To investigate this possibility, the United States Geological Survey and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service joined together in a project entitled ?Status, Behavior, and Genetics of Potomac River Shortnose Sturgeon? in the spring of 2004. The project was designed to determine if a remnant population of endangered shortnose sturgeon exists and also spawns in the Potomac River, a tributary to the Chesapeake Bay. The project defines potential spawning, foraging and over-wintering habitat.

The project's primary objective is to capture a shortnose, tag it with a combined acoustic radio tag and track it, which would determine habitat preferences and potentially lead to other captures. Sampling has been conducted for 18 months in this effort. This task was recently accomplished on September 20, when the sampling crew pulled a 700mm female sturgeon with maturing eggs out of an anchored gillnet at a deep water site above Indian Head, Md. The sturgeon has been tracked moving within the channel, still within the vicinity of the capture site.

This sturgeon will be tracked for the next 14 months, enabling Service biologists to collect data on habitat preferences and potential spawning behavior, as well as lead to subsequent captures of additional shortnose sturgeon.