Striped Bass Glossary

  • Age-length key – determines age of fish at specific length groups
  • Anadromous – describes a species that migrates from the ocean to fresh water to spawn (striped bass)
  • ASMFC – Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
  • Bycatch – fish caught that were not the intended target
  • Caudal Fin – the tail fin of fishes and some other aquatic vertebrates, used for propulsion during locomotion
  • Confidence intervals (95%) – a range in which we are 95% sure that the estimated value will be found
  • Dorsal Fin - located on the top of a fish along the back between the head and tail. A fish may have a single dorsal fin or two connected or unconnected fins.​
  • Gill net – Net used to entangle fish
  • Index – a calculated number indicating the relative abundance of a species
  • Length-frequency – graph depicting the number or percentage of fish at designated lengths in aStriped Bass
    population
  • MRIP – Marine Recreational Information Program
  • Otolith – inner ear bone used to age fish
  • Peritoneum – lining of the abdominal cavity
  • Pound net – stationary net in the shape of a pen that holds fish alive
  • Recruitment – the addition of new fish to a stock
  • Relative abundance – a measure of population size taken repeatedly with the same gear and methodology
  • Roe – fish eggs
  • Scale – used to age fish
  • Seine – a long net with weights at the bottom and floats at the top
  • Semi-anadromous - describes a species that migrates from brackish water to fresh water to spawn (white perch)
  • Stock – a population designated for study or management
  • USFWS – United States Fish and Wildlife Service
  • Year-class – all fish of a particular species spawned during a particular annual spawning period
  • Young-of-year (YOY) – fish that are less than 1 year of age