Warming waters bring new ‘tropical visitors’ to Chesapeake Bay

by Jeremy Cox – 

Bobby Graves was trying to win a fishing tournament. A $1,000 prize was on the line for catching the weekend’s biggest spotted seatrout in a zone encompassing the lower reaches of the Wicomico and Nanticoke rivers in Maryland.

So, when he reeled in a species more typically found in subtropical waters, his initial reaction was disappointment. “Just get it in the net and get it off,” Graves recalled thinking, “so we can get back to what we’re trying to catch.

That accidental Sept. 17 catch turned out to be a winner of another sort. At 6.44 pounds, the Florida pompano set a size record for the species in Maryland waters, according to the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) biologists who confirmed the catch.

Graves, a native of Salisbury, Md., said he has been regularly fishing in the Chesapeake Bay for six decades but only began noticing pompano in the last few years. DNR didn’t officially recognize the species as a record candidate until 2019.

“They’re still an oddity,” he said. But “I think the bay waters are warming slightly, and it’s just an influx of different species.”

For the most part, the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal rivers remain an anglers’ paradise. But what they’re angling for is beginning to shift as water temperatures warm, according to climate and fishery experts. Many recreational fishermen say they’re already seeing a difference.

A spate of recent research across the globe suggests the warming climate will likely drive many fish species northward…

(Jeremy Cox is a Bay Journal staff writer. You can reach him at jcox@bayjournal.com.)