Atlantic sturgeon (NOAA)

In Fall of 2017, a field team from the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office (NCBO) did some interesting work mapping critical habitat for endangered Atlantic sturgeon in Virginia. The team has captured side-scan sonar images of 13 sturgeon that were observed during a survey of a 5-km long section of the James River. During this exercise, the NOAA team observed several sturgeon breaches, in what they thought could be a fall spawning run.

These NCBO habitat mapping efforts support a larger NOAA effort on sturgeon. For example, NCBO’s earlier sonar work and habitat analysis in the Nanticoke River and Marshyhope Creek (Maryland) were used by the Office of Protected Resources in developing the Final Rule regarding critical habitat designation for Atlantic sturgeon.