Striped Bass
Morone saxatilis
Photo: D Ross Robertson · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons
Keep or release?
Where are you fishing?
Size limits, seasons and female rules are set by each state. Pick yours to get a verdict.
TIDE covers New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland rules, plus federal protections everywhere.
Verifying against GBIF…
Conservation status
IUCN Red ListLeast Concern globally, but the Atlantic coastal stock has been rebuilding since a 2019 assessment found it overfished — the reason for today's narrow slot limits.
What Least Concern means
Assessed as widespread and abundant. This describes the global population, not fishing pressure or legal protection.
On your plate
Check Local Guidance
A prized table fish. Keep only a fish inside your state's slot — the limit exists to protect the big breeding females.
Regional fishing status
Managed coastwide by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission; each state sets its own seasons and slot within that plan.
Conservation status and seafood sustainability are two different questions. A species can be Least Concern globally and still be overfished, protected or unsustainable where you are.
Habitat
Coastal waters, bays and rivers; it spawns in fresh water
Range
Atlantic coast from the St. Lawrence River to Florida, and the Gulf coast
Size
Commonly 50–100 cm; the biggest fish top 30 kg
Diet
Menhaden, herring, crabs, squid and worms
Lifespan
Up to about 30 years
Group
fish
Chesapeake Bay's rivers are the spawning grounds for most of the Atlantic coast's striped bass.
The biggest fish are almost all females, which is why slot limits send them back.
Maryland's state fish, known there as rockfish.
Cook this species
Ways to cook Striped Bass
Global conservation status does not tell you whether this species is sustainable to catch in your region. Where it was caught, and how, decides that.
Try this instead
Sustainable seafood alternatives
While Striped Bass stocks recover, these choices carry a lighter footprint.