Merrimack River made ‘critical habitat’ for Atlantic sturgeon
September 1, 2017 — They are large, bony fish whose ancestors began swimming the Earth during the Triassic period, some 245 million years ago.
The federal government says the Atlantic sturgeon is now an endangered species in some places and is threatened in others, and that states up and down the Eastern Seaboard must take necessary measures to ensure their survival.
A ruling handed down on Aug. 16 by the Department of Commerce through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, designates the Gulf of Maine as a critical habitat for the fish, which includes approximately 152 miles of water in the Merrimack River in Massachusetts, the Penobscot, Kennebec, Androscoggin and Piscataqua rivers of Maine, and the Cocheco and Salmon Falls rivers of New Hampshire.
But what sort of impact will the efforts to replenish the Atlantic sturgeon population have on Merrimack Valley cities like Haverhill and Lawrence?
Allison Ferreira, spokeswoman for NOAA’s Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, said Friday that the ruling mandates that when a federal agency constructs or develops a project near the river or there is a project that is receiving some amount of federal money, such as a highway or bridge project where there could be significant water runoff, that agency must contact NOAA to ensure proper measures are taken so as not to upset the fish’s natural habitat.