news bird :Atlantic Sturgeon

Atlantic Sturgeon

















(Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus)

October 6, 2009, NMFS received a petition from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) to either list Atlantic sturgeon as endangered fish, or to list a population of more different segments (DPSs) as endangered and designate critical habitat under the ESA.

Current factors responsible for the decline of Atlantic sturgeon, including ship strikes, degrading water quality, blasting and dredging, habitat change through the dam, and caught as bycatch in-sink net, trawl fishery. Historically, this species is coveted for caviar and meat of it is then that the results of overfishing. The fishery collapsed in 1901, ten years after the peak landings of less than 10% of landings in 1890 it was reported. (STR, 2007)

U.S. Atlantic fisheries for the Committee in 1998 in a broad ban on coastal fisheries for Atlantic sturgeon to target and prompted NMFS to close the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) to maintain sturgeon Atlantic Ocean in 1999. However, the decline of the species has continued litigation and requires further towards its protection.

Biology and Ecology:
The Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus) living in brackish shallow waters along the continental shelf. The Atlantic Sturgeon has been described in a total of 36 rivers in the United States and Canada, including the Hudson, James, and the Delaware River, the species is also sometimes seen in the Gulf of Mexico (Ref. 26,938). In the course of their growth, they up coastal rivers to spawn and hatch their eggs over the course of a week's time. Females of the species take 80-30 years to reach sexual maturity and spawn only once every 3-4 years. In each breeding, depending on the size of children, sturgeon can produce 400,000 to 4,000,000 eggs per year of reproduction. Time of adoption is dependent on temperature only occurs between 18-20 ° C, making 'routine breeding species are sensitive to climate change. Eight to 12 days after hatching, the larvae of sturgeon begin moving downstream to their breeding grounds, moving only at night to protect them until they develop further. Upon further development of sturgeon juvenile continued downstream, they began developing a salinity tolerance, eventually going up residence in the estuary waters for months or years. These fish can grow up to 14 feet in length and weigh over 800 pounds.

Problem:
Dams and tidal turbines to block access to spawning and feeding habitat as well as changes in temperature regimes and river flows needed for spawning sturgeon. Dredging and blasting activities to support commercial shipping, mining, and boating are especially breaking the habit of eating sturgeon. Sturgeon are omnivorous bottom (bottom filter) feeders diet consists of molluscs, gastropods, isopods, fish and other invertebrates. commercial excavation projects eliminate habitat structure (eg hole) and causing serious disruptions in the bottom habitat of the sturgeon. Degradation of water quality in rivers and estuaries, the introduction of disease organisms through the activities of aquaculture and aquarium fish, and eat the increase of juvenile sturgeon fish skin by flathead smooth introduction in different river basins also contribute significantly to the decline of species.

Stock Status:
NMFS agreed that under 50 CFR 424.14 (b) (2), ensure that information is available to list Atlantic sturgeon as a species capable of endangered. This is determined based on literature and information provided by the state to consider the Atlantic sturgeon (2007). Information and comments can be sent to NMFS until February 5, 2010. The registration document for all federal Atlantic sturgeon can be found at the link below. \



Related Links:

Federal Register - ESA Petition Atlantic Sturgeon