Striped bass population genetic structure and bait panel development for mixed stock analysis

The delineation of genetic stock structure and population connectivity are key components in the effective management of exploited fishes, and in preserving the biocomplexity of populations which is critical for maintaining a species resilience to environmental and anthropogenic pressures. The information gained from identifying the genetic structure among populations is important for ensuring that the spatial scale of management makes biological sense, for identifying genetically compatible individuals to be used in stocking and supplementation efforts, and for use in population assignment methods. This body of research focuses on delineating the genetic stock structure of Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis) and building a genetic panel capable of assigning unknown individuals to a population of origin, in order to provide a highly accurate tool for fisheries management. In Chapter 1 I determine the population genetic structure among nine spawning locations of striped bass in the US and Canada and evaluate the power of my genetic data to assign individuals to their spawning river of origin. In Chapter 2, I build and validate a sequence capture panel to be used for conducting mixed stock analyses on striped bass