scholarly journals Understanding the basis of shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) partial migration in the Gulf of Maine

2018 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 464-473 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew E. Altenritter ◽  
Gayle Barbin Zydlewski ◽  
Michael T. Kinnison ◽  
Joseph D. Zydlewski ◽  
Gail S. Wippelhauser
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of Maine ◽  
Fork Length ◽  
Resource Limitation ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Shortnose Sturgeon ◽  
River Population ◽  
Acipenser Brevirostrum ◽  
Penobscot River ◽  
Major River ◽  
Kennebec River

Movement of shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) among major river systems in the Gulf of Maine is common and has implications for the management of this endangered species. Directed movements of 61 telemetered individuals monitored between 2010 and 2013 were associated with the river of tagging and individual characteristics. While a small proportion of fish tagged in the Kennebec River moved to the Penobscot River (5%), a much higher proportion of fish tagged in the Penobscot River moved to the Kennebec River (66%), during probable spawning windows. This suggests that Penobscot River fish derive from a migratory contingent within a larger Kennebec River population. Despite this connectivity, fish captured in the Penobscot River were larger (∼100 mm fork length) and had higher condition factors (median Fulton’s K: 0.76) than those captured in the Kennebec River (median Fulton’s K: 0.61). Increased abundance and resource limitation in the Kennebec River may be constraining growth and promoting migration to the Penobscot River by individuals with sufficient initial size and condition. Migrants could experience an adaptive reproductive advantage relative to nonmigratory individuals.

scholarly journals Development of Active Numerating Side-scan for a High-Density Overwintering Location for Endemic Shortnose Sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) in the Saint John River, New Brunswick

Diversity ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel N. Andrews ◽  
Antóin M. O’Sullivan ◽  
Jani Helminen ◽  
Daniel F. Arluison ◽  
Kurt M. Samways ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Brunswick ◽  
Rapid Assessment ◽  
Fork Length ◽  
Mapping Method ◽  
Population Estimate ◽  
Shortnose Sturgeon ◽  
River Population ◽  
Side Scan Sonar ◽  
Acipenser Brevirostrum ◽  
Saint John

In 1979, the Shortnose Sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) population of the Saint John River, New Brunswick, was estimated at 18,000 ± 5400 individuals. More recently, an estimate of 4836 ± 69 individuals in 2005, and between 3852 and 5222 individuals in 2009 and 2011, was made based on a single Shortnose Sturgeon winter aggregation in the Kennebecasis Bay of the Saint John River, a location thought to contain a large proportion of the population. These data, in combination with the Saint John River serving as the sole spawning location for Shortnose Sturgeon in Canada prompted a species designation of “Special Concern” in 2015 under Canada’s Species at Risk Act (SARA). A three-decade span of scientific observations amplified by the traditional knowledge and concerns of local indigenous groups have pointed to a declining population. However, the endemic Shortnose Sturgeon population of the Saint John River has not been comprehensively assessed in recent years. To help update the population estimate, we tested a rapid, low-cost side-scan sonar mapping method coupled with supervised image classification to enumerate individual Sturgeon in a previously undescribed critical winter location in the Saint John River. We then conducted an underwater video camera survey of the area, in which we did not identify any fish species other than Shortnose Sturgeon. These data were then synchronized with four years of continuous acoustic tracking of 18 Shortnose Sturgeon to produce a population estimate in each of the five identified winter habitats and the Saint John River as a whole. Using a side-scan sonar, we identified > 12,000 Shortnose Sturgeon in a single key winter location and estimated the full river population as > 20,000 individuals > ~40 cm fork length. We conclude that the combined sonar/image processing method presented herein provides an effective and rapid assessment of large fish such as Sturgeon when occurring in winter aggregation. Our results also indicate that the Shortnose Sturgeon population of the Saint John River could be similar to the last survey estimate conducted in the late 1970s, but more comprehensive and regular surveys are needed to more accurately assess the state of the population.

Reconsidering residency: characterization and conservation implications of complex migratory patterns of shortnose sturgeon (Acispenser brevirostrum)

2013 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phillip E. Dionne ◽  
Gayle B. Zydlewski ◽  
Michael T. Kinnison ◽  
Joseph Zydlewski ◽  
Gail S. Wippelhauser
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of Maine ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Shortnose Sturgeon ◽  
Current Conservation ◽  
Acipenser Brevirostrum ◽  
Conservation Implications ◽  
Penobscot River ◽  
Migratory Patterns ◽  
Maine River ◽  
And Migration

Efforts to conserve endangered species usually involve attempts to define and manage threats at the appropriate scale of population processes. In some species that scale is localized; in others, dispersal and migration link demic units within larger metapopulations. Current conservation strategies for endangered shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) assume the species is river resident, with little to no movement between rivers. However we have found that shortnose sturgeon travel more than 130 km through coastal waters between the largest rivers in Maine. Indeed, acoustic telemetry shows that shortnose sturgeon enter six out of the seven acoustically monitored rivers we have monitored, with over 70% of tagged individuals undertaking coastal migrations between river systems. Four migration patterns were identified for shortnose sturgeon inhabiting the Penobscot River, Maine: river resident (28%), spring coastal emigrant (24%), fall coastal emigrant (33%), and summer coastal emigrant (15%). No shortnose sturgeon classified as maturing female exhibited a resident pattern, indicating differential migration. Traditional river-specific assessment and management of shortnose sturgeon could be better characterized using a broader metapopulation scale, at least in the Gulf of Maine, that accounts for diverse migratory strategies and the importance of migratory corridors as critical habitat.

scholarly journals FIRST VERIFIED RECORD FOR SHORTNOSE STURGEON, Acipenser brevirostrum LeSueur, 1818, IN MINAS BASIN, BAY OF FUNDY, NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA

2013 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Dadswell ◽  
George Nau ◽  
Michael J.W. Stokesbury
Keyword(s):  
Nova Scotia ◽  
New Record ◽  
Fork Length ◽  
Fish Fauna ◽  
Bay Of Fundy ◽  
Shortnose Sturgeon ◽  
Acipenser Brevirostrum ◽  
The Past ◽  
Photographic Evidence ◽  
Fish Weir

A shortnose sturgeon was caught in fisherman Wayne Linkletter’s intertidal fish weir in Minas Basin near Economy, Nova Scotia, on June 29, 2013. It was an adult, 73.7 cm fork length and weighed ~4.5 kg. Fishers in Minas Basin relate that they have captured shortnose sturgeons in their weirs in the past decade (1 or 2 fish/y) but this is the first sighting verified by photographic evidence. In Canada shortnose sturgeons were previously known only from the Saint John River and Harbour. The new record extends the coastal range of the species by approximately 165 km and is a new addition to the fish fauna of Nova Scotia.

Biology and population characteristics of the shortnose sturgeon, Acipenser brevirostrum LeSueur 1818 (Osteichthyes:Acipenseridae), in the Saint John River Estuary, New Brunswick, Canada

1979 ◽  
Vol 57 (11) ◽  
pp. 2186-2210 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Dadswell
Keyword(s):  
Fresh Water ◽  
Growth Parameters ◽  
Saline Water ◽  
River Estuary ◽  
Fork Length ◽  
Population Characteristics ◽  
Shortnose Sturgeon ◽  
Acipenser Brevirostrum ◽  
Length Relationship ◽  
Population Weight

During a 4-year study, 4178 shortnose sturgeon were captured and 2453 marked with numbered tags and released. For adults, Z was estimated as 0.12–0.15 and F was estimated as 0.01. The population weight–length relationship was log W = 3.21 (log FL) − 5.45, where W = weight in kilograms and FL = fork length in cm. The oldest female was 67 years; the oldest male was 32 years. Von Bertalanffy growth parameters L∞, W∞, and K were 127.0 cm, 24.8 kg, and 0.047 for females, and 108.7 cm, 13.9 kg, and 0.063 for males. Sex ratio of adults was 2:1 for females. Males spawned first about age 12 and probably at 2-year intervals thereafter; females spawned at 18 years and 3- to 5-year intervals thereafter. Fecundity was 27 000 – 208 000 eggs per female. Spawning occurs in freshwater, riverine sections of the upper estuary during May–June at 10–15 °C. Feeding occurred only during May to October in fresh water but continued all year in saline water. Juveniles ate mainly insects and crustaceans; adults ate small molluscs. Juveniles remained in fresh water until they attained 45 cm, then joined the regular annual migration of adults, which moved upstream in spring–summer and seaward in fall. Many ripening females migrated upstream in fall and overwintered in deep, freshwater sites adjacent to spawning grounds. The Seber-Jolly estimate of the adult (> 50 cm) population was 18 000 ± 30%.

Anadromous Sturgeons: Habitats, Threats, and Management

2007 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
Fork Length ◽  
Physical Habitat ◽  
Shortnose Sturgeon ◽  
Atlantic Sturgeon ◽  
Acipenser Brevirostrum ◽  
Neuse River ◽  
Logistic Regression Models ◽  
Gill Net ◽  
Ultrasonic Transmitter

Abstract. – Shortnose sturgeon <em>Acipenser brevirostrum</em> historically occurred in most major Atlantic Coast rivers from Saint Johns River, New Brunswick, Canada to St. John’s River, Florida. However, there are few records of shortnose sturgeon occurrences within North Carolina and none from the Neuse River. We conducted a 2-year intensive gill-net survey, following the National Marine Fisheries Service sampling protocol, and a reward program in order to determine their population status within the Neuse River. No shortnose sturgeon were observed, although 10 juvenile Atlantic sturgeon (506–992 mm fork length) were encountered. Habitat surveys of the lower Neuse River, where shortnose sturgeon would be expected to occur during summer, showed that bottom waters were severely hypoxic during June–September of 2001–2002. A juvenile Atlantic sturgeon tagged with an ultrasonic transmitter moved upstream of the unsuitable summer habitat and remained in a restricted area until late fall, when water quality improved due to increased flows and lower temperatures. We developed logistic regression models of watershed and river characteristics based on 36 Atlantic Coast rivers with a known presence or absence of shortnose sturgeon. Model predictions suggest that the Neuse River should contain a population of shortnose sturgeon based on the amount of physical habitat. We hypothesize that shortnose sturgeon have been extirpated from the Neuse River due to a lack of suitable summer habitat. Population recovery may be impossible until habitat quality can be improved.

Occurrence of the Shortnose Sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum), an Endangered Species, in Montsweag Bay, Maine

1973 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 563-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen M. Fried ◽  
James D. McCleave
Keyword(s):  
Endangered Species ◽  
Gulf Of Maine ◽  
River System ◽  
Shortnose Sturgeon ◽  
Acipenser Brevirostrum ◽  
Total Length

Thirty-one shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) were caught in gillnets in Montsweag Bay in the Sheepscot River system during June and July of 1971 and 1972. Of nine fish preserved for study, six were longer than any previously documented and four exceeded the maximum total length previously postulated. These specimens represent the second population of this endangered species found in the Gulf of Maine.

Evaluation of four methods of transmitter attachment on shortnose sturgeon, Acipenser brevirostrum

2002 ◽  
Vol 18 (4-6) ◽  
pp. 491-494 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. R. Collins ◽  
D. W. Cooke ◽  
T. I. J. Smith ◽  
W. C. Post ◽  
D. C. Russ ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Shortnose Sturgeon ◽  
Acipenser Brevirostrum

Overwintering habitat use of shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum): defining critical habitat using a novel underwater video survey and modeling approach

2007 ◽  
Vol 64 (9) ◽  
pp. 1248-1257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinhai Li ◽  
Matthew K Litvak ◽  
John E. Hughes Clarke
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Linear Models ◽  
Video Camera ◽  
Sampling Procedure ◽  
Shortnose Sturgeon ◽  
Underwater Video ◽  
Camera System ◽  
Critical Habitat ◽  
Acipenser Brevirostrum ◽  
Modeling Approach

The overwintering habitat use of shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) was investigated from January to March 2005 in the upper Kennebecasis River, New Brunswick, Canada, using a novel underwater video camera system and modeling approach. Following a random sampling procedure, 187 holes were drilled into the ice, and 234 sturgeon were counted and video-recorded. We found that sturgeon concentrated in a 2 ha area at the confluence of the Kennebecasis and Hammond rivers on a flat sandy substrate at a depth of 3.1–6.9 m. Generalized linear models were developed to describe the relationship of shortnose sturgeon density and habitat variables. The model indicated that the shortnose sturgeon had significant preference to deeper areas within this region. The total abundance of shortnose sturgeon in the area was estimated to be 4836 ± 69 (mean ± standard error) using the ordinary kriging method to interpolate sturgeon density at unsampled sites. This overwintering habitat of shortnose sturgeon can be defined as critical habitat following the identification policies of the Canadian Species at Risk Act (SARA).

Biology, Management, and Protection of North American Sturgeon

2002 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Extinction Risk ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Shortnose Sturgeon ◽  
Management Options ◽  
Connecticut River ◽  
Acipenser Brevirostrum ◽  
Survival And Reproduction ◽  
Very High ◽  
Existing Data

<em>Abstract.</em>—The shortnose sturgeon, <em>Acipenser brevirostrum</em>, is a long-lived species that grows slowly, matures at an advanced age, and spawns only intermittently. In the Connecticut River, there are two distinct subpopulations of shortnose sturgeon, which have been separated by the Holyoke Dam for 157 years. My research addressed the viability and persistence for these two separate populations and the effects of dispersal, variation in survival and reproduction, and catastrophes. My risk-based approach used a stage-based metapopulation model that I constructed in RAMAS<sup>®</sup> GIS incorporating the available data. Based on the existing data, this population model for the shortnose sturgeon metapopulation in the Connecticut River made several predictions. The observed stability of the two subpopulations was possible either: with reproduction in both upper and lower subpopulations and small to moderate rates of dispersal between them; or with no reproduction in the lower subpopulation, very high reproduction in the upper subpopulation and high rate of net downstream dispersal. My results provided estimates of extinction risk for the shortnose sturgeon metapopulation under various management options and highlighted three key areas for future research, demonstrating the value of a risk-based approach. This approach is particularly useful for management of long-lived aquatic species.

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