Biology Management and Protection of North American Sturgeon

Webster Van Winkle, Paul J. Anders, David H. Secor, and Douglas A. Dixon, editors

274 pages Published by American Fisheries Society Publication date: June 2002

Summary

Symposium 28

This multi-authored symposium volume addresses the vulnerability and continuing decline of numerous sturgeon species and stocks and the intense efforts to manage and protect them. Biology, Management, and Protection of North American Sturgeon presents timely, accessible, and directly applicable biological and ecological research leading to more effective conservation and management of North American salmon. Written by scientists, resource managers, and electric utility industry personnel with a shared interest in sturgeon biology and ecology, management, and protection, this book includes life history characteristics relevant to population dynamics, viability, and persistence; upstream and downstream migratory behavior; habitat requirements and local movement; passage technologies; and conservation management and stock enhancement. Most major sturgeon species in America are covered, including shortnose, Atlantic, Gulf, lake, pallid, shovelnose, white, and green sturgeon.

This book is intended for

* Technical academia (staff and students) * Resource agencies (federal, state, and provincial) * Nongovernmental organizations * Environmental consultants * Power (steam and hydroelectric) producers

Table of Contents

Preface Committees Reviewer Acknowledgments Symbols and Abbreviations

Summary and Synthesis

Can We Study Sturgeons to Extinction? What We Do and Don’t Know about the Conservation of North American Sturgeons David H. Secor, Paul J. Anders, Webster Van Winkle, and Douglas A. Dixon

Part I Conceptual Overviews and Long-Term Studies

Sturgeon Conservation: Insights from Elasticity Analysis Mart R. Gross, Joe Repka, Cory T. Robertson, David H. Secor, and Webster Van Winkle

Stock Enhancement of Shortnose Sturgeon: a Case Study Theodore I. J. Smith, Mark R. Collins, William C. Post, and John W. McCord

Evaluating Risks for Threatened Aquatic Species: The Shortnose Sturgeon in the Connecticut River Karen V. Root

Recovery of White Sturgeon Populations through Natural Production: Understanding the Influence of Abiotic and Biotic Factors on Spawning and Subsequent Recruitment Michael J. Parsley, Paul J. Anders, Allen I. Miller, Lance G. Beckman, and George T. McCabe, Jr.

The First Endangered White Sturgeon Population: Repercussions in an Altered Large River-Floodplain Ecosystem Paul J. Anders, Diana L. Richards, and Madison S. Powell

Response of a White Sturgeon Population to Catch and Release Regulations—Now What? Timothy G. Cochnauer

Atlantic Sturgeon Fisheries and Stock Abundances during the Late Nineteenth Century David H. Secor

Part II Short-Term Studies on Habitat, Movement, and Behavior

Behavior and Lack of Upstream Passage of Shortnose Sturgeon at a Hydroelectric Facility and Navigation Lock Complex Douglas W. Cooke, Steven D. Leach, and J. Jeffery Isely

Estuarine and Nearshore Marine Habitat Use by Gulf Sturgeon from the Choctawhatchee River System, Florida Dwayne A. Fox, Joseph E. Hightower, and Frank M. Parauka

A Simulation Study of Factors Controlling White Sturgeon Recruitment in the Snake River Henriette I. Jager, Webster Van Winkle, James A. Chandler, Ken B. Lepla, Phil Bates, and Timothy D. Counihan

Contaminant Uptake and Survival of White Sturgeon Embryos Gretchen O. Kruse and Dennis L. Scarnecchia

Movements and Habitat Use by Hatchery-Reared Pallid Sturgeon in the Lower Platte River, Nebraska Vaughn A. Snook, Edward J. Peters, and Linda J. Young

Lake Sturgeon of the Manistee River: a Current Assessment of Spawning Stock Size, Age, and Growth Douglas L. Peterson, Brian Gunderman, and Paul Vecsei

Capture Locations and Growth Rates of Atlantic Sturgeon in the Chesapeake Bay Stuart A. Welsh, Sheila M. Eyler, Michael F. Mangold, and Albert J. Spells

Part III Protection, Enhancement, and Species Differences

Evaluation of Angled Bar Racks and Louvers for Guiding Lake and Shortnose Sturgeon Stephen V. Amaral, Jonathan L. Black, Brian J. McMahon, and Douglas A. Dixon

Conservation Aquaculture: An Adaptive Approach to Prevent Extinction of an Endangered White Sturgeon Population Susan C. Ireland, Paul J. Anders, and John T. Siple

White Sturgeon Transplants within the Columbia River Thomas A. Rien and John A. North

Comparison of Early Life Stages and Growth of Green and White Sturgeon Xin Deng, Joel P. Van Eenennaam, and Serge I. Doroshov

Differentiation of Pallid Sturgeon and Shovelnose Sturgeon Using an Index Based on Meristics and Morphometrics Paul S. Wills, Robert J. Sheehan, Roy Heidinger, Brian L. Sloss, and Robert Clevenstine