Official Site of The State of New Jersey
Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus
Conservation
Throughout American history, Atlantic sturgeon populations along the coast supported a lucrative commercial fishery with the species being harvested for their flesh and skin, but more importantly, for their roe which was prized by the caviar industry. Landings of Atlantic sturgeon peaked in the late 1800’s when nearly 7 millions pounds of sturgeon were landed on the coast with the Delaware River and Bay representing the hub of the commercial fishery. Landings of Atlantic sturgeon dramatically declined soon after the peak in the late 1800’s due to the species’ life history characteristics making it especially susceptible to commercial harvest and by 1905 coastwide harvest bad plummeted to only 20,000 pounds.
Throughout the 1900’s landings of Atlantic sturgeon fluctuated between several hundreds and several hundred thousands of pounds until a coastwide moratorium on the harvest of Atlantic sturgeon was implemented by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and the U.S. Department of the Interior in 1998. With little to no stock recovery observed after the coastwide moratorium the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared 5 distinct population segments (DPS) of Atlantic sturgeon to be endangered in 2012. This declaration granted the species all of the protections provided under the Endangered Species Act. With the closure of the commercial fishery and the subsequent ESA listing, the greatest threats to the Atlantic sturgeon stock recovery are now by-catch mortality as a result of other commercial fishing activities, habitat degradation as a result of human activities, and dams creating complete and partial impediments to spawning migrations and access to suitable spawning habitat.
The New Jersey DEP Fish and Wildlife conducts an acoustic telemetry survey in Delaware Bay with the goal of tracking the spatial and temporal use of the Delaware Estuary. An array of 19 acoustic receivers is deployed in the lower Delaware Bay that listens for acoustic tags that have been surgically implanted in previously captured Atlantic sturgeon. The data collected from this survey helps fisheries researchers make more informed management decisions when it comes to the protecting important habitats being used by all life history stages of Atlantic Sturgeon. In addition to the acoustic telemetry survey, Fish and Wildlife monitors reported sightings and interactions with Atlantic sturgeon along the New Jersey coast.
If you encounter a sturgeon such as bycatch when fishing for other species or find a deceased one washed up on the beach you can report that sighting via the Fish and Wildlife Marine Protected Wildlife Reporter Application.
More information about this species can be found below:
Description
- 5 rows of boney plates called scutes that run along its body
- slender snout with 4 barbels in front of mouth
- tail has one lobe larger than the other
- blueish-black or olive brown dorsally
Size
- up to 14 feet long and 800 pounds
Range
- rivers and coastal waters from Canada to Florida
Facts
- prized for their eggs, valued as high-quality caviar
- listed as a protected species
- live up to 60 years
- bottom feeders that typically consume invertebrates, worms, & mollusks
- hatch in fresh water of rivers and head out to sea as sub-adults then return to their birthplace to spawn
