450 
Abundance and distribution of Atlantic sturgeon 
(Acipenser oxyrinchus ) within 
the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, 
determined from five fishery-independent surveys 
Email address for contact author: kdunton@notes.cc.sunysb.edu 
1 School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences 
Stony Brook University 
Stony Brook, New York 11794-5000 
2 New York State Department of Environmental Conservation 
Division of Fish, Wildlife and Marine Resources 
Bureau of Marine Resources 
205 North Belle Mead Road, Suite 1 
East Setauket, New York 11733 
Abstract — A lack of knowledge of how 
oceanic habitat is used by juvenile 
marine migrant Atlantic sturgeon 
(Acipenser oxyrinchus ) is hindering 
conservation measures directed at 
restoring severely depleted popula- 
tions. Identifying the spatial distribu- 
tion of Atlantic sturgeon is necessary 
to identify critical habitat and appro- 
priate management actions. We used 
five fishery-independent surveys to 
assess habitat use and movement 
of Atlantic sturgeon during their 
marine life stage. The size distribu- 
tion ranged from 56 to 269 cm total 
length (mean = 108 cm). Ninety-eight 
percent of all Atlantic sturgeon were 
smaller than 197 cm — a size that indi- 
cated the majority were immature. 
The pattern of habitat use revealed 
concentration areas and potential 
migration pathways used for north- 
erly summer and southerly winter 
migrations. Atlantic sturgeon were 
largely confined to water depths less 
than 20 m and aggregations tended 
to occur at the mouths of large bays 
(Chesapeake and Delaware bays) or 
estuaries (Hudson and Kennebec 
rivers) during the fall and spring 
and to disperse throughout the Mid- 
Atlantic Bight during the winter. In 
most surveys depth, temperature, and 
salinity were significantly related to 
the distribution of Atlantic sturgeon. 
Knowledge of their habitat and move- 
ments can be used to devise spatially 
based conservation plans to minimize 
bycatch and to enhance population 
recovery. 
Manuscript submitted 11 September 2009. 
Manuscript accepted 28 July 2010. 
Fish. Bull. 108:450-465 (2010). 
The views and opinions expressed 
or implied in this article are those 
of the author (or authors) and do not 
necessarily reflect the position 
of the National Marine Fisheries 
Service, NOAA. 
Keith J. Dunton (contact author ) 1 
Adrian Jordaan 1 
Kim A. McKown 2 
David O. Conover 1 
Michael G. Frisk 1 
The Atlantic sturgeon ( Acipenser oxy- 
rinchus) is a long-lived anadromous 
fish with a historic range from Ham- 
ilton Inlet on the coast of Labrador 
to the Saint Johns River in Florida 
(Smith and Clugston, 1997). A major 
commercial fishery once existed 
throughout the historic range and 
estimated U.S. landings peaked at 
3.3 million kg in 1890 (Smith and 
Clugston, 1997). Unable to support 
such intensive fishing, Atlantic stur- 
geon populations collapsed throughout 
the eastern seaboard by 1901 (Secor 
et al., 2002). During the late 1900s, 
there was a brief re-emergence of the 
Atlantic sturgeon fishery in New York 
and New Jersey (Kahnle et al., 2007) 
and landings peaked at 125,000 kg in 
the late 1980s (Waldman et al., 1996; 
Bain et al., 2000). In 1990 the Atlan- 
tic States Marine Fisheries Commis- 
sion (ASMFC) developed a fishery 
management plan for the conservation 
and restoration of Atlantic sturgeon in 
order to restore population levels that 
would support harvests at 10% of the 
historical peak landings (ASMFC 1 ). 
With a continued decline in the popu- 
lation, a 1998 ASMFC amendment 
began a 40-year moratorium in order 
to protect 20 year classes of spawning 
females (ASMFC 2 ). Currently, Atlan- 
tic sturgeon are a candidate species 
to be listed under the United States 
Endangered Species Act. 
Atlantic sturgeon use river, estua- 
rine, coastal, and oceanic environ- 
ments at different life stages but 
spend the majority of their lives in 
saltwater (Smith and Clugston, 1997). 
However, information on oceanic habi- 
tat use is lacking beyond evidence of 
broad-scale marine migrations and 
an exchange of populations among 
river systems based on tag recaptures 
(Dovel and Berggren, 1983) and com- 
mercial fisheries bycatch data (Stein 
et al., 2004a, 2004b). Fisheries-de- 
pendent data indicate that most At- 
1 Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Com- 
mission (ASMFC). 1990. Fishery man- 
agement plan for Atlantic sturgeon. 
Fishery management report number 17, 
85 p. ASMFC, Washington, D.C. 
2 Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Com- 
mission (ASMFC). 1998. Amendment 1 to 
the interstate fishery management plan 
for Atlantic sturgeon, Fishery Manage- 
ment report 31, 59 p. ASMFC, Washing- 
ton, D.C. 
