name the sturgeon orpaddlefishspecieswithwhich
familiar; and (3) providerelatedarticles orreports.
Specificalternatives identilied in1.51responses
wereclassifiedinto 8generalcategories (Table I),
includinggeneral problem areasidentified in the
‘Framework for themanagement andconservation
of paddlefish and sturgeon species’ prepared by a
nationalsteeringcommittee ofbiologists for the
U.S.Fish and WildlifeService. Themostfrequently
identified categories includedhabitat,harvest, and
research(Figure 1). Averageranksbased onorder
of listingweresimilar forhabitat,harvest, passage,
culture/stocking, andplanning (Table 1).
Habitat-relatedalternatives mostofteninvolved geon orpaddlefishPopulations in a surveyof sturgeon andpad.
protection ofcriticalhabitat,especiallyfor spawn- dlefishmanagers throughout North America.
ing.Effects of thenatural hydrograph,dredging or
channelization,dams, andpredatorswere also rec- but the lowincidencewhereprograms hadbeen im-
ognized(Table 1).Pollution- and passage-related plemented(35%).
measuresweretabulated separatelyalthough they Thecapture andharvest ofsturgeon arerestrict-
might also beconsidered ashabitat-related mea- ed almosteverywhere theyoccur inNorthAmerica.
sures. Pollution-related alternatives mentioned Annualharvestrates greater than5–10% are al-
contaminants, nutrients, andsediments. Passage- most universallybelieved to exceed sustainable lev-
relatedalternatives recognize the widespread con- els because of resulting lowsurvival tolargerepro-
struction of damswhich are barriers tomigration. ductivesizes(Semakula & Larkin1968,Miller1972,
Harvest-related alternatives involved complete Huff, Threader &^8 Brousseau1986,Nowak & Jes-
fisheryclosures,partial restrictions, andmore in- sup 1987.Young et al.1988,Rieman & Beamesder-
tensiveenforcement ofrestrictionsespeciallywith fer 1990, Kohlhorstet al. 1991).Closed reasons. pro-
respect tocaviar.Specificalternatives to culture- tectedareas,sizelimits. bag limits,gearrestrictions,
stockingmostfrequentlyinvolvedstocking juve- and catch-releaseregulationshave all beenused for
niles tosupplement orreestablish populationswith- sturgeon andpaddlefish(Cochnauer1983,Coch-
in historicranges.Research needs on allaspects of nauer et al.1985,Foltz &Meyers1985,Galbreath
biology andmanagementwerenoted. Frequent ref- 1985,Smith1985.Hart1987,Debrot et al.^9 , Scarnec-
erences toplanning efforts recognize thewide- chia et al.1989.Taub^4. PSMFC^10 ). Significant fisher-
spreaddistribution ofsturgeonsacrossseveral ju- ies still occur for white sturgeon.Acipenser trans-
risdictionalboundaries.Several responses also reit- montanus, and paddlefish, Polyodon spathula
erated aneed forpublicoutreachprograms.
The most likelymeasures to be implemented in-
volvedplanning(73%),harvest restrictions(70%),
and aquaculture(58%).Although habitat protec-
quently recognized aspotentiallybeneficial, they
appearedleast likely to beimplemented incasesidentified asbeneficial,perhapsreflecting therela-
tively lowcost of suchefforts. A generallypoor un-Figure 1Potentiallybeneficial alternatives indentified andimple-
mented for theconservation,productivity, or diversity ofstur-(^8) Huff, J.A. 1975. Life history of gulf of Mexico sturgeon, Acipen-
tion and enhancement measureswere themost fre- ser oxyrhynchus desotoi,in SuwanneeRiver,Florida. Florida
MarineResearch PubiicationNo. 16. 32 pp.
(^9) Debrot,A.O.,H.A.Schaller &M.A.Matylewich.1989. Esti-
whereindentified Planningeffortswerefrequently mates of sustainable exploitation rates lor Columbia River land-
locked white sturgeon: evaluating the importance of a maximun
sizelimit.ColumbiaRiverInter-TribalfishCommission Tech-
(^10) PSMFC(PacificStates MarineFisheries Commission).1992.
Whitesturgeonmanagementframework plan.Portland. 201 pp.
nicalReport88-4. 41 pp.
derstanding of sturgeonbiology isimplied by the
frequentmention of aneed foradditional research