GARDINER, Maine — The Cobbosseecontee Stream in Gardiner has been bubbling with activity from Atlantic sturgeon.
The Maine Department of Marine Resources said they are going upstream to spawn.
Atlantic sturgeon are a threatened species in the Gulf of Maine and endangered throughout the rest of the U.S., so state wildlife officials want to remind anglers that it's illegal to target the sturgeon and must be released if they are caught.
"I think this is actually a success story," Sean Ledwin, director of the DMR's Searun Fisheries and Habitat Bureau, said. "There's just so many sturgeon in the river due to the river restoration and Clean Water Act and cleaning up the river here that they're just pouring into different locations and utilizing different habitats, and that's why there's a whole bunch of them in the stream here."
The DMR said high water and lots of rain could be contributing factors for why they appear to be spawning in the river.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's fisheries website, Atlantic sturgeon are "slow-growing and late-maturing" and can reach up to 16 feet in length, live for up to 60 years, and weigh up to 800 pounds.
"Atlantic sturgeon were prized for their eggs, which were valued as high-quality caviar," the website states. "During the late 1800s, people flocked to the eastern United States in search of caviar riches from the sturgeon fishery, known as the 'Black Gold Rush.'"
Sturgeon return to their birthplace to spawn in freshwater before migrating to sea, NOAA said, and most juvenile sturgeon stay in the river for several months before they migrate to salt water.