Make sure to report sturgeon sightings to DNREC

I haven’t been able to get out to The Point in Cape Henlopen State Park too much this winter, but I have been a few times. During one trip, I came across a dead fish that was missing its tail and had an orange streak on it. I didn’t immediately recognize the species, so I took a picture with my phone and reached out to the Gazette's fishing guru Eric Burnley to see what he thought. He thought it looked like a sturgeon.

Interested in more information, I started to dig around online and came across a Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control webpage encouraging people who see a sturgeon – dead or alive – to report where and when the fish was seen. The website goes into the history of the prehistoric fish, what they look like and how humans overfished the population of spawning adults to the point of near extinction by the late 1800s. 

Doing my part, I reported my sighting, but I also reached out to DNREC to get more information on the program.

I ended up speaking with Ian Park, a fisheries biologist for DNREC who has been working with the reporting program for a number of years. He confirmed the fish I found was a sturgeon and that the orange on it was spray paint because that fish had already been reported.

DNREC has been collecting data on the sturgeon population in the Delaware River for decades now. Park said there are about 15 reported sightings a year. Prior to my reported sighting, he said, the most recent report had been Nov. 24 at Battery Park on the Delaware River in New Castle County.

When new sightings are reported, someone will go out, scan for tracking tags and take a tissue sample.

“It’s usually on a Friday afternoon when nobody is available,” said Park, making a joke.

The spawning population of sturgeon in the Delaware River is still very, very small, said Park, estimating there are fewer than 250. Any data that’s collected is helpful, because it can be tracked to see if the population is increasing and possible changes that can be implemented, he said.

Annual appeal to keep The Point open year-round

The calendar is about to turn to March, which means The Point will soon be closed to visitors through to October. I’ve said it before, and I’ll likely use this space to say it again, but I think The Point should be open year-round to walkers.

I know the spit of land is closed to protect cotton ball-sized migratory birds and their fledglings, but I feel like the people who are willing to walk the nearly two-mile loop on a stale, 95-degree day in August aren’t the type of people who are going to then destroy the nests of the birds being protected. I’m not going out there to harm anything. I’m going out there to see what the ocean waters and the river have deposited on the beach. I’d venture to guess others are doing the same. The resident foxes and birds of prey are more likely to do harm than walkers.

While I’m here, I also think the state should find one dune in the park and designate it as the sledding dune when it snows. Let the local kids play.

There’s been a change of leadership in DNREC because of the new governor, but I don’t expect either of these suggestions to happen. However, both of these suggestions would do less long-term harm to the park than building new cottages on previously undisturbed land or building a new bathhouse on an ocean-fronting dune, and DNREC has proposed both of those, so there’s always a chance.

Joke of the Week

When it comes time to write this once-every-two-weeks column, if I don’t have a submitted joke to use, I try to find one that’s at least tangentially related to what’s coming next on the calendar – holiday, important date. However, if I have a submitted joke, the leeway I provide in terms of the calendar is much greater, which is why I’m using this Valentine’s Day joke. It was submitted by Jeff, a friend who’s submitted a few jokes over the years. As always, send joke submissions to cflood@capegazette.com.

Q: Did you hear about the two antennae that met on a roof, fell in love and got married?

A: The wedding ceremony wasn’t fancy, but man, the reception was excellent.