Diseased and dying smallmouth bass have been turning up in the Susquehanna River since 2005. In what was once a world-class bass fishery, fish continue to bear sores and lesions. and researchers continue to find intersex fish—adult male bass with female eggs in their testes.
CBF, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, and other organizations urged the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to prioritize the health of the Lower Susquehanna and commit to a sound plan to help restore it. Listing the 98-mile stretch of the river from Sunbury to the Maryland state line as an impaired water body on the federal 303(d) Impaired Waters list would help. A 2018 water quality report issued by the DEP found that a 46-mile segment of the middle and lower Susquehanna River does not meet water quality standards for aquatic life. That segment is now considered impaired. Still, challenges for the Susquehanna continue.
