Fish

<body> <p>More than 295 species of fish are known to occur in the Chesapeake Bay region. This constitutes about ten percent of the total number of species of plants and animals that occupy the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. Of these fish species, only 32 species are year-round residents of the Bay. The remaining species enter the Bay either from freshwater streams or the Atlantic Ocean to feed, reproduce and find shelter. </p> <p>The fish in the Bay region fall into two categories: <strong>resident</strong> and <strong>migratory</strong>. Resident fish tend to be smaller than migratory species and often occur in shallow waters, where they feed on a variety of invertebrates. The resident Bay anchovy, for example, is the most abundant fish in Bay waters and consequently forms a critical link in the food web because it serves as the dietary basis for many other species, including some species of birds and mammals. In winter it remains in the deep waters of the Bay, but in the warmer seasons it clings to shoreline areas, swimming in schools and feeding on zooplankton. The Bay anchovy spawns at night from April through September in warm areas of the estuary, where the temperature is above 54 degrees F.</p> <p>Migratory fish fall into two categories: catadromous or anadromous. Catadromous fish live in freshwater, but travel to the high-salinity ocean waters to spawn. The only catadromous species in the Bay ecosystem is the <a href="american_eel.cfm"><u>American eel</u></a>, or <i>Anguilla rostrata, </i>which leaves its habitat in the Bay to spawn in the Sargasso Sea. Anadromous fish, such as the <a href="american_shad.cfm"><u>American shad</u></a> and the blueback herring, travel from the high salinity waters of the lower Bay or Atlantic Ocean to spawn in the Bay watersheds freshwater rivers and streams. Other anadromous fish travel shorter distances to spawn and occupy a narrower range of salinities. For example, <a href="white_perch.cfm"><u>white perch</u></a> journey from the middle Bay, which is not as salty as the ocean, to freshwater areas of the upper Bay and tributaries to spawn. </p> <p>The Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries sustain a wide diversity of species and have for centuries provided rich fishing grounds for commercial and recreational fisherman. The rapid growth of the human population in this century and its attending development, however, have threatened many Bay species by encouraging the overfishing of stocks. Many stocks are depleted, including <a href="red_drum.cfm"><u>red drum</u></a>, <a href="bluefish.cfm"><u>bluefish</u></a> and <a href="tautog.cfm"><u>tautog</u></a>, and others continue to fluctuate widely.</p> <p>The expanding human population also threatens fish by impairing water quality and depleting levels of dissolved oxygen. Between the 1930s and the 1980s, domestic and agricultural pollution increased water turbidity and phytoplankton production, which caused vast acres of <a href="baygras.htm" target="_top">submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV)</a> to decline, thus reducing habitat and nesting areas for juveniles of many fish species. <a href="nutr1.htm" target="_top">Nutrient pollution</a>from agricultural runoff, which elevates levels of nitrogen and phosphorus in Bay waterscontinues to be a significant problem. Man-made stream blockages, such as dams and road culverts, prevent migratory species from reaching their historic spawning grounds. Complete removal of blockages or the construction of <a href="fishpass.htm" target="_top">fish ladders</a> at dam sites are two methods that the Bay Program supports to restore fish passage to the Bays stocks of migratory fish.</p> <div align="center"> <center> <table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tr> <td bgcolor="#FFFFFF" width="100%"><strong>How YOU Can Help:</strong> <ul> <li>Know and abide by all fisheries regulations.</li> <li>Report violations of fisheries regulations.</li> <li>Practive catch and release fishing.</li> <li>Return tags from tagged fish promptly to proper tagging programs.</li> <li>Know how to properly handle fish.</li> <li>Dispose of all trash properly.</li> </ul> </td> </tr> </table> </center> </div> <div align="center"> <center> <table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" bgcolor="#C6C68C" width="100%"> <tr> <td><strong>Other Sites of Interest:</strong> <ul> <li>Commercial and recreational fishing regulations for <a href="http://www.dnr.state.md.us/fisheries/regulations/regindex.html" target="_top">Maryland</a> and <a href="http://www.state.va.us/mrc/page4.htm" target="_top">Virginia</a>.</li> <li><a href="http://noaa.chesapeakebay.net/Encyclopedia.aspx?subject=fish" target="_top">Species overviews</a> - NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office</li> <li><a href="http://www.dgif.state.va.us/fishing/index.html" target="_top">Fishing in Virginia</a> (Virginia Dept. of Game and Inland Fisheries)</li> <li><a href="http://www.dnr.state.md.us/fisheries/" target="_top">Fisheries Service</a> (Maryland Dept. of Natural Resources)</li> <li><a href="http://www.asmfc.org/" target="_top">Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.wh.whoi.edu/faq/" target="_top">Fish FAQ</a> - a bouillabaisse of fascinating facts about fish - NMFS Northeast Fisheries Science Center</li> </ul> </td> </tr> </table> </center> </div> <hr noshade> <p align="center"><font face="Times New Roman" size="2">To bookmark this page, please use this URL: <a href="fish1.htm" target="_top">http://www.chesapeakebay.net/fish.htm</a></font></p> <p align="center"><font size="2">For more information, contact the Chesapeake Bay Program Office, 410 Severn Avenue, Suite 109, Annapolis, MD 21403 /  Tel: (800) YOUR-BAY /   Fax: (410) 267-5777. </font></p> <p align="center"><font size="2"><a href="javascript:print()"><img src="images/print.gif" width="34" height="38" border="0" alt="Print Current Page" align="right"></a><a href="http://www.chesapeakebay.net/directions.htm" target="_top">Directions to the Bay Program Office</a><a href="http://www.chesapeakebay.net/cims" target="_top"><img src="images/cims1.gif" height="19" width="51" border="0" align="left"></a></font></p> <p align="center"><font size="2">Last modified: 10/03/05</font> </body>