Masters Theses

Date of Award

12-1983

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Wildlife and Fisheries Science

Major Professor

J. Larry Wilson

Committee Members

David A. Etnier, Thomas K. Hill, Richard J. Strange

Abstract

Food habits and growth of young-of-year striped bass fingerlings stocked in 1981 and 1982 into Cherokee Reservoir, Tennessee, were examined. Food habits and growth of stocked Morone and Stizostedion hybrids and native white bass were also analyzed. Striped bass stocked in 1981 maintained relatively poor condition and grew slowly, reaching only 9.4 cm by December of their first year on a diet that consisted primarily of Chironomidae and Crustacea. Morone hybrids stocked the same year grew better than striped bass, reaching 24.7 cm by November on a diet that contained more shad. Striped bass fingerlings stocked in 1982 began consuming small shad almost immediately and continued to utilize shad throughout their first growing season. These fish maintained good condition and grew rapidly to 27.1 cm by October of their first year and 31.8 cm by March of the following spring. White bass demonstrated similar year class differences which suggested that environmental factors accounted for at least part of the difference between striped bass year classes. The more rapid growth of striped and white bass in 1982 was attributed to a ten-fold increase in threadfin shad abun-dance between 1981 and 1982 which was the result of recovery from a severe winter-kill in 1976-77. Earlier stocking dates and high water conditions in 1982 may also have contributed to more rapid growth of the 1982 year class of striped bass.

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