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The S.C. Department of Natural Resources Freshwater Fisheries Section will hold a series of meetings around the state in January and February regarding striped bass management in the Santee Cooper system. Each meeting will begin at 6 p.m., and the public is encouraged to attend.

Meetings will be held in Moncks Corner, Columbia, Santee and Manning. For more information on these meetings, contact Scott Lamprecht, S.C. Department of Natural Resources (DNR) regional fisheries biologist, at (843) 825-3387 or via e-mail at LamprechtS@dnr.sc.gov.

Despite management efforts, the number of harvestable-size striped bass in Santee Cooper has not increased as hoped, and trophy fish are rare. The number of fish produced also varies widely between years, and this, combined with the high mortality rate, causes wide annual fluctuations in the population. Poor spawning success and poor survival of stocked fish have lead to a sharp decline in the population over the last four years. Additional harvest restrictions and refinements in stocking procedures are essential to overcoming this decline.

The Santee Cooper system includes lakes Marion and Moultrie and the headwater rivers: Congaree, Wateree, Lower Broad, and Lower Saluda. Santee Cooper striped bass are essentially landlocked and most live their entire lives in the lakes and tributary rivers; with some utilization of the Cooper and lower Santee Rivers.

The meeting sites are as follows:

• Thursday, Jan. 11
  Santee-Cooper (auditorium)
  One Riverwood Drive
  Moncks Corner, SC 29461
  Located on US Highway 52 Bypass (Rembert Dennis Boulevard) in Moncks Corner.
  
  
• Thursday, Jan. 18
  Riverbank Zoo Auditorium
  500 Wildlife Parkway
  Columbia, SC 29210
  Take I-26 to I-126. Exit at Greystone Boulevard/Riverbanks Zoo. Follow signs to the Zoo.
  
  
• Tuesday, Jan. 23
  Lake Marion High School (auditorium)
  3656 Tee Vee Road
  Santee, SC 29142
  Located near the junction of SC Highway 267 and US Highway 15 in Orangeburg County.
  
  
• Thursday, Feb. 1
  Central Carolina Technical College
  F.E. DuBose Campus (auditorium)
  3351 Sumter Highway
  Manning, SC 29102
  Located just north of Manning in Clarendon County on US Highway 521.