Urban Almanac: New Fish Roaming The Chesapeake

As the famous song goes, global warming brings all the fish to the bay. Or, did I remember that wrong?

Regardless, fish are coming to the bay, specifically the Chesapeake. As the ocean warms, Maryland fishermen are catching new kinds of fish, typically only seen in southern waters.

Last month, one fisherman caught a 13-pound barracuda off the coast of Ocean City, Maryland, establishing a species record in the Maryland state fishing records. These large predatory fish are typically only seen in the Mediterranean and Florida.

Other rare species sightings include sea trout, cutlassfish, cobia, red drum, and sheepshead. And another species record was broken this fall with the catch of a two-pound pompano dolphinfish.

“We think that conditions will be conducive to seeing more of these fish in the future with climate change along the East Coast,” Maryland’s state resources fisheries expert told the Washington Post.