Hudson River Fishes and their Environment

<em>Abstract.</em>—Our objective was to determine if dispersal of age-2+ striped bass out of the Hudson River was affected by cohort abundance or stock size. We evaluated dispersal using the location of tagged age-2+ striped bass (in or outside of the Hudson River) and distance from the mouth of the Hudson River when they were recaptured by anglers. The proportion of age-2+ striped bass recaptured outside the Hudson River annually during May was significantly and positively correlated with cohort abundance (<em>r </em>= 0.978, <EM>P </EM>< 0.001), but not with stock size <em>(r </em>= 0.739, <EM>P </EM>= 0.094). The maximum distance at which an age-2+ striped bass was recaptured outside the Hudson River annually was also significantly and positively correlated with cohort abundance (<em>r </em>= 0.869, <EM>P </EM>< 0.025). Therefore, it appears that dispersal of age-2+ striped bass out of the Hudson River was densitydependent and due to cohort abundance.