Atlantic sturgeon: Difference between revisions

{{forFor|the Atlantic sturgeon from Europe (except the Baltic region)|European sea sturgeon}}

| status = NTVU

| status_ref = <ref name=IUCN>{{cite iucn |authorauthor1=St. PierreHilton, RE. |collaborationauthor2=UFox, D.S. Fish & Wildlife Service |year=2006 2022|title=''Acipenser oxyrinchus'' ssp. ''oxyrinchus'' |page=e.T243A13046213 T243A95763750|doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.20062022-1.RLTS.T243A13046213T243A95763750.en |access-date=219 MarchJuly 2023}}</ref>

Atlantic sturgeon under six years of age stay in the [[brackish]] water where they were born before moving into the ocean. They may be {{convert|3|-|5|ft|abbr=on}} long at this stage. In areas where [[shortnose sturgeon]] are also present, the adults of that species can be, and historically were for centuries, confused with immature Atlantic sturgeon. When mature, they travel upstream to spawn. The females may lay 800,000 to 3.75 million eggs in a single year, doing so every two to six years. After laying their eggs, females travel back downstream, but males may remain upstream after spawning until forced to return downstream by the increasingly cold water. They may even return to the ocean, where they stay near the [[coastline]].{{CnCitation needed|date=March 2021}}

The species is also known for its occasional 'leaping' behavior, during which the fish will emerge completely out of the water in a forceful motion that can be hazardous to anything unlucky enough to be struck.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dnr2.maryland.gov/Fisheries/Pages/Fish-Facts.aspx?fishname=Atlantic%20Sturgeon|title=Maryland Fish Facts|work=Maryland.gov|access-date=March 28, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/2015/07/04/lake-city-florida-girl-killed-by-jumping-sturgeon-boat/29701255/|title=Florida girl killed by jumping sturgeon|work=FloridaToday.com|date=6 July 2015|orig-date=Originally published 4 July 2015|access-date=21 March 2023|authoragency=Associated Press}}</ref> The exact reason why sturgeon leap remains unknown, although some scholars believe leaping is a form of group communication. In one study, of a population of the species in the Suwannee river in northwestern Florida, leaping behavior was found to vary seasonally, with the highest frequency of occurrence in June.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Sulak|first1=K. J.|last2=Edwards|first2=R. E.|last3=Hill|first3=G. W.|last4=Randall|first4=M. T.|title=Why do sturgeons jump? Insights from acoustic investigations of the Gulf sturgeon in the Suwannee River, Florida, USA|journal=Journal of Applied Ichthyology|date=17 December 2002|volume=18|issue=4–6|pages=617–620|doi=10.1046/j.1439-0426.2002.00401.x|doi-access=free}}</ref>

The now nearly extinct sturgeon population in the [[Baltic Sea]] area belongs to the Atlantic sturgeon ''A. oxyrinchus'' rather than to the European species ''[[European sea sturgeon|A. sturio]]'' as had been thought. ''A. oxyrinchus'' migrated to the Baltic about 1300 years ago and displaced the native ''A. sturio''.<ref>{{cite journal | pmc=2527320| last1=Ludwig| first1=A| title=Tracing the first steps of American sturgeon pioneers in Europe| journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology| volume=8| pages=221| last2=Arndt| first2=U| last3=Lippold| first3=S| last4=Benecke| first4=N| last5=Debus| first5=L| last6=King| first6=T. L.| last7=Matsumura| first7=S| doi=10.1186/1471-2148-8-221| pmid=18664258| year=2008| doi-access=free}}</ref>

IUCN: [[NearVulnerable Threatenedspecies|Vulnerable]]<ref name=IUCN/>

The American Fisheries Society considers it endangered in all stream systems except conservation-dependent in the Hudson, Delaware, and Altamaha Rivers.{{CnCitation needed|date=March 2021}}

The Atlantic sturgeon of the [[Delaware River]] are listed under the ESA as part of the New York Bight [[distinct population segment]] (DPS),<ref name="noaafisheries">{{cite web|url=https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/atlantic-sturgeon|title=Species Directory: Atlantic Sturgeon|website=NOAA Fisheries|date=30 January 2023|access-date=21 March 2023}}</ref><ref name="fr77">{{Federal Register|77|5880}}</ref> which includes all Atlantic sturgeon that spawn in watersheds draining to coastal waters from Chatham, Massachusetts, to the Delaware-Maryland border on Fenwick Island,<ref name="fr77"/>{{rp|5881}} the Chesapeake Bay DPS, the Carolina DPS and the South Atlantic DPS, while the Gulf of Maine DPS is listed threatened.<ref name="noaafisheries"/><ref name="fr77"/> Canadian-origin populations are not currently listed under the U.S. ESA.<ref name="noaafisheries"/> NMFS believes fewer than 300 spawning adults are in the Delaware River population; just over 100 years ago the estimated population was 180,000 spawning adult females.{{CnCitation needed|date=March 2021}}

Atlantic sturgeon are now a threatened species. Management of the species is largely based on the restriction of fishing of the species. This helps limit fishing mortalities of sturgeon to bycatch.<ref>{{CnCite web |last=Fisheries |first=NOAA |date=March2022-10-27 2021|title=Action Plan to Reduce Atlantic Sturgeon Bycatch in Federal Large Mesh Gillnet Fisheries {{!}} NOAA Fisheries |url=https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/resource/document/action-plan-reduce-atlantic-sturgeon-bycatch-federal-large-mesh-gillnet-fisheries |access-date=2023-11-17 |website=NOAA |language=en}}</ref>

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*[http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7025.html New York State Department of Environmental Conservation - New York's Sturgeon] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160829133237/http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7025.html |date=2016-08-29 }}

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