{"id":46665,"date":"2026-02-04T16:12:37","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T21:12:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/?p=46665"},"modified":"2026-02-04T16:16:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T21:16:23","slug":"a-big-step-for-a-small-fish-federal-funding-supports-decades-long-effort-to-restore-blackbanded-sunfish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2026\/02\/04\/a-big-step-for-a-small-fish-federal-funding-supports-decades-long-effort-to-restore-blackbanded-sunfish\/","title":{"rendered":"A Big Step for a Small Fish: Federal Funding Supports Decades-long Effort to Restore Blackbanded Sunfish"},"content":{"rendered":"

Effort aims to bring the rarest freshwater fish species in Maryland back to its native habitats<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\"Man<\/a>

Nathan Bowman, a fisheries biologist with Maryland DNR, releases captive-reared blackbanded sunfish into a pond.<\/span>Photo by Sinclair Boggs, Maryland DNR<\/p><\/div>\n

On a picture-perfect, mid-September Monday, a dozen staff from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service caravaned down a rutted dirt road in a Wildlife Management Area to witness a conservation milestone. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Upon exiting their vehicles, attendees gathered around a few five-gallon tanks at the edge of a small pond. The tanks contained tiny fish \u2014 about the size of a quarter \u2014 whose yellow-green bodies with dark vertical stripes glowed in the early fall light. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>After celebratory remarks, biologists from Maryland DNR\u2019s Fishing and Boating Services scooped the fish into five-gallon buckets and released them into the pond, where they slipped out of sight in water the color of black tea.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It was the first time the state released captive-bred blackbanded sunfish into the wild \u2014 the result of a strategic, long-term effort to bring the rarest freshwater fish species in Maryland back to its native habitats, made possible with the support of many partners, State Wildlife Grants awarded through the Service\u2019s Office of Conservation Investments, and a 2024 grant from the Chesapeake WILD Program.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Service launched Chesapeake WILD in 2022 in partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to support partner-led efforts to sustain the health of the six-state watershed and its inhabitants, including fish and wildlife species like the blackbanded sunfish.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhere we are now \u2014 with successful propagation and release to augment a population, and more \u2014 is the culmination of nearly 20 years of work,\u201d explained Jay Kilian, a state natural resource biologist who has been involved in this effort for much of his career.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While there’s still a ways to go to secure this species\u2019 future in Maryland, the September release was a big step for a small fish.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"fish<\/a>

Blackbanded sunfish in a temporary holding tank await release into a pond in Maryland.<\/span>Photo by Sinclair Boggs, Maryland DNR<\/p><\/div>\n

Blackbanded sunfish depend upon \u201cblackwater\u201d habitats, once abundant in the coastal plain. Named for the natural dark stain from organic materials leaching from the soil, these wetlands are acidic and nutrient poor, home to a small suite of well-adapted species.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the last couple of centuries, Maryland\u2019s blackwater swamps were drained, leading to loss of both the physical habitat and the unique water conditions that support species like the blackbanded sunfish.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we are left with is pockets of blackwater in Maryland, as well as in Delaware, but without the connectivity between them to sustain populations,\u201d Kilian explained. \u201cEverything that remains here is highly isolated \u2014 and vulnerable for that reason.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Since 2008, Maryland has collaborated with partners in the Chesapeake Bay region to develop and implement an interstate conservation strategy outlining specific actions to protect and restore populations of the blackbanded sunfish.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the primary actions was to survey for them using as many methods as possible, which affirmed that these fish were nowhere to be found in Maryland,\u201d Kilian said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, almost nowhere. They do occur at one site, but a genetic analysis revealed the fish there are highly inbred.<\/span><\/p>\n

Confirming the near absence of the blackbanded sunfish inspired a new strategy: develop and implement captive propagation, also called captive breeding, to augment the existing population and establish new ones where suitable habitat remains.<\/span><\/p>\n

But how do you breed a fish that is nearly gone and largely inbred? The saving grace for the blackbanded sunfish, and the people working to bring it back, is that it\u2019s still thriving somewhere else.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEver been to the New Jersey Pinelands? Historically, the E<\/span>astern Shore of Maryland was much more like that,\u201d explained Jason Cessna, a biologist with DNR Fishing and Boating Services who did his master\u2019s thesis at Frostburg State University on blackbanded sunfish.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you haven\u2019t been, picture rolling sandy hills, covered with dense forests of scruffy pine and oak, with blackwater swamps and ponds in the lowlands connected by rivers and streams. Thanks to the protections of the New Jersey Pinelands Protection Act, the blackbanded sunfish and its habitat remain healthy in the Garden State.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A blackwater pond in New Jersey Pinelands Preserve, where this kind of habitat is still abundant.\u00a0 | <\/span>Image Details<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIn our last comprehensive review, we documented blackbanded sunfish in over 100 distinct locations, where they were fairly abundant at most sites,\u201d said Scott Collenburg, a biologist with New Jersey Fish and Wildlife.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNew Jersey plays a unique role in the long-term survival of this species because most individuals are found in the Pinelands Preserve,\u201d Collenburg said. \u201cWe feel a responsibility to support conservation across our border.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2016, Maryland DNR contacted the National Aquarium in Baltimore about partnering to pilot a blackbanded sunfish captive propagation program.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a perfect match in a lot of ways,\u201d explained Ashleigh Clews, curator of the aquarium\u2019s animal care and rescue center. \u201cThe state wanted to collaborate with a facility that had fish husbandry expertise, and we are always looking for ways to support local conservation initiatives.<\/span><\/p>\n

Given the precariousness of Maryland\u2019s population, the partners knew they needed to find another source. So, Maryland reached out to New Jersey to ask if they could collect from lakes with healthy blackbanded sunfish populations.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Woodland<\/a>

A blackwater pond in New Jersey Pinelands Preserve, where this kind of habitat is still abundant. Photo by <\/span>Eric Boehm\/New Jersey DEP Fish and Wildlife<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWe started our monitoring program in the 1950s, so we have good documentation of where these fish occur,\u201d New Jersey\u2019s Collenburg explained. \u201cThat allowed us to select water bodies where we\u2019re confident the populations are robust.\u201d In these ponds, he said, a single sweep of a seine net will bring in 50 fish.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As a precaution, Maryland\u2019s Cessna conducted a population estimate in seven of the lakes, providing reassurance that the numbers were high.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Based on these assessments, Maryland collected 50 fish from New Jersey in 2017 and brought them to the National Aquarium as broodstock for the pilot propagation effort.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But the fish didn\u2019t survive long enough to attempt breeding. Having adapted to acidic, tannic water, they couldn\u2019t tolerate conditions that most fish thrive in.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have clean water with perfect chemistry \u2014 but that\u2019s not what blackbanded sunfish want,\u201d Clews said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Aquarium staff began to do research and tests to figure out how to optimize conditions in the tanks but had to put the project on hold when the animal care department moved into a new offsite facility in 2018.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Right when they were ready to dive back in, COVID-19 hit.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe kept in touch with the state but couldn\u2019t really move forward for a couple of years,\u201d Clews said.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

By the time state biologists were able to get back into the field to collect more blackbanded sunfish in 2023, aquarium staff had figured out one key to keeping the fish happy: bringing back water, and muck, from their home ponds, to help the fish acclimate and give the staff raw ingredients to replicate. Today, one of the aquarists makes his own pondwater for the blackbanded sunfish, using natural materials to start the \u201cbrewing\u201d process months before they arrive.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Aquarium<\/a>

The tank system developed to house blackbanded sunfish at the National Aquarium.\u00a0<\/span>Photo by Ashleigh Clews\/National Aquarium<\/p><\/div>\n

Temperature and light are also important factors. The fish need a cool-down period in the winter, and a warm-up period in the spring. It needs to be dark in their tank at night, and light during the day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been playing with those variables, as well as dosing the tanks with Co2 to key into the right pH levels,\u201d Clews said.<\/span><\/p>\n

After years of trial, error, and interruption, in September 2024, staff from the aquarium and Maryland DNR collected 40 fish from two different ponds in New Jersey, brought them back to Baltimore, and for the first time, got them through the acclimation, holding, and quarantine periods.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA year later, we still have 39,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, conservation partners have been working on the ground in Maryland to set the stage for the anticipated return of blackbanded sunfish.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe still have some nice, mature cedar swamps on the eastern shore, so we have been focusing on restoring the areas surrounding them to expand this habitat,\u201d said Deborah Landau, director of ecological management for the Maryland\/DC chapter of The Nature Conservancy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She explained that the pulpwood industry drained and filled many wetlands in the area, before planting loblolly pine plantations. Nassawango Creek, now a 10,000-acre preserve managed by The Nature Conservancy, was 40% pine plantation when the organization purchased the land, in bits and pieces.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Over time, they\u2019ve transitioned it back to a mix of native oak and pine, Atlantic white cedar and grasslands by restoring hydrology, conducting controlled burns, and planting trees in partnership with the National Aquarium\u2019s Conservation Department.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve restored the physical properties and brought back native plant communities, now we\u2019re excited to welcome back a species that has been lost for a long time,\u201d Landau said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"People<\/a>

The Chesapeake WILD grant funded the planting of 1,500 Atlantic white cedar trees at Plum Creek Preserve in Maryland.\u00a0 Photo by Charmaine Dahlenburg\/National Aquarium<\/p><\/div>\n

The Chesapeake WILD grant came in at the right place and time for this complex, decades-long, multi-partner conservation initiative.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition to funding shovel-ready projects, the program provides grants for planning and technical assistance to support initiatives that simply need a catalyst,\u201d said Mike Slattery, Acting Deputy Assistant Director for Science Applications. \u201cThe intent is to help partners clear hurdles to achieving their conservation goals\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After Maryland recovered from the initial setbacks with blackbanded sunfish captive propagation, Kilian said, \u201cWe knew we needed to build in some redundancy through a strategy that offered multiple pathways to success. The Chesapeake WILD grant provided the opportunity for partners to pool resources in a way that wouldn\u2019t have been possible otherwise.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The grant allowed Maryland to invest in captive propagation of blackbanded sunfish in state-run facilities, capitalizing on the expertise of Maryland DNR hatchery staff and building on lessons learned from the National Aquarium.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe now have both an indoor aquaculture system and a pond dedicated to blackbanded sunfish at one of our hatcheries, and the staff there have made enormous contributions to successfully propagating and rearing this species,\u201d Cessna said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Excitingly, the blackbanded sunfish that were released in September were born at the state hatchery just a few months prior.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGiven past difficulties, we weren\u2019t sure we would have success in 2025, but because of the dedication of our hatchery staff they spawned successfully in captivity, and we had a high survival rate,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The grant also supported the National Aquarium, allowing them to upgrade their systems so they can better calibrate conditions in the blackbanded sunfish tanks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And it funded the planting of 1,500 Atlantic white cedar trees as part of the effort to restore blackwater habitat at The Nature Conservancy\u2019s Plum Creek Preserve near Sharptown,. The planting was led by the National Aquarium\u2019s Conservation Department with assistance from the Maryland Conservation Corps.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the grand scheme of things, the recent progress could be seen as a drop in the bucket. Once Maryland has built up robust populations of these fish in blackwater ponds \u2014 which will take time \u2014 the ultimate goal is to get them out in streams and rivers in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But the ripple effects of this grant are far-reaching.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis small grant leveraged a lot of attention toward this species,\u201d Kilian said. \u201cWe have a lot of momentum now; I hope it continues.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Article by Bridget Macdonald, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Public Affairs Specialist\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Effort aims to bring the rarest freshwater fish species in Maryland back to its native habitats On a picture-perfect, mid-September Monday, a dozen staff from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service caravaned down a rutted dirt road in a Wildlife Management Area to witness a conservation milestone.  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[957,11],"tags":[5659,3073],"class_list":["post-46665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appnews","category-fisheries","tag-blackbanded-sunfish","tag-u-s-fish-and-wildlife-service"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46665"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46665\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46677,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46665\/revisions\/46677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}