Undersized Stripedbass openly sold

[fishweewee]

sometimes those farm-raised/hybrids are easy to distinguish from their wild cousins. usually, the lines are a bit broken. also, the hybrids are more "squat" than pure-breeds.

[MakoMike]

Ive seen lots of whole farm raised hybrid bass in markets up and down the coast. Still might pay to call DEM, just to keep them honest.

[RNC]

Its not uncommon for some asian markets to have undersized stripers but they are all farm raised and comes with tags.

[Karl F]

As long as they aren't coming out of Lowell

Like FWW said, they (farm raised) do have the broken line and the football shape, pretty easy to distinguish.

A legal sized keeper, thru the back door, will get ya a full course dinner, late night, at a certain local Chinese Restaurant down here , or so's I've been told....

[sokinwet]

I believe that during the MA commercial season it is illegal to sell stripers under 34" During the "off season" smaller fish may be purchased from legal out of state sources.

[Swimmer]

I have read a that certain young bass have the out of sequence stripes because of the genetic abnormalities caused by the many years of PCB infusion into the adult fish. One person that spoke of this was Bob Pond. The uneven stripes was thought to be "possibly" the fishes body change to the PCB's. That being said, I find it hard to believe that the size of the fish in the picture, in the Globe Magazine, is the size fish that would turn a profit for a fish farmer. Farm raised farm do not have brilliant stripes or coloring I thought. The overall coloring is faded. A 12" fish just isn't profitable for anyone but a poacher.

[zacs]

i am in the business man. the stripes are bright, the fish are whole, and they are sold in various size ranges as low as 1 lb fish. 1-3 lb. fish are common.

[FormerUser]

Originally Posted by Swimmer

That being said, I find it hard to believe that the size of the fish in the picture, in the Globe Magazine, is the size fish that would turn a profit for a fish farmer. Farm raised farm do not have brilliant stripes or coloring I thought. The overall coloring is faded. A 12" fish just isn't profitable for anyone but a poacher.

Smaller=faster turnover.Remember these fish are raised in southern states and are steadily fed a high protein grain diet.Hybrids grow much quicker than either striped or white bass.They can be "farmed" year around.12" size can be attained in no time,though most brought to market are larger.They are just as brilliant as stripers except the stripes for the most part are broken.

Many a evening when I lived in TX.was spent hybrid fishing on Lake Braunig and a few other lakes.

If you're really interested in how they're farmed check out:
www.aquanic.org
Its a LONG read though.