2007 Status Review of Atlantic sturgeon - National Marine Fisheries ...

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1.3.2. Recent River Specific Information Canadian Rivers Atlantic sturgeon have been reported to occur as far north as the lower George River in Ungave Bay and Hamilton Inlet in Labrador, Canada, but it is not known if spawning ever occurred in any Labrador river (Vladykov and Greeley 1963, Leim and Scott 1966). Very little systematic sampling had been conducted to document the presence of Atlantic sturgeon in many Canadian rivers; however, it is likely that Atlantic sturgeon spawn(ed) in the Miramichi, Shubenacadie, Avon, Annapolis, St. Croix, and in other systems of similar size (reviewed in Dadswell 2006). There are, however, two major river systems in Canada that are known to still support Atlantic sturgeon - the Saint Lawrence and Saint John rivers. Saint Lawrence River – Quebec Historical records indicate that Atlantic sturgeon were found from Maryland to Sorel (approximately river km (rkm) 760). Vladykov and Greeley (1963) reported that young Atlantic sturgeon (15-28 cm) were abundant at St. Vallier (about 30 km downstream of Quebec City). Although the exact location of spawning areas in the Saint Lawrence River is not well documented, Vladykov and Greeley (1963) suggested that Atlantic sturgeon spawned in pools below waterfalls on tributaries to the Saint Lawrence River (Bastican River on the south shore and Rivier-aux-Outardes on the north shore). In 1997 and 1998, one running ripe female and 32 running ripe males were captured, tagged, and released in a deep section of the river located about 100 km upriver from the saltwater front, near Portneuf (rkm 95-98) (Caron 1998, Hatin et al. 2002). Subsequent tracking of these fish identified six adult aggregation areas. Three of the aggregation areas were believed to be spawning areas (Richelieu Rapids, Saint – Antoinede- Tilly, mouth of the Chaudiere River). The other three areas were identified as feeding/resting areas (Saint-Charles River estuary, Traverse du Milieu Channel, and the northern channel between Sault-au-Cochon and Petite Riviere-Saint-Francois). Fishing effort has been recorded since 1994 and indicates that populations have stabilized within the Kamouraska and Montmagny fishing areas, despite a dramatic decline in catch-per-unit-ofeffort (CPUE) within the Kamouraska decreasing from 1.71 in 1994 to 0.44 in 1995 and remaining low between 0.44 – 0.52 until 2000. Reported size classes did change over the period of 1994-2000. In 1994, the majority of Atlantic sturgeon landed were split (50:50) between small (
Atlantic sturgeon are thought to spawn in the mainstem of the Saint John River and tributaries such as the Kennebecasis, Canan, Grand Lake, and Oromocto (M. Dadswell, Acadia University, Pers. Comm. 2006). Atlantic sturgeon may also migrate occasionally above the head-of-tide, noting that construction of the Mactaquac Dam did not greatly diminish the amount of spawning habitat (M. Dadswell, Acadia University, Pers. Comm. 2006). Sampling conducted in the mid 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s with small and large mesh gill nets (up to 10” stretched mesh) resulted in the capture of a large number of juvenile and adult Atlantic sturgeon ranging in size from 19 – 480 cm in the Long Reach section of the Saint John River, the mouth of the Kennebecasis, and in the Wasademoak and Grand Lakes (Pottle and Dadswell 1979, Dadswell 2006). Within the Saint John River, Dadswell (2006) calculated that approximately 200 – 300 adults are captured each year in the Atlantic sturgeon fishery; based on the minimum size limit of 122 cm TL. It is unknown, however, if these landings are solely Saint John River Atlantic sturgeon or represent a mixed stock of neighboring populations. Overall, commercial landings within the Saint John River were relatively stable until the 1980s averaging approximately 10 mt per year (Figure 3). Landings increased drastically in the 1980s and peaked in 1994 at 80 mt. Following 1994, however, landings returned to 10 mt per year. U. S. Rivers Maine Rivers The geomorphology of most small coastal rivers in Maine is not sufficient to support Atlantic sturgeon spawning populations, except for the Penobscot and the estuarial complex of the Kennebec, Androscoggin, and Sheepscot rivers. During the summer months, the salt wedge intrudes almost to the site of impassable falls in these systems: St. Croix River (rkm 16), Machias River (rkm 10), and the Saco River (rkm 10). Although surveys have not been conducted to document Atlantic sturgeon presence, subadults may use the estuaries of these smaller coastal drainages during the summer months. St. Croix River – Maine/Nova Scotia The historic and current status of a St. Croix Atlantic sturgeon population is largely unknown. Mike Dadswell (Arcadia University, Canada) notes from personal communications with Nova Scotia Power (in 1993) that a small population of large sturgeon may be spawning annually below the hydropower dam on the St. Croix River (Dadswell 2006). Other than this personal communication, there is no additional information that an Atlantic sturgeon population exists on the St. Croix or regarding their status. Penobscot River – Maine There have been two surveys conducted in the last 15 years to document the presence of shortnose and Atlantic sturgeon in the Penobscot River. The Maine Department of Marine Resources (MEDMR) conducted a limited sampling effort in 1994 and 1995 to assess whether shortnose sturgeon were present in the Penobscot River. The MEDMR made 55 sets of 90 meter experimental gill nets for a total fishing effort of 409 net hrs (1 net hr = 100 yds fished for 1 hr). The majority of the fishing effort in the Penobscot River was in the upper estuary near head-of- 8
Page 1 and 2: STATUS REVIEW OF ATLANTIC STURGEON
Page 3 and 4: Atlantic Sturgeon Status Review Tea
Page 5 and 6: 3.5.3. Artificial Propagation and A
Page 7 and 8: egion is North Carolina south throu
Page 9 and 10: Figure 12. Left: A 39 cm TL young-o
Page 11 and 12: List of Acronyms and Abbreviations
Page 13 and 14: PAHs polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbo
Page 15 and 16: Introduction 1.1. Background of the
Page 17 and 18: eplaced the native European sturgeo
Page 19: 1.3.1. Historic Overview Historical
Page 23 and 24: Hampshire and Maine coasts (Squiers
Page 25 and 26: eports of low dissolved oxygen (DO)
Page 27 and 28: Hudson River Valley utilities (Cent
Page 29 and 30: Carcasses of large adult fish (> 15
Page 31 and 32: through 1998. The majority of their
Page 33 and 34: The incidental capture of two juven
Page 35 and 36: 1) and Cooper (N = 3) rivers. These
Page 37 and 38: Satilla River - Georgia Sampling re
Page 39 and 40: SRT concluded that the difference i
Page 41 and 42: watershed, but the manner in which
Page 43 and 44: within a DPS are genetically divers
Page 45 and 46: test the prototype turbines (CBS Ne
Page 47 and 48: listed species do not overlap fully
Page 49 and 50: Monosson 2000, Meador et al. 2002).
Page 51 and 52: quality and tissue contaminants, 3)
Page 53 and 54: hour of the last day of dredging (K
Page 55 and 56: km of freshwater habitat (Keiffer a
Page 57 and 58: section between Haverstraw Bay and
Page 59 and 60: plant. The EPA has been considering
Page 61 and 62: Bay based on commercial landings, h
Page 63 and 64: Both the Tar-Pamlico and Neuse rive
Page 65 and 66: Winyah Bay and its shipping channel
Page 67 and 68: dredging in the Santee River that w
Page 69 and 70: compromised during hot, dry summers
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• Cape Fear River - 64% of histor
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overfishing. The 1996 review docume
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Target Fisheries of Concern As ment
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eported. It is likely, however, tha
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River, Mid-Atlantic and New England
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nets. As of December 2005, only 4 j
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Penobscot River - Maine Historical
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targeted adults during their spawni
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fishermen (White and Armstrong 2000
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Satilla River - Georgia Shad fishin
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Juvenile shortnose sturgeon apparen
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vector. The symptoms have been pres
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that catfish and other species do p
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In 1998, the ASMFC amended the 1990
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While the construction of hydroelec
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Coastal Zone Management Act (16 U.S
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DO and toxic contaminants issues an
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Artificial propagation of Atlantic
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Since NEFC’s first successful spa
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Commercial culture of other sturgeo
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6) Develop monitoring programs and
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Between 1996 and 2000, 462 hatchery
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widely accepted as being underrepor
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5.6. Penobscot Accord In June 2004,
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• Toxic Contaminant Impacts and T
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uncertainties in species’ dynamic
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After group discussion and evaluati
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spawning habitat likely increases t
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7.3.5. South Atlantic DPS The SA DP
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management plan for Atlantic sturge
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Boyce, M. S. 1992. Population viabi
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Dadswell, M. 1975. Mercury, DDT and
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hopes. Ichthyology at the Florida M
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Hoover, E. E. 1938. Biological surv
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Connecticut River: what has been le
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anadromous sturgeon: status and tre
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Report Prepared for Atlantic States
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7 pp. Post, G. W. 1987. Revised and
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Secor, D. H. and T. E. Gunderson. 1
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Marine Fisheries Commission. Report
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Von Westernhagen, H., H. Rosenthal,
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Table 1. Historic and current spawn
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Table 3. (A) Statistical significan
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Table 5. Analysis of Molecular Vari
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Table 7. The percentage of riverine
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Table 10. Bycatch and bycatch rate
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Table 12. Significant portion of it
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Figure 1. Reported landings of Atla
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Figure 3. Atlantic sturgeon landing
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Number Captured 70 60 50 40 30 20 1
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CPUE 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 1985 1986 1
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VIMS and Independent Surveys - Numb
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Number Captured 160 140 120 100 80
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Figure 13. The average CPUE of Atla
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166
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100 49 43 St. Lawrence St. John Ken
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0.1 chord distance units Albemarle
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Figure 20. A map of sea surface tem
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. Figure 22. Historic and current s
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