Have you ever seen a large, dinosaur-like fish leaping out of the water in Maine’s coastal rivers? If you have, then you have probably seen a sturgeon. Maine is home to two species of sturgeon: the Atlantic sturgeon and shortnose sturgeon. These prehistoric species are two of Maine’s twelve sea-run (aka, diadromous) fish that divide their time between fresh and salt water.
But these charismatic fishes are listed as threatened (Gulf of Maine Atlantic sturgeon) and endangered (Shortnose sturgeon) under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
Researchers at the Maine Department of Marine Resources (Maine DMR) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) need more information to better understand how sturgeon populations are doing so that we can chart their path toward recovery, and you can help!
Maine DMR has unveiled a new tool for community members to report sightings of both live and dead sturgeon. Sightings of live sturgeon will help Maine DMR researchers track when and where sturgeon are spending time in our waters. Reports of dead sturgeon will help Maine DMR effectively respond to and recover carcasses so that we can gather important information, like age, size, and sex of sturgeon living in Maine’s rivers and coastal areas.
The link to report your sturgeon sighting can be found here.