This Prehistoric-Looking Fish Is Making A Comeback In Maryland Waters

CALIFORNIA, Md. — Sturgeon look like they belong to another age. With long bodies, rows of hard plates and distinctive snouts, these native fish are unlike most species Marylanders encounter in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

For communities along the bay’s rivers, recognizing a sturgeon can be more than a wildlife identification exercise — their presence offers a window into the condition of waterways that also support fishing, boating and other recreation. Here is what Maryland residents should know about Chesapeake Bay sturgeon, including how to recognize them and what to do during an encounter.

How To Identify An American Sturgeon

American sturgeon have an unmistakably prehistoric appearance. Atlantic sturgeon, Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus, are long-lived, estuarine dependent, anadromous fish, according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

Instead of the conventional scales found on many fish, sturgeon have five rows of hard, bony plates called scutes running along an elongated body, with a tail whose upper lobe extends farther than the lower. The head offers more clues: a pointed snout, a mouth on the underside of the head, and whiskerlike sensory barbels hanging in front of the mouth that help the fish locate food along the bottom.

Color varies, so don’t rely on it for identification — the combination of long body, scutes, bottom-facing mouth, barbels and distinctive tail is more useful. Avoid identifying an unfamiliar fish based on a single characteristic, particularly when deciding how to handle it: in 2012, NOAA Fisheries listed the Chesapeake Bay Distinct Population Segment of Atlantic sturgeon as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, and protected species can be subject to special rules.

Why Sturgeon Use The Chesapeake Watershed

American sturgeon are migratory fish that use both saltwater and freshwater environments during their lives, spending substantial time in coastal and estuarine waters while returning to rivers to reproduce. Chesapeake Bay Atlantic sturgeon generally spend most of the year near where the Bay and Atlantic Ocean meet, according to NOAA Fisheries.

That life cycle makes the watershed particularly important. The bay connects the Atlantic Ocean with a large system of tidal rivers and freshwater habitat familiar to residents from Southern Maryland to the Baltimore and Annapolis areas. NOAA Fisheries has designated occupied critical habitat for the Chesapeake Bay DPS covering approximately 773 kilometers, or 480 miles, of aquatic habitat in rivers of Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia, including the Potomac, Rappahannock, York, Pamunkey, Mattaponi, James and Nanticoke rivers, along with Marshyhope Creek. Moving between these habitats exposes sturgeon to conditions across the ecosystem — water quality, suitable river habitat and human activity can all affect a migratory fish.

Why Their Return Matters

Atlantic sturgeon were an important species targeted by early settlers in the Chesapeake Bay, with landings reported at approximately 300,000 to 400,000 kilograms annually in the 1890s before high exploitation rates, degraded water quality and stream blockages reduced the population, according to Maryland DNR. Maryland closed the fishery in 1996, and as recently as two decades ago sturgeon were encountered so infrequently they were considered biologically extirpated in the Bay.

That history is why recent discoveries on Maryland’s Eastern Shore have drawn attention from state biologists. “For us to get a female is, like, a monumental thing,” said Chuck Stence, a fisheries biologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, adding that one fish appeared to have just released her eggs into the creek. Since 2014, DNR and its research partners have tagged and released 41 mature adult Atlantic sturgeon in Marshyhope Creek, a major tributary of the Nanticoke River, and based on repeated captures of ripe males and females with mature eggs, scientists consider spawning in the Nanticoke watershed “highly likely.”

That makes sturgeon relevant even to Marylanders who never see one — the conditions that support them (cleaner water, functioning river habitat, healthy food webs) overlap with what makes local waterways worth using in the first place. But seeing sturgeon in Chesapeake waters doesn’t by itself mean the species has recovered. Biologists once thought sturgeon topped out around 60 years old, but recent research suggests some may live past 100 — meaning a population can persist even if fish only spawn successfully on occasion. Recovery is judged over long periods based on reproduction and survival, not individual sightings.

What Maryland Anglers Should Do If They Encounter One

The Chesapeake Bay DPS is listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, according to NOAA Fisheries, and rules governing protected wildlife can change and vary by location — don’t assume a fish caught accidentally, or one that resembles another species, can legally be kept.

Maryland DNR notes there is no evidence of successful sturgeon reproduction in Maryland tributaries for at least 40 years, though Atlantic sturgeon are regular visitors to Maryland’s tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay. If you suspect a catch is a sturgeon, avoid unnecessary handling and follow official guidance from Maryland DNR and NOAA Fisheries on identification, release and whether the encounter should be reported. A photograph, along with the location and general size, can help — but let officials’ instructions guide the response rather than improvising.

Boaters Can Help Protect River Habitat

You don’t need to fish to have a role in protecting Chesapeake habitat. Boaters should follow speed restrictions and navigation rules, keep fuel and trash out of the water, and use established waste disposal facilities. NOAA Fisheries has identified vessel strikes, along with overfishing, water pollution and lack of access to needed habitat, as factors contributing to declines among sturgeon species, and work in the Chesapeake Bay includes identifying and protecting spawning habitat and reducing vessel strikes.

Residents can also help by limiting stormwater runoff, which carries sediment, nutrients, chemicals and litter into local creeks and rivers. Waterfront property owners planning shoreline, dock or in-water work should check Maryland and local permitting requirements first, since that work can affect aquatic habitat.

A Fish Worth Recognizing

Most Marylanders will spend far more time seeing striped bass, white perch and other familiar Chesapeake fish than sturgeon — which is part of what makes knowing the difference useful. Atlantic sturgeon are the largest fish native to the Chesapeake Bay, with adults routinely five to six feet long, sometimes larger, and weighing 100 to 300 pounds. The traits worth remembering: elongated shape, five rows of bony scutes, pointed snout, barbels and an underside-facing mouth.

Maryland DNR, as a member of the Atlantic Cooperative Telemetry Network, can detect tagged sturgeon that travel into range of receivers in the Nanticoke River and track them as they move through the Bay and Atlantic Ocean. For people living along the Potomac, Patuxent and other Chesapeake waterways, the story of American sturgeon is a reminder of how connected Maryland’s waters are — a species that depends on rivers, estuaries and coastal waters can’t thrive through improvements to just one piece of that system.

Related Articles From The BayNet

• Rare Catch, Big Data: Maryland Biologists Track Endangered Sturgeon In Chesapeake Bay
• New Striped Bass Fishing Regulations Begin On The Chesapeake Bay

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