Environmental Biology of Fishes48:335–346,1997.
© 1997 KluwerAcademicPublishers.Printed inthe Netherlands.
Status and management of Atlantic sturgeon,Acipenser oxyrinchus,in
North America
TheodoreI.J.Smith^1 &James P. Clugston^2
(^1) South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, P.O. Box 12559, Charleston, SC29422, U.S.A.
(^2) National Biological Service, 7920 NW 71st St., Gainesville, FL 32653, U.S.A.
Received 2.1.1995 Accepted 30.3.1996
Key words:Acipenseridae,gulf sturgeon,fisheries,life history,culture, regulations, value
Synopsis
The Atlantic sturgeon,Acipenser oxyrinchus,consists of twosubspecies distributed along theAtlanticcoast of
NorthAmerica fromLabrador to theeastcoast of Florida(Atlantic sturgeonsubspecies-A.o.oxyrinchus)
and along theGulf of MexicofromFloridaBay,Florida to themouth of theMississippiRiver(Gulfsturgeon
subspecies-A. o. desotoi).The species hasbeenexploitedthroughout its rangewithlandingspeaking around
the turn of the20thcenturyfollowed bydrastic declines shortlythereafter. During recentyears,landings in
Canadianwatershaveincreased substantially (approximately 129metric tons in1993)while in theUnited
Stateslandings aremorecontrolled orprohibited(approximately22–24metric tons in1993).Recently, the
Atlantic States MarineFisheries Commissiondeveloped aFisherymanagementplan forAtlantic sturgeon,
and the United StatesFish&WildlifeService andGulfStates MarineFisheriesCommissiondrafted aGulf
Sturgeon Recovery/Management Plan. Fishery managers in Canada are in the process of establishing more
stringentfisheryregulations forsturgeon.Thus, theimpact on populations due to harvesting should be sub-
stantiallyreduced.Currentresearchfocus includes: lifehistoryand population status studies, stock delineat-
ion, and development of culture andstockenhancementtechniques.Implementation of thefindings ofsuch
studies may be helpful in therestoration of depletedstocks.
Introduction
Asone of NorthAmerica’s prizedfishspecies, the
Atlantic sturgeon, Acipenser oxyrinchus, served
not only as food but also as an item of commerce for
earlyEuropeansettlers.However, due to acombi-
nation of unregulatedharvesting, damming of
spawningrivers, andwater pollution, theabun-
dance ofthis species hasdramatically declined, and
harvest is nowprohibited throughoutmuch of its
range. In the fewareas where it is harvested, land-
ings arerelativelylow,totalingabout 200 metric
tons (mt).This largeanadromousspeciesmatures
atan advanced age andutilizes rivers, bays, estu-
aries, coastal andcontinentalshelfwaters during its
life cycle. Thus, it is highly susceptible to fishing and
to human-induced habitat perturbations. During
recentyears,there has beenincreasedinterest to
protectthisspeciesand restore populations. This
concern is exemplifiedthrough development of
fisheryrecoveryand management plans.
Acipenser oxyrinchushas a broaddistribution in
majorcoastalriver systems andestuarine and ma-
rine waters ofeasternNorthAmerica.Recently, it
was reported that thespeciesname ‘oxyrhynchus’
has been misspelled for over 100 years and that the