SALISBURY — For the first time in decades, a total of eight adult Atlantic sturgeon have been caught and tagged in creeks and streams along the Lower Shore that feed into the Chesaapeake, signaling a possible spike in the recovery efforts of the endangered species.
Since late August, Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) biologists have located, tagged and released eight adult Atlantic sturgeon in the Marshyhope Creek along the Nanticoke River in Wicomico that ultimately feeds into the Chesapeake. The tags and releases represent the first recorded captures of Atlantic sturgeon on the Lower Shore in over 40 years.
“While this is not clear evidence that this species is successfully spawning in Maryland, it does indicate that more research in this tributary is warranted,” said DNR Restoration Project Leader Chuck Stence this week. “Now that sturgeon have been tagged in Marshyhope Creek, we can document their movements within this system and the bay for years to come. This will give us a better understanding of the Atlantic sturgeon’s status in Maryland.”
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) listed the Atlantic sturgeon as federally endangered in April 2012. As a result, all fishing and any other interaction with the endangered species is prohibited by federal law. DNR officials survey the historic spawning tributaries for the species to determine critical sturgeon habitat in the Chesapeake under a special federal permit, although no sturgeon had been tagged and released along the Lower Shore for 40 years until the last few weeks.
Since 2012, local fishermen have reported sturgeon jumping in Marshyhope Creek and the Nanticoke River. The behavior is typical for Atlantic sturgeon, but scientists don’t fully understand why the large bottom dwellers tend to leap out of the water. When sturgeon became listed as endangered in 2012, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists initiated annual gill net surveys in areas where sturgeon traditionally spawned, but not catches and tags were recorded until eight were caught in the Nanticoke River over the last few weeks.
The first two were caught in the creek back on Aug. 27 including a seven-foot plus female weighing 154 pounds and a five-foot-plus male weighing around 70 pounds. Both were caught in the same net and placed under anesthesia in an oxygenated tank to allow researchers to collect data and tissue samples for DNA analysis. DNR biologists then implanted acoustic transmitters, external tags and passive integrated transponder tags into the fish before reviving them and releasing them back into the river. The entire process was completed in about 10 minutes. Since then, six more sturgeon have been caught in the river and have been tagged and released.