

Another example of an anadromous fish is the salmon. Many other fishes have the opposite pattern where they live in fresh water and migrate to spawn in salt water (catadromous; for example the eel).

After the spawning migration, Striped Bass along the Atlantic coast undergo coastal migration where some fish can migrate as far north as the Maritime Provinces.

Migration and environmental change

The migration and life cycles of the Striped Bass and their predators and prey provide a glimpse of the connection of seasonal changes in environmental parameters such as water temperature and day length with the movement of animals. The study of migration is a global phenomenon that includes learning and integrating many disciplines including geography, biology, meterology, mathematics, oceanography.

Questions to research:

Have Striped Bass populations been introduced to non-native areas?

Do all striped bass spawn and undergo a spawning migration?

Do all Striped Bass undergo a coastal migration?

Striped bass normally live in salt water but can they survive if confined to fresh water?

What environmental factors trigger the two types of migration? Are the triggers the same?