Merrimack River and the ESA Listing for Sturgeon

[amarshall]

The recent ESA Listing for Sturgeon has already effected the Delaware River dredging project. I wonder how any future plans to dredge the Merrimack will be effected. (I've know spent 10 minutes trying to figure out effected/affected).

http://www.philly.com/philly/health/138536549.html

Also could striped bass fishing now be considered a threat to Sturgeon? These are all unintended consequences of these ESA listings.

[Bottom-Dweller]

Good questions and I have no clue.

However, on a side note, did you ever see sturgeon jumping out of the water at the Merrimack? I was drifting the mouth this past summer with my son and just before and after slack tide they were jumping everywhere! Nothing like seeing a 5 to 6 foot long fish jumping 5 feet out of the water, it took us a few minutes to figure out what they were. They really put on an amazing show, I’ve been fishing the river for 25 years and never saw anything like it before.

I know they are bottom fish and had no clue why they would be jumping, didn’t see any bait fish in the area so I did a little research when I got home. Apparently nobody knows for sure why they jump but it’s speculated they are trying to shed themselves of parasites.