Frequently Asked Questions about Striped Bass Stocking

The striped bass stocking program is a cooperative agreement between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries, and the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. The Watha State Fish Hatchery (operated by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission) provided the fish for the Cape Fear River annually from 2008–2022 and the Edenton National Fish Hatchery (operated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) provides the fish for the Albemarle Sound, Tar-Pamlico and Neuse rivers, and also provided fish for the Cape Fear River in 2024.

Because the stocking program is a collaborative effort between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries, and the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, federal and state tax dollars from various sources help fund the stocking program. Striped bass raised at the Edenton National Hatchery are funded exclusively from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s annual appropriated budget. Striped bass raised at the Watha State Hatchery are funded mainly through the Federal Wildlife and Sportfish Restoration Program, with a small portion coming from state recreational fishing license revenues. The federal restoration program is supported by federal taxes on boat engine fuel and by excise taxes paid by manufacturers, producers, and importers of fishing equipment and motorboats. These funds are then divided among states based on the number of anglers in each state. Learn more about the Sportfish Restoration Fund here. Due to federal funding shortages in 2024 and 2025, the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries and the non-profit organization North Carolina Marine and Estuary Foundation provided resources to Edenton National Hatchery to maximize production of phase-II striped bass. 

The cost varies annually, depending on the price of supplies, such as fuel and feed, and the total number of striped bass raised. In 2020 the estimated cost at the Edenton National Fish Hatchery to grow striped bass out to the phase-II (5-8 inches) size was around $2.00 per fish.

No, hybrid striped bass are not stocked into North Carolina’s coastal rivers and never have been. However, hybrid striped bass occasionally escape from striped bass aquaculture facilities located in the coastal plain, usually due to a hurricane or severe storm event. Sampling of striped bass from the commercial and recreational fisheries reveals that in the years following such an escape, hybrid striped bass compose a large portion of recreational and commercial harvest in the areas closest to where the escape occurred. 

Striped bass have been stocked in North Carolina’s coastal rivers at various sizes and numbers for decades. The earliest record of stocking phase-II (5–8 inch) fish in the Albemarle Sound area occurred in 1978. From 1978–1996, over 700,000 phase-II fish were stocked in the Albemarle Sound system. In addition, over one million phase-I (1–2 inch) fish were stocked in the Albemarle Sound system from 1976–1992. Stocking in the Albemarle Sound system was discontinued in 1996 due to recovery of the stock. More recently, due to poor spawning success, short-term stocking of striped bass in the Albemarle Sound was briefly resumed from 2023–2025. During this period, over 1.8 million phase-I size and over 200,000 phase-II striped bass were stocked to aid in population recovery.

In the Tar-Pamlico, Neuse, and Cape Fear rivers, from 1980 to 2007, a goal of 200,000 phase-II striped bass were stocked each year. The fish were stocked on a rotating basis: each year, two of the three coastal rivers would receive 100,000 hatchery reared striped bass. Over 2.7 million phase-II striped bass were stocked during this period between the rivers. From 2008–2021, the total number of fish stocked annually increased to a goal of 300,000, with each river receiving 100,000 hatchery reared fish each year. During this period, over 4.1 million phase-II striped bass were stocked into the Tar-Pamlico, Neuse, and Cape Fear rivers. In 2022 and 2023, the Tar-Pamlico and Neuse rivers were stocked; however, they were not stocked in 2024 and 2025 because stocking resources were temporarily shifted to support recovery of the Albemarle-Roanoke striped bass population. Stocking in the Tar-Pamlico and Neuse rivers is planned to resume in 2026. The Cape Fear River was not stocked with phase-II size fish in 2022 and 2023 but was stocked in 2024 with phase-II size fish produced from South Carolina broodfish (n = 56,000 phase-II fish). Striped bass in South Carolina’s coastal rivers share similar riverine life history traits and experience similar river flows and temperature ranges to the Cape Fear River population. Stocking phase-II striped bass in the Cape Fear River is planned to resume in 2028.

In addition to phase-II striped bass, phase-I striped bass have been stocked in the Tar-Pamlico, Neuse, and Cape Fear rivers. Since 1979, over 3.1 million phase-I striped bass have been stocked in the Tar-Pamlico River, over 2.6 million have been stocked in the Neuse River, and approximately 2 million have been stocked in the Cape Fear River. In 2024, in addition to the phase-II fish, over 172,000 phase-I size striped bass produced from South Carolina broodfish were stocked into the Cape Fear River. Phase-I size striped bass have generally been stocked as a result of surplus production; however, from 1994–2009 there was an annual stocking goal of 100,000 phase-I fish. Annual stocking of phase-I fish was discontinued in 2009 due to poor contribution of phase-I striped bass to coastal riverine populations despite more than a decade of annual stockings (Amendment 1 to the N.C. Estuarine Striped Bass Fishery Management Plan). 

Three coastal river systems, the Tar-Pamlico, Neuse, and Cape Fear rivers striped bass populations have experienced persistent recruitment failure, are not self-sustaining, and have been supported by continuous stocking. In the Tar-Pamlico and Neuse rivers, factors other than fishing mortality and inadequate spawning abundance are preventing sustainability and without stocking, abundance would decline. In the Cape Fear River, stocking is important because striped bass reproduction is impeded by locks and dams blocking access to historic upstream spawning grounds

In the Albemarle Sound-Roanoke River system, the striped bass population remains at a critically low level and has experienced chronic poor recruitment since 2017 so, in 2023, 2024 and 2025 the Albemarle Sound was stocked with over four million juvenile striped bass to supplement the poor year classes. 

The goal of the stocking program is to increase spawning stock abundance while promoting self-sustaining populations in the Roanoke, Tar-Pamlico, Neuse, and Cape Fear rivers. 

The stocking program in Albemarle Sound-Roanoke River began in 1978 and stocking ended in 1996 after successful natural reproduction began occurring again in 1993. More recently, the Albemarle-Roanoke population has experienced eight consecutive years (2017–2024) of poor spawning success. Short-term stocking of striped bass in western Albemarle Sound was briefly resumed from 2023–2025 to aid in Albemarle-Roanoke striped bass population recovery by supplementing natural recruitment. As of 2025, it is too early to evaluate success of these stockings.  

An additional benefit of short-term stocking in the Albemarle Sound is that genetically distinct phase-I (1-2 inch) and phase-II (5-8 inch) size striped bass were stocked in the same year, which will allow for evaluation of the hatchery contribution of stocked striped bass to the overall population and fisheries, and evaluation of the efficiency of stocking different sizes of fish. 

In the Tar-Pamlico, Neuse, and Cape Fear rivers, striped bass populations are maintained by stocking. Stocking has been successful in maintaining striped bass populations to a level that once supported recreational and commercial fisheries in the Tar-Pamlico, Neuse and Cape Fear rivers. However, natural recruitment is low in these systems, if it occurs at all, and striped bass stocking has yet to produce self-sustaining populations. 

No. Striped bass stocking practices over the past 50 years have altered natural population genetics in North Carolina’s coastal rivers. The practice of cross-stocking has introduced non-native genetic strains that over time can replace native strains. Cross-stocking means stocking striped bass from one drainage system to another, such as when Roanoke River striped bass offspring have been used to stock throughout the southeastern United States, including the Tar-Pamlico, Neuse, and Cape Fear rivers. Although North Carolina rivers, including the Tar-Pamlico, Neuse, and Cape Fear rivers, may have once supported genetically distinct populations, evidence suggests there is currently little genetic differentiation between these populations and the Roanoke River population.