Juvenile Atlantic Sturgeon Monitoring
The life history of Atlantic sturgeon makes monitoring of population trends through time difficult. We can use the early juvenile stage to monitor the population over time and evaluate the population's response to commercial fishery moratorium enacted in 1996. Late juveniles stay in the Hudson River until age 6 and by age 1 have attained a size that can be effectively sampled by traditional fishing gears (i.e. gillnets). The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has been contracted to design such a sampling plan.
Objectives of the study are:
- Develop a sampling design that can estimate the relative abundance of juvenile sturgeon using select areas of the Estuary (Newburgh Bay and Haverstraw Bay).
- Assess the seasonal use of habitat and water depths using the benthic mapping data to find which habitat the sturgeon prefer.
Methods:
We use anchored gillnets with stretch mesh sizes of 3 inches, 4 inches, and 5 inches. We set all three meshes at a pre-determined site. Captured Atlantic sturgeon are weighed (nearest gram), measured (nearest mm, TL and FL) and double tagged. If a passive integrated transponder (PIT) tag is not present, then we implant one. Fish are also tagged with an external USFWS Carlin tag. Fish are released at the point of capture. Please report all tagged Atlantic sturgeon to the USFWS.
Schedule:
Sampling occurred during the fall of 2003, spring 2004, fall 2004, spring 2005, and fall 2005. The spring sampling occurred during March and April and the fall sampling occurred during October and November.
The NYSDEC Hudson River Fisheries Unit has taken over the sampling and continues the sampling ever spring in Haverstraw Bay.
Reports:
Data and a report are available from this project. Any questions contact us the Hudson River Fisheries Unit. The mailing and email address is located on the menu on the right.
