On March 17, 2021, New Jersey Fish and Wildlife deployed acoustic receivers in the Delaware Bay to track migration patterns of Atlantic sturgeon. For a tenth year, 19 receivers have been set in water depths generally less than 20 feet. Those fishing in inshore waters may encounter white buoys marked “NJDEP Research”.

As part of a multi-state collaborative effort, the agency has partnered with several states to develop a multi-year effort directed at providing state, federal, and regional management authorities with information necessary to successfully conserve and ultimately restore the population of sturgeon in the mid-Atlantic region.

With the endangered species listing of Atlantic sturgeon effective April 6, 2012, research on this species has gained in significance and importance. Fish and Wildlife’s portion of the project is to purchase, assemble, deploy and maintain 19 receivers in the Delaware Bay. Data is downloaded monthly from each receiver to detect movement of Atlantic sturgeon tagged with acoustic telemetry tags.

The receivers complement the existing receiver array within Delaware Bay, specifically on the NJ side, to ensure complete coverage of the sampling area. The additional coverage allows for greater detection of Atlantic sturgeon and provides the ability to monitor immigration and emigration from the Delaware Bay.

In 2020, the receivers recorded 47,066 detections from 387 different fish, one of which was a tarpon tagged in the Florida Keys in 2019. About 25 percent of the known fish detected were Atlantic sturgeon, while 3 percent were striped bass and 5 percent were sand tiger sharks. The majority of Atlantic sturgeon were detected in May and were tagged by Delaware State University.

Please contact Heather Corbett 609-748-2021 for exact receiver coordinates or for more information about the project.

For more information about Atlantic sturgeon see Atlantic Sturgeon – Endangered Species (pdf, 385kb) from the 2013 Marine Digest.

Receiver Location Chart