Wildlife ecology major Jordan Anderson spent the summer tagging Atlantic and shortnose sturgeon in the Penobscot and Kennebec rivers through a Maine Sea Grant internship
While paddleboarding on the ocean last summer, Jordan Anderson was startled when a massive animal leaped from the water nearby. She assumed it was a porpoise. Instead, it was an Atlantic sturgeon — a chance encounter with the species that would become the focus of her research internship a year later.
Sturgeon have existed for nearly 200 million years, swimming alongside dinosaurs and surviving mass extinction events. Commonly referred to as “living fossils,” they retain many of the same physical characteristics as their ancient ancestors. Once abundant, sturgeon species around the world now face conservation threats.
The Atlantic sturgeon is considered threatened or endangered across much of its U.S. range. In partnership with NOAA Fisheries and the Maine Department of Marine Resources, University of Maine researchers are working to better understand movements of Atlantic and shortnose sturgeon in Maine rivers to inform conservation efforts.
Anderson, whose love of fish can be traced back to childhood trips fishing for brook trout with her father, said she was thrilled when she was selected to contribute to UMaine’s sturgeon research for one of Maine Sea Grant’s sea-run fish internships this summer. A senior wildlife ecology major, she said she could not have imagined a more exciting first internship.
Anderson’s favorite days of her internship were spent helping researchers surgically implant acoustic transmitters in both species of sturgeon in the Penobscot and Kennebec rivers. From watching an eagle take down a heron to feeling spray from the river as a large sturgeon jumped alongside the boat, the fieldwork brought something new every day.
Tagging days began around 6:30 a.m. with the team loading equipment and 300-foot gillnets into a truck. On the river, researchers identified a location to set the nets and checked them every 20 to 30 minutes. The crew repeatedly hauled in the heavy nets to look for sturgeon.
Once a sturgeon was caught, the part Anderson calls “the workup” began. The team examined and measured the fish before attaching a tag that allows researchers to track its movements.
At first, Anderson said she was nervous about holding and working with the fish, describing the experience as similar to holding a baby, only much rougher and slimier. Because Atlantic sturgeon are protected, researchers handle each fish carefully while gathering valuable data. By the end of the internship, she was comfortable assisting with the tagging process and passing tools to researchers, much like an assistant in an operating room.
Despite not pursuing a fisheries concentration in her major, Anderson said the internship opened her eyes to a career path she had not previously considered.
“This internship has made me really love working with fish and thinking about a future working with fish,” Anderson said. “I’ve made a lot of different connections between the Department of Marine Resources, NOAA and working for Sea Grant.”
Beyond helping shape her career interests, Anderson said she has come to understand how the research could contribute to sturgeon conservation in Maine.
“I think the big picture is just how we can best mitigate how humans are affecting sturgeon and also turn back the time and help restore their spawning grounds,” she said. “So far, I think we’re doing a great job. The more we know about them, the more we can help them.”
For Anderson, a chance encounter with a prehistoric fish became an opportunity to contribute to research on one of Maine’s most distinctive species. The experience also gave her a firsthand look at how undergraduate students can contribute to conservation research well before graduation.
Contact: Sophie Liebel, sophie.liebel@maine.edu
