Shortnose sturgeon confirmed in Vermont for first time in decades

Reports of possible sightings of a prehistoric fish called the shortnose sturgeon have been coming in from southern Vermont for years. The species is covered in bumpy ridges, can reach nearly the length of a bathtub, and was older than most animals alive today. However, no sightings of the federally endangered fish have been confirmed.

“They were not thought to exist in Vermont waters,” said Kate Buckman, a scientist at the Connecticut River Conservancy.

That was until this summer, when Buckman and her research team found genetic evidence of the fish in several sections of the Connecticut River between Turners Falls Dam in Massachusetts and the dam in Bellows Falls.

“The fact that our samples for which we obtained positive results came from different sampling dates and different sampling locations suggests that there is likely more than one fish in this area,” said James Garner, a Ph.D. candidate at UMass Amherst who worked on the project.

“It’s not just one fish,” Buckman added. “We can say it’s not just one fish, but we can’t give you a number.”

The team spent weeks traveling over 40 miles on the Connecticut River to collect water samples. Garner dove to the river bottom where sturgeon were looking for food. He said the experience was exciting.

“There are places where when I’m freediving I swim to the bottom of the river and there’s no sunlight above me,” he said. “I have to find out where the bottom of the river is with a dive light, then open a bottle at the bottom, then swim back up, then hand it to Kate and do it again.”

In these bottles, he looked for shortnose sturgeon genetic material using a technique called environmental DNA, or eDNA.

“I can’t emphasize enough how powerful this technique is,” Garner said. “You really only need to capture one cell or sometimes even less – like parts of a cell that you can then isolate, amplify and identify.”

Now he and Buckman are analyzing water samples collected in September to find out where else the sturgeon might be and to make a rough estimate of the size of a population if they can get enough data.

This work could help make the case for more habitat protection in this section of the Connecticut River, Buckman said.

“If we don’t acknowledge that the fish are even there, none of this comes into play.”

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