Spatially Explicit Models of Striped Bass Growth Potential in Chesapeake Bay

Abstract Fish growth rate potential is defined as the expected growth rate of a predator if placed in a particular volume of water having known physical and biological characteristics. We used the concept of fish growth rate potential to evaluate the seasonal and spatial growth patterns of striped bass Morone saxatilis across a midsection of the Chesapeake Bay. The growth rate potential of a 4-year-old (1.9-kg) striped bass was assessed by integrating spatially explicit field data on prey sizes, prey densities, and water temperature with a foraging model and a species-specific bioenergetics model offish growth rate, Prey sizes and densities were measured bimonthly at a high spatial resolution along a west–east transect of the bay with a 120-kHz dual-beam acoustic system. Along the transect, the water column was divided by columns and rows into a grid of cells 30 m long and 0.5 m deep. Growth and foraging models were implemented in each cell to calculate expected striped bass growth rate, Two-dimensional (...