and Canada (Dean 1894, Leach^14. Harkness & Dy-
mond 1961, Hoff^2 , Smith & Dingley 1984).
In recent years, there has been renewed interest
in culturing North American sturgeons (Smith
1990). A cooperative USFWS effort was establish- Prospects
ed in SC focused onpropagation of Atlantic stur-
geon (Smith et al.^6 ). In 1979 and 1951, Atlantic stur- In the U.S., the Gulf sturgeon is fully protected from
geon were successfully stripped using injection of harvest while fishing for Atlantic sturgeon has been
acetone-dried pituitary glands (Smith et al. 1980, severely curtailed or halted in all states. In addition,
1981). In 1993 and 1994, success was obtained in there is national focus on all eight North American
stripping Hudson River Atlantic sturgeon using sturgeons and the paddlefish as evidenced by the
LHRHa (Richard A. St. Pierre personal communi- recent development of a document titled ‘Frame-
cation). Studies arc underway to develop culture work for the Management and Conservation of
techniques at USFWS and National Biological Ser- Paddlefish and Sturgeon Species in the United
vice (NBS) facilities in PA. Such studies include diet States’. This document. prepared by the National
research on all life stages, pathology, and sperm Paddlefish and Sturgeon Steering Committee^16 ,
cryopreservation. After 20 months, cultured Atlan- identifies problems and provides guidance Tor
tic sturgeon grew to 66 cm TL and 1.2 kg. In fall 1994, needed research.
5000 cultured juveniles (approximately 10 cm TL) The recent adoption of ASMFC recommenda-
were tagged with coded wire tags and stocked in the tions to control minimum harvest size (213 cm TL)
Hudson River. To date, several of these fish have or to establish a ‘conservation equivalency’ mea-
been reported captured. sure is a major first step for preservation of Atlantic
The first artificial spawning of Gulf sturgeon was sturgeon in U.S. waters. Not only will landings be
achieved with fish from the Suwannee River on 22 greatly reduced but juveniles will also be protected.
March 1989 (Parauka et al. 1991) and efforts to de- Based on current quotas and fishery regulations, to-
velop culture techniques are continuing. To exam tal 1994 harvest in the U.S.is expected to be about 20
ine the potential for stock enhancement, about 1200 mt with a minimum fish harvest size of 152 cmTL. In
of the 20–30 cm TL sturgeon were tagged using pas- Canada, there is substantial concern about the re-
sive integrated transponders (PIT tags). These fish cent increase in landings in the St. Lawrence River
were released by NBS and University of Florida fishery. Consequently, fishery managers are analyz-
personnel at 10 sites in the Suwannee River during ing landings data and planning implementation of
December 1992. By February 1995. 6.2% of the strict harvest regulations during the next several
stocked fish have been captured by NBS as part of years to protect the sturgeon from overfishing.
this continuing effort. In addition to regulatory issues, emphasis has
Due to the interest in stocking for restoration and been placed on answering the basic, life history
management purposes, the ASMFC recently re- questions needed for effective management of the
quested the Atlantic Sturgeon Aquaculture and species. Culture and marking techniques are being
Stocking Committee to recoininend stocking guide- developed for possible use in stock enhancement
lines. A series of recommendations were developed efforts for both subspecies and guidelines have
which addressed a variety of issues including: origin
considerations: stocking numbers, sizes and loca-
tions: and, planning and evaluation (St. Pierre^15 ).and numbers of broodstock; genetic and ecological (^15) St. Pierre, R. A. 1995. Breeding and stocking protocol for cul-
tured Atlantic sturgeon. Rep. Atlantic Sturgeon Aquaculture
and Stocking Committee. Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Com-
mission. 17 pp.
(^16) National Paddlefish & Sturgeon Steering Committee. 1993.
Framework for the management and conservation of paddlefish
and sturgeon species in the United Slates. USFWS, Division of
Fish Hatcheries, Washington. DC. 41 pp.
(^14) Leach, G. C. 1920. Artificial propaption of sturgeon. review of
sturgeon culture in the United States. Rep. U.S. Fish Comm.
1919: 3–5.