EPA's Vessel General Permit and Small Vessel General

of all life stages in the riverine environment, including migration, breeding site selection,
courtship, egg fertilization, resting, and staging; and necessary for maintaining spawning
sites in suitable condition for egg attachment, egg sheltering, resting, and larvae staging;
5. Water quality, including temperature, salinity, pH, hardness, turbidity, oxygen content,
and other chemical characteristics, necessary for normal behavior, growth, and viability
of all life stages;
6. Sediment quality, including texture and other chemical characteristics, necessary for
normal behavior, growth, and viability of all life stages; and
7. Safe and unobstructed migratory pathways necessary for passage within and between
riverine, estuarine, and marine habitats (e.g. a river unobstructed by any permanent
structure, or a dammed river that still allows for passage).
Atlantic Sturgeon (5 DPSs)
Species description and distribution
Atlantic sturgeon are large fish with a long protruding snout. They lack scales and instead have
armor-like plates along the dorsal, lateral, and ventral sides. Their historical range included
major estuarine and riverine systems that spanned from Hamilton Inlet on the coast of Labrador
to the Saint Johns River in Florida (Smith and Clugston 1997, NMFS 2007). Atlantic sturgeon
have been documented as far south as Bermuda and Venezuela (Lee et al. 1980).
Listing status
Five DPSs of Atlantic sturgeon have been listed under the ESA. The Gulf of Maine DPS was
listed as threatened while the New York Bight, Chesapeake Bay, Carolina, and South Atlantic
DPSs were listed as endangered (77 FR 5880, 77 FR 5914). NMFS has not designated critical
habitat for Atlantic sturgeon.
Population designations, abundance, and trends
Atlantic sturgeon throughout their range exhibit ecological separation during spawning that has
resulted in multiple, genetically distinct, interbreeding population segments. Studies have
consistently found populations to be genetically diverse and indicate that there are between 7 and
10 populations that can be statistically differentiated (King et al. 2001, Waldman et al. 2002,
Wirgin et al. 2002, Wirgin et al. 2005, Grunwald et al. 2008). However, there is some
disagreement among studies, and results do not include samples from all rivers inhabited by
Atlantic sturgeon. NMFS (77 FR 5880, 77 FR 5914) identified five DPSs in the United States:
the Gulf of Maine, New York Bight, Chesapeake Bay, Carolina, and South Atlantic. Overall, the
genetic markers used in this analysis resulted in an average accuracy of 88% for determining a
sturgeon’s natal river origin, but an average accuracy of 94% for correctly classifying it to one of
five DPSs.
Prior to 1890, Atlantic sturgeon populations were at or near carrying capacity. Between 1890
and 1905, Atlantic sturgeon (and shortnose sturgeon) populations were drastically reduced for
sale of meat and caviar. Between 1920 and 1998, the harvest level remained very low due to
small remnant populations. Prompted by research on juvenile production between 1985 and
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