Spatial and Temporal Differences of Atlantic Menhaden Recruitment across Major Drainages of the Chesapeake Bay
Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus) is well-known for its commercial and ecological importance and has been historically declining in the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, one of its principal nursery habitats along the eastern coast. Utilizing data from the Striped Bass Seine Survey of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, we evaluated how the distribution of over 1 million Atlantic menhaden had changed from 1966 to 2004 for 12 river drainages. We observed significant or marginally significant declines in 42% of the drainages, with drainages of the northern Bay showing the majority of...
