More Than 220,000 Striped Bass Released Into The Cape Fear River

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Marine Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Edenton National Fish Hatchery have joined together to enhance the Striped Bass population in the lower Cape Fear River in hopes of boosting natural reproduction in the waterway.

With financial support provided by the North Carolina Marine & Estuary Foundation, 50,000 5- to 8-inch Striped Bass were grown out at the Edenton National Fish Hatchery over the summer and released into the Cape Fear River below Lock and Dam #1 in Bladen County this month. As part of the stocking strategy, more than 170,000 1- to 2 inch Striped Bass were also stocked into the river earlier this spring.