Early life stage survival of striped bass in the Delaware River, USA.

Four 96-h in situ bioassays were conducted on or near the striped bass spawning grounds in the Delaware River within the States of Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, USA during 1989 to determine if water quality was sufficient to support larval survival. Tests were accomplished by holding 500 striped bass yolk-sac larvae in each of two 75 L chambers at four locations in the river ranging from north of Philadelphia, PA to Salem, NJ and at one location in the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. Survival varied significantly among stations; highest survival was in the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, where it averaged more than 50%. Lowest survival occurred at the station near Salem, NJ, approximately 30 km downriver of the primary spawning grounds, where less than 1% of the larvae survived in any of the tests. Survival at stations closest to the primary spawning grounds was weather-dependent; survival was over 47% during periods of little rainfall, but only 11% following periods of higher than average rainfall.