Fish Species Observations from Inland Chesapeake Bay Watershed Fish Samples
The following map summarizes data compiled within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Inland Fisheries Database which comprises fish sampling data collected by federal and state agencies, river basin commissions, universities, and other organizations across the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. The information constituted therein describe whether species were observed in at least one sample within each HUC 12 (Hydrologic Unit Code) of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. In addition, as there are sometimes multiple collection groups responsible for fish sampling within a given HUC12, the group that observed each species within a HUC12 is listed after the species common name. The sample in which the species was observed could have occurred in any year for which the compiled datasets span (across all providers the represented years range from 1969 - 2019). If a species is not listed for a HUC12 this does not indicate that the species does not occur within the HUC12, but rather that the species was not observed at the time of sampling or the HUC12 was not sampled for the given species. Therefore, these data only represent the presence of species at some point during the time interval of the data, not the absence of species. Fish samples described here were conducted using a variety of techniques (included by not limited to electrofishing and seining) and with protocols that differed by sampling entity.
Agency Data Providers
Table 1. Time period over which the data spans and the number of samples given from each sampling data provider. Provider Code | Provider | Date Range | Number of Samples |
---|---|---|---|
NYDEC | New York Department of Environmental Conservation | 1981 - 2018 | 2584 |
PADEP | Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection | 2008 - 2017 | 214 |
PAFBC | Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Comission | 2010 - 2018 | 4000 |
WVDEP | West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection | 2006 - 2017 | 94 |
WVDNR | West Virginia Department of Natural Resources | 2005 - 2010 | 9 |
MDDNR | Maryland Department of Natural Resources | 1974 - 2019 | 12925 |
MDDOE | Maryland Department of the Environment | 2011 - 2018 | 101 |
ANARCO | Anne Arundel County Department of Public Works | 2017 - 2018 | 67 |
BALTCO | Baltimore County Department of Environmental Protections | 2001 - 2017 | 294 |
FREDCO | Frederick County Sustainability and Environmental Resources | 1999 - 2018 | 206 |
HOWACO | Howard County Storm Water Management Division | 2013 - 2018 | 23 |
MONTCO | Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection | 1994 - 2018 | 1447 |
VADEQ | Virginia Department of Environmental Quality | 1993 - 2017 | 603 |
VADGIF | Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries | 1992 - 2019 | 3507 |
VCU | Virginia Commonwealth University | 1969 - 2018 | 1998 |
FAIRCO | Fairfax County Department of Public Works & Environmental Sciences | 1999 - 2018 | 374 |
SRBC | Susquehanna River Basin Commission | 1983 - 2017 | 817 |
SHEN | National Parks Service Shenandoah National Park | 1982 - 2018 | 1757 |
USGS | United States Geological Survey | 1993 - 2019 | 159 |
USEPA | United States Environmental Protection Agency | 1993 - 2009 | 481 |
Species Observations
Figure 1. Unique species observed followed the provider codes (see Table 1) for the sampling group that recorded each species observation within each HUC 12 and the number of samples that were taken in each HUC 12.