tic sturgeon occurred during the period 1870-1920.
They were initially centered on the Delaware River
and the Chesapeake Bay system with most landings
reported by New Jerscy (NJ) and Delaware (DE)
and, to a lesser degree, by Virginia (VA) (Murawski
& Pacheco^1 ). During the early period of peak ex-
ploitation, substantial landings were also reported
by North Carolina (NC), South Carolina (SC), and
Georgia (GA). By the late 1970s and early 1980s,
SC, GA, and NC accounted for approximately 80%
of the U.S. landings (Table 1). In recent years, land-
ings have again shifted and are now centered in the
Hudson River, and coastal New York (NY) and NJ.
During 1990-1992, NY and NJ reported approxi-
mately 93% of U.S. landings.
Some sturgeon harvested in directed fisheries
were taken using pound nets, weirs, stake row nets,
trammel nets, trawls, harpoons, and snares. How-
ever, large floating and anchored gill nets with
stretch mesh sizes of 33-41 cm and depths of 4-8 m
were the most commonly used fishing gear (Cobb^9 ,
Galligan 1960. Huff^7 , Smith et al. 1984). In a recent
(^9) Cobb,J. N. 1900. The sturgeon fishery of Delaware River and
Bay.Rep.U.S.Comm. Fish and Fisheries for1899,Part25: 369 -
380.
review of U.S. Atlantic sturgeon fisheries, Taub^5
determined that incidental captures of Atlantic
sturgeon contributed more to total landings than
did directed sturgeon fisheries. For example, in 1987
nearly 77% of the total reported landings were in-
cidental to other commercial fisheries. Such fisher-
ies used a variety of gear (e.g., trawls, haul seines,
pound nets, gill nets) to catch various groundfishes.
shad. shrimp, and lobster bait. Sturgeon landed in
these fisheries were usually subadults. Recent stud-
ies in SC and GA confirm that sturgeon bycatch still
occurs and reported the incidental capture of stur-
geons in the shad gill net and penacid shrimp trawl
Gsheries (Collins et al. 1996). This trend of harvest-
ing both subadults and adults continues in the re-
maining major U.S. fisheries. Harvests in NY are
primarily mature adult Atlantic sturgeon from the
Hudson River and juveniles and young adults from
the coastal fisheries. The NJ fishery lands mostly
immature fish in its directed and incidental fisher-
ies.
The Atlantic sturgeon also has a long history of
exploitation in Canadian waters. During the period
of peak exploitation, the only long term harvest re-
cord is from the Saint John River fishery Harvest
pattern for this fishery was similar to that in the U.S.,
Table I. Reported landings (metric tons, mt) of Atlantic sturgeon in the United Slates by stale in 1982, 1987, and 1992 (based on NMFS
data).
State 1982 1987 1992
Landings Rank’ Landings Rank Landings Rank
Maine 1 .2 0.4 0.0
New Hampshire 0.0 0.4 0.0
Massachusetts 1 .0 3.1 4 < 0.1
Rhode Island 0.5 1 .9 1.2
Connecticut 0.0 0.0 0.0
New York 9.9 4 17.1 1 17.8 2
Delaware 0.6 < 0.1 0.0
New Jersey 3.3 5 9.1 2 38. 1 1
Maryland 0.5 0.5 0.6
Virginia 1.7 0.0 0.0
North Carolina 10.6 3 6.2 3 0.0
South Carolina 45.4 1 0.0 0.0
Georgia 12.8 2 2.9 5 1.0
Florida (E. coast) <0.1 0.0 0.0
Total 87.6 41.6 58.8
*Rank assigned for states with reported landings 2 ≥ mt.