The Atlantic Sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus) is one of seven species of sturgeon found in North America (ASSRT 1998). This ancient fish species dates back to 70 million years ago and lived alongside the dinosaurs (ASSRT 1998). The physical characteristics of the Atlantic Sturgeon make it a unique species and separates them from other groups of fish species. Able to grow to a length of 14 feet long and weigh over 800 pounds the Atlantic sturgeon is quite a large animal (ASSRT 1998). Sturgeon have a protrusible mouth on the underside of their snout, their mouth is small, has no teeth, and has large lobed, rubbery lips (ASSRT 1998). The skin of the Sturgeon is rough, gritty and usually…show more content… Very little information is known about the life of Atlantic Sturgeon when they are as sea (ASSRT 1998). Atlantic Sturgeon have supported varying commercial fishery markets since colonial times. They were only second behind lobster among important fisheries in the late 1800’s (Waldman and Wirgin 1998). Landings of Atlantic Sturgeon were estimated at over 7 million pounds per year just before 1900. Overharvesting of Atlantic Sturgeon for meat and eggs continued until the 1990’s until the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and the Federal Government set in place a coast wide moratorium in late 1997 and early 1998 (ASSRT 1998).
Even though the over fishing for Atlantic Sturgeon has been stopped there are still many hazards to they’re population (ASSRT 1998). The main threat to Atlantic Sturgeon are the dams located on the Atlantic seaboard rivers, as they block access to the spawning ground and change the dynamics and flow of the rivers (ASSRT 1998). This decreases the spawning rates of the Sturgeon which stops the growth of the species. Commercial and recreational fisheries also contribute to the decrease of the species because of the accidental catching of the fish (ASSRT 1998). The destruction of the Atlantic Sturgeons habitat, due to the dredging of river beds, causes the eggs to be destroyed or suffocated because they are located on the bottom of the river…show more content… Hatchery based restocking programs are underway and being overseen by the Atlantic States Marine Commission (Waldman and Wirgin 1998). This program introduces farm raised fish into the wild to reproduce with the wild population (Waldman and Wirgin 1998). Male and female fish are caught, using gill nets. The fish are then taken to Northeast Fishery Center (NEFC) to be cultured (Waldman and Wirgin 1998). The NEFC then started an Atlantic Sturgeon brood stock collection, hauling and long term holding, induced spawning, egg incubation, larval and juvenile culture program (Waldman and Wirgin 1998). These fish will be used to study and bring back the wild population. These programs are having an effect and the fish are being re caught in the wild (Waldman and Wirgin 1998). Atlantic Sturgeon that are caught by people in the wild have to be documented by the Fish and Wildlife Service (Waldman and Wirgin 1998). Scientists can get real time information about the fish that are caught in the wild especially if they have been previously tagged (Waldman and Wirgin 1998). More studies will have to be done to the optimum way to track, tag, and release these farm raised Atlantic Sturgeon in to the wild. It will take a lot of hard work to get a spawning population of Atlantic sturgeon to take hold and thrive in our US Rivers and marine environments (Waldman and Wirgin 1998). Many other
