#07–26 January 29, 2007

Santee Cooper striped bass meeting is Feb. 1 in Manning

The S.C. Department of Natural Resources Freshwater Fisheries Section continues a series of meetings regarding striped bass management in the Santee Cooper system on Thursday, Feb. 1 in Manning.
The Thursday, Feb. 1 meeting will begin at 6 p.m. at Central Carolina Technical College, F.E. DuBose Campus (auditorium), 3351 Sumter Highway, in Manning, located just north of Manning in Clarendon County on US Highway 521. The public is encouraged to attend.

For more information on the Feb. 1 striped bass management meeting in Manning, contact Scott Lamprecht, S.C. Department of Natural Resources (DNR) regional fisheries biologist, at (843) 825-3387 in Bonneau or via e-mail at LamprechtS@dnr.sc.gov. Meetings on striped bass management in the Santee Cooper system have already been held in Santee and Columbia.

Find out more about “Santee Cooper Striped Bass Regulation Options”

Despite management efforts, the number of harvestable-size striped bass in Santee Cooper has not increased as hoped, and trophy fish are rare. The number of fish produced also varies widely between years, and this, combined with the high mortality rate, causes wide annual fluctuations in the population. Poor spawning success and poor survival of stocked fish have lead to a sharp decline in the population over the last four years. Additional harvest restrictions and refinements in stocking procedures are essential to overcoming this decline.

The Santee Cooper system includes lakes Marion and Moultrie and the headwater rivers: Congaree, Wateree, Lower Broad, and Lower Saluda. Santee Cooper striped bass are essentially landlocked and most live their entire lives in the lakes and tributary rivers; with some utilization of the Cooper and lower Santee Rivers.
More News