Commission (ASMFC) completed development of coastal waters but harvest in freshwater has been
a Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Atlantic prohibited since 1972. Louisiana (LA) permitted
sturgeon (Taub^5 ). The goal of the FMP is ‘to provide commercial harvest until 1990 while the Mississippi
the framework to allow restoration of the Atlantic fishery has been closed since 1974. Florida classified
sturgeon resource to fishable abundance through- both subspecies as ‘species of special concern’ and
out its range’. Fishable abundance was defined as prohibited harvestonboth coasts beginning in 1984.
an annual harvest of about 317 mt or about 10% of Under the Endangered Species Act, it is illegal
the historic landings in 1890. The FMP has several for anyone to take, kill, possess or sell the Gulf stur-
management objectives which include: protection geon. Classification as ‘threatened’ prompted the
from further stock depletion: expansion of knowl- establishment of a Gulf Sturgeon Recovery/Man-
edge concerning the stock(s); enhancement and agement Task Team which recently completed a
restoration; and coordination of research and man- Gulf Sturgeon Recovery/Management Plan
agement activities throughout the species’range. To (USFWS & Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commis-
achieve these objectives, 13 specific management sion^12 ). A major short-term objective of the Gulf
recommendations were identified. The recommen- sturgeon plan is to prevent further reduction of ex-
dation of greatest immediate importance was that isting wild populations of this subspecies. The long-
each state limit harvest by establishing a fishing mo- term objective is to establish population levels that
ratorium; or, by establishing a minimum harvest would allow delisting the Gulf sturgeon by discrete
size of 213 cm TL (191 FL) coupled with a monitor- management units.
ing program; or, by developing a ‘conservation
equivalency’ plan which is acceptable to ASMFC.
Other recommendations include identification and
protection of critical habitats, documentation of
movements, evaluation of status and genetic char-
acteristics of populations, development of propaga-
tion techniques, and evaluation of hatchery fish for
stock restoration purposes.
Development of the FMP focused attention on
the Atlantic sturgeon and has resulted in efforts to
protect and conserve the remaining populations in
US.waters. In 1994, NJ submitted an acceptable
plan to ASMFC, thereby bringing all Atlantic states
into compliance with the primary recommendation
to control harvest (Table 3).
In Canada, there are plans to improve manage-
ment and prevent over-harvest of Atlantic sturgeon
in the St. Lawrence River. In addition to regulation
of total amount of netting and minimum mesh size
(17.8 cm stretch), all nets must be identified with the
owner’s name beginning in 1994. In subsequent
years, there are plans to regulate fishing season and
fish harvest size to prevent overfishing (Guy Tren-
cia personal communication).
Prior to its classification as a ‘threatened species’
in 1991, Gulf sturgeon harvest regulations varied
among the coastal states along the Gulf of Mexico.
Alabama (AL) permitted commercial harvest in
Culture and stock enhancement researchEarly fishery workers were aware of the catastroph-
ic decline in sturgeon landings. After detailed study
of the fisheries, they concluded that ‘the only means
of maintaining and increasing the industry was
through artificial propagation which should be suc-
cessfully accomplished at a comparatively insignif-
icant outlay’ (Ryder 1890). At the time, sturgeon
were considered second in economic importance to
the lobster (Stone 1900). The first artificial spawn-
ing was achieved by the New York State Fish Com-
mission using fish from the Hudson River in 1875
(Harkness & Dymond 1961). Based on this limited
success, the US.Fish Commission initiated artifi-
cial propagation studies on the Delaware River in- This work and that of other culturists was
thwarted by difficulties associated with collecting
ripe males and females simultaneously and fungal
infection of the incubating eggs. No substantial suc-
cesses were achieved, and by 1912 most work on
sturgeon culture had been abandoned in the U.S.