Adult striped bass purchased from commercial fishermen on Albemarle Sound, N. C. were transported to the Fayetteville and Weldon Hatcheries, injected with hormones,and spawned. In addition to ripe fish brought into the Weldon Hatchery by fishermen, sexually mature striped bass were obtained from the Roanoke River by electro-fishing gear. These fish, like those from Albemarle Sound, were injected with hormones, held in glass-front plywood aquaria (32" x 24" x 16"), and spawned. Excellent hatches were obtained from these eggs. Laboratory experiments, confirmed by actual practice, indicated that striped bass eggs following six to 28 hours of incubation can be transported up to 12 hours in plastic bags containing water and oxygen with no significant increase in mortality. Attempts to rear fry in aquaria failed although limited success was obtained in outdoor concrete pools. The fry in these pools began baking artificial food 28 days after hatching. Several hundred fry also were reared in earthen ponds. Predation by Chaoborus spp. in these ponds proved especially serious during the sacfry stage. From various observations, it appeared that rapid changes in pH and/or other chemical characteristics were lethal to fry. The 24-hour TLm values were determined for Quinaldine, MS-222, salt, and pH using striped bass fingerlings as the test fish. The two-hour TLm values also were determined. Quinaldine appeared to be superior to MS-222 as a tranquilizer for striped bass. Experiments indicated that no morbality could be attributed to the handling of striped bass fingerlings per se. W,as presented at the annual meeting of the Southern Division of the American Fisheries Society, Tulsa, Oklahoma, October 1965.
