Species listed as endangered receive the full protection of the Endangered Species Act, including a prohibition against “take,” defined to include harassing, harming, pursuing, wounding, killing, trapping, capturing, or collecting. Similar prohibitions usually extend to threatened species. An endangered listing offers protections designed to prevent extinction. For threatened populations, protections are focused on preventing a species from becoming endangered.

A formal status review was completed for the Atlantic sturgeon in 2007 by a team of biologists from NOAA, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The review found that unintended catch of Atlantic sturgeon in fisheries, vessel strikes, poor water quality, dams, lack of regulatory mechanisms for protecting the fish, and dredging were the most significant threats to the fish.

Atlantic sturgeon are large, slow-growing, late-maturing, long-lived, estuary-dependent fish that live the majority of their lives in salt water, but hatch and spawn in freshwater. Historically, their range included major estuary and river systems from Labrador to Florida. Atlantic sturgeon populations are currently documented in 35 U.S. rivers and spawning is believed to occur in 20 of these. Because the marine range of an individual sturgeon can be very broad regardless of where it originated, threats along the East Coast can affect fish from any of these populations.

Historical catch records indicate that these fish were once abundant, supporting important colonial fisheries. In the late 19th century, demand grew for sturgeon caviar and the first major U.S. commercial fishery for them developed. This lasted from about 1870 until the 1950s with landings peaking in 1890. The commercial fishery collapsed in 1901 when landings were about 10 percent of the peak. Landings by fisheries targeting sturgeon declined to even less in subsequent years, persisting until a moratorium on landings was established in 1998. It is currently illegal to fish for, catch or keep Atlantic sturgeon from U.S. waters.

NOAA’s Fisheries Service is accepting comments on the proposed listing through January 4, 2011. NOAA’s Fisheries Service is seeking comment particularly on abundance and distribution, viability, threats, and efforts being made to protect Atlantic sturgeon belonging to these populations. You may submit comments by any one of the following methods. The agency also plans to hold public hearings.

To submit comments on the Gulf of Maine, Chesapeake Bay and New York Bight proposed listing, identified by the XRIN 0648-XJ00, use any of the following methods:

- Submit comments online via the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments;

- Fax comments to the attention of Lynn Lankshear at 978-281-9394;

- Mail or hand deliver written comments to the Assistant Regional Administrator, Protected Resources Division, NMFS, Northeast Region, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930.

To submit comments on the Carolina and South Atlantic proposed listings, identified by the XRIN 0648-XN50, use any of the following methods:

- Submit comments online via the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments;

- Fax comments to 727-824-5309;

- Mail or hand deliver written comments to the Assistant Regional Administrator for Protected Resources, NMFS, Southeast Regional Office, 263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.

source: NOAA press release

                          

Speckled trout are caught locally using a variety of methods including fishing with live bait, cut bait and casting artificial lures or by trolling. Shallow water fishing for speckled trout using artificial lures is popular in Virginia. Anglers cast small jigs, soft plastics and other lures around the edges of grass beds, stumps, points, rips and other likely areas. Fly fishermen also target these areas, fishing a variety of flies that mimic bay local baits such as bay anchovies, mullet, spot, shrimp or blue crabs.

In some areas, speckled trout can be caught by anchoring and bottom fishing with cut peeler crab or soft crab baits. Fish are sometimes caught in deep water along a channel edge, but most bait fishing for specks occurs around grass beds in 2-4 feet of water. In addition to peeler and soft crab baits, squid, bloodworms, cut spot, live spot and even chicken breast soaked in peeler crab oil are sometimes used.

Tides are sometimes important for catching speckled trout. Many Chesapeake Bay anglers prefer fishing the last 2 hours of the incoming current and the first 2 hours of the outgoing. If this coincides with dusk, the fishing is more likely to be good.

Shallow water fishing for speckled trout is done in a number of areas throughout the middle and lower Chesapeake bay. This region includes several small islands where speckled trout are found, such as Smith, Tangier, Watts, Fox, Parkers Islands and others.

Further south, several rivers and creeks along the lower bay feature habitat that speckled trout prefer, including eel grass beds, shallow oyster bars and other fish attracting structure.

Shallow water fishing can be very exciting as speckled trout, gray trout, croaker, striped bass, bluefish, black drum, red drum and other species share the same areas. This fishing is often best during the low light hours of early morning and again around sunset.

Anglers also fish by casting bucktails to structure such as rockpiles, jetties and shipwrecks. Popular lures include a plain white bucktail with a plastic worm and a piece of peeler crab. Other popular jigs for casting to structure include soft plastic lures in a variety of shapes and colors.

Speckled trout are sometimes caught while trolling with wire line. Often, catches are accidental but some anglers target gray and speckled trout with wire line. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel and other structures provide areas where trolling can be productive for trout, especially if targeting large speckled trout or gray trout (seatrout).

                          

Reaching productive drum fishing areas can be accomplished by leaving from Hampton Roads ports and making the long trek across the bay, or by much shorter runs from Cherrystone, Cape Charles, Kiptopeake State Park or the Eastern Shore Of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge. In some cases anglers fish throughout the day and into the night.

Black drum baits include surf clams, hard clams, peeler crabs and other baits. Tackle is simple but stout, with anglers using 20-30 lb line, a few sinkers from 3-8 oz and a single hook rig. Many top anglers use circle hooks which work well with these fish.

Areas near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay such as the mussel beds off Kiptopeake and Fisherman’s Island are known for hard running currents.  Being in place when a change of tide occurs may bring success, with schools of fish often showing up suddenly. At times the fish may even be heard “drumming” beneath the boat from some distance away.

Other Virginia fisheries occur for black drum, especially around barrier island inlets and in the surf, where anglers fish cut baits and catch black drum from 15-50 lbs. Popular rigs for surf fishing are fish finder type leaders, armed with circle or live bait hooks. As with other black drum fishing, preferred baits include surf clams, quahogs and peeler crabs.

Further up the bay, black drum can also be caught in Spring along channel edges and in grass beds where soft crabs are found.

                          

Invasive species, contaminants, excessive nutrients and sediment are just some of the many factors threatening sensitive wetlands and seagrass beds. An additional issue has been community efforts to “harden” shorelines by lining shores with bulkhead, rock, or rubble to try to protect adjoining lands against erosion and sea level rise. These structures can threaten the health of living shorelines, such as wetlands and marshes. This project will look at the combined effects of these multiple stresses on nearshore habitats and their dependent species.

“These habitats, which are nursery and feeding grounds for so many species, have typically been managed in a piecemeal, parcel-by-parcel fashion and are slipping away in areas of heavy development,” said Robert Magnien, Ph.D., and director of the NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science’s Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research, which awarded the grant. “Developing scientific information that ties multiple species and their environment will be used to advance management approaches.”

The Smithsonian Institution’s Environmental Research Center will lead a team of investigators from the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences, the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the University of Delaware, Pennsylvania State University, and the United States Geological Survey. Area coastal managers are also part of the research team and will provide input. Program managers from NOAA’s National Ocean Service will provide oversight.

The research supports President Obama’s Executive Order for Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration, which specifically calls for strengthening scientific support for decision-making to protect and restore living resources and water quality of the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed. It also relates to a major goal of the Mid-Atlantic Governor’s Agreement and multi-state Chesapeake Bay Agreement to preserve, protect and restore habitats and natural areas that are vital to the survival and diversity of the living resources of the Bay.

Agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Virginia Marine Resources Commission and the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office will utilize information resulting from this research. In a letter of support for the proposed research, Rich Batiuk of the EPA said that this program will “address critical issues related to habitat degradation, invasive species, and shoreline hardening. All of these ecosystem impacts are recognized in the Chesapeake 2000 agreement, and therefore are critical concerns to Chesapeake Bay Program partnership.”

“Developing the science for understanding the combined effects of shoreline hardening on water quality, underwater grasses, fish and shellfish will help support policy for accelerating Bay restoration,” stated Maryland Department of Natural Resources Secretary John Griffin. “Maryland is firmly committed to making management decisions based on sound science. This project will provide the practical information for driving wetland restoration and managing development in Maryland’s critical areas.”

The mid-Atlantic region is only one area where shoreline hardening is seen as an important issue. The results of this research can potentially be extrapolated to hardened shorelines in other coastal states.

The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center leads the nation in research on linkages of land and water ecosystems in the coastal zone and provides society with knowledge to meet critical environmental challenges in the 21st century.

source: NOAA press release

                          

“These numbers may be slightly below the average, but it’s well within the normal range of expectations,” said DNR Fisheries Service Director Tom O’Connell. “The 2001 super year class,  followed by a robust year class in 2003, should project for a healthy, sustainable  population.”

DNR samples from the same 22 locations every year. Biologists use a large net to sweep the area, counting all the fish the net picks up.  During this year’s survey, biologists identified and counted more than 35,000 fish of 49 species, including 1,039 young-of-year striped bass.

DNR biologists say it’s normal to see both spikes and dips in the yearly average, because striped bass reproduction hinges on many environmental factors. This year’s index is double the value of last year, and along with other large year classes, such as the record setting 1996, 2001 and 2003 will contributing to strengthen the population.

DNR has monitored the reproductive success of striped bass and other species in Maryland’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay annually since 1954.  Twenty-two survey sites are located in the four major spawning systems:  Choptank, Potomac, and Nanticoke rivers, and the Upper Bay.  Biologists visit each site monthly from July through September, collecting fish samples with two sweeps of a 100-foot beach seine.  The index is calculated as the average catch of young-of-year fish per sample.  For more information, go to www.dnr.state.md.us/fisheries/juvindex/index.html.

                          

Tillman, who is Chairman of the Howard County Environmental Sustainability Board and is past chair of the Howard County Conservancy, says he wrote the book to engage, inform, and offer suggestions to all of us on how we can help restore a healthy balance between mankind and the rest of the earth. I wrote the book so it would be of interest to everyone. It should help us all develop a greater sense of place for this wonderful region where we live. The more we appreciate what we have, the better stewards we will become.

The book is receiving great reviews and is being used in high schools and
colleges, and by land trusts, nature centers, and other non-profits. Tillman is
particularly pleased to see industry and the government sectors also responding to the message. “We are all in this together and I am hoping this book becomes a good tool to help inform and stimulate us all to take the actions we need to restore the bay and the ecosystems that we have come to rely upon.”

For more information, visit www.thechesapeakewatershed.com.