. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. Insights into Current Sea Grant Research Secrets of Striper Spawning They call it squeezin' season. Every spring Sea Grant Associate Director Ron Hodson and North Carolina State University zoologist Craig Sullivan become midwives, directing the birth of thousands of hybrid striped bass finger- lings. It all takes place at the Pamlico Aquaculture Center in Beaufort County. And it's all part of a program de- signed to control the life cycle of the striped bass. With that kind of control, broodstock — fish us
. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. Insights into Current Sea Grant Research Secrets of Striper Spawning They call it squeezin' season. Every spring Sea Grant Associate Director Ron Hodson and North Carolina State University zoologist Craig Sullivan become midwives, directing the birth of thousands of hybrid striped bass finger- lings. It all takes place at the Pamlico Aquaculture Center in Beaufort County. And it's all part of a program de- signed to control the life cycle of the striped bass. With that kind of control, broodstock — fish used for breeding purposes — can be domesticated. With domesticated broodstock. the infant hybrid striped bass industry could take off like a space shuttle. But why "squeezin' season?" Striped bass females and white bass males are caught in the wild during spawning season in North Carolina lakes and rivers and brought to the center. There, they are injected with hor- mones that will increase the spawning urge and encourage the ripening of the female eggs. Males are injected with hormones to increase sperm production. Then Hodson and Sullivan begin their watchful vigil. In about 36 hours, the fish are ready for the careful hands of the researchers. When their eggs are ripe, the female fish are anesthetized and their lower bodies are squeezed. The eggs, resembling a frosty lemon-lime drink, are deposited into a metal tray. The sperm from the male fish is mixed with the eggs until Hodson and Sullivan are sure fertilization takes place. The fertilized eggs are then placed in cylindrical jars where they are held in suspension by circulating water, much like they would be in nature. In two days, the eggs hatch into ";. It's a complicated process that Hodson and Sullivan hope to make easier. The best way to simplify it, they say, is to develop domesticated broodstocks and methods for spawning them on demand. Discovering this secret will give the hybrid stripe
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