Published in 1978, it played an important role in stimulating Congressional and public awareness of the plight of the East Coast's migratory stocks of striped bass, an awareness that has helped put the species on the road to recovery.

"And when the migratory stocks showed up in the spring and saw there was no food, none of them came into the bay."

Historically, striped bass spawned in the rivers entering Chesapeake Bay have accounted for about 90 percent of the East Coast's migratory stock of the species.

Before the construction of dams, the River had migratory stocks of sturgeons (Acipenser gueldenstaedtii, A. stellatus, Huso huso) and cyprinids (Alburnus mento, Vimba vimba).

The effort begun early in this decade to drastically curtail recreational and commercial harvesting of dwindling migratory stocks of East Coast striped bass has been successful.

In this decade, the production of stripers from the Chesapeake system, which has historically accounted for most of the migratory stocks of the species in the region, has been far below par except for 1982.

The Hudson's stripers, which do not wander as far afield, account for most of the remainder of the migratory stocks.

Although pollution has undoubtedly contributed to the decline of the East Coast's migratory stocks of the species, attrition from this source cannot be measured with any degree of accuracy.

He also criticized the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's longstanding regulations - as they apply to New Jersey's waters - that restrict the harvest of migratory stocks of striped bass.

The production of young-of-the-year stripers from the Chesapeake Bay river system, which has historically accounted for most of the East Coast's migratory stocks of the species, has been far below par for all of this decade save 1982.