Striped Bass critical habitat (St. Lawrence estuary population) defined by the analysis of available knowledge in 2011 and a scientific advice.

Purpose

The status of the Striped Bass population of the St. Lawrence Estuary is in constant evolution. It went from indigenous population until the end of 1960 to designated extirpated in Canada under the Species at Risk Act (SARA) in 2011.

Still in 2011, the status of the population of the St. Lawrence Estuary was reassessed by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) following the Ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune du Québec re-introduction efforts and was designated endangered (COSEWIC 2012). Under SARA, critical habitat must be designated for all threatened, endangered or extirpated species.

Additional Information

The analysis of available knowledge on habitat quality assessment and its use by the Striped Bass was realized using two research documents: Pelletier et al. (2010) and Robitaille (2010). These documents were then reviewed during a scientific peer review meeting in April 2010. A Recovery Strategy was also established in 2011.

Pelletier, A.-M., G. Verrault, G. Bourget and J. Dussureault. 2010. Utilisation de l’habitat par les différents stades de développement de la population réintroduite de bars rayés (Morone saxatilis) de l’estuaire du Saint-Laurent. Ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune du Québec, Direction de l’Expertise Faune-Forêt-Territoire du Bas-Saint-Laurent. 50 p.

Robitaille, J. 2010. Assessment of Habitat Quality and Habitat Use by the Extirped Striped Bass Population (Morone saxatilis) of St. Lawrence Estuary, Quebec DFO Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat. Research Document. 2010/052. 22 p.

DFO. 2011. Assessment of Habitat Quality and Habitat Use by the Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis) Population of the St. Lawrence Estuary, Quebec. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Sci. Advis. Rep. 2010/069.

DFO. 2011. Robitaille, J., M. Bérubé, A. Gosselin, M. Baril, J. Beauchamp, J. Boucher, S. Dionne, M. Legault, Y. Mailhot, B. Ouellet, P. Sirois, S. Tremblay G. Trencia, G. Verreault and D. Villeneuve. 2011. Recovery Strategy for the Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis), St. Lawrence Estuary Population, Canada. Species at Risk Act Recovery Strategy Series. Ottawa : Fisheries and Oceans Canada. xi + 51 p.

The available information on habitat used and frequented by the St. Lawrence Estuary striped bass population has been reviewed later than 2011 and can be consulted at:

https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/db177a8c-5d7d-49eb-8290-31e6a45d786c