Dunton et al.: Abundance and distribution of Acipenser oxyrinchus within the Northwest Atlantic Ocean 
455 
0.030 
0.025 
0.020 
0.015 
0.010 
0.005 
0.000 
A (NMFS) 
0.160 
B (NIDEP) 0160 
< 
0.140 
0.140 
0.120 
0.120 
0.100 
0.100 
0.080 
0.080 
0.060 
0.060 
0.040 
0.040 
0.020 
, 0.020 
.-11 , , , , , 
- — . 0.000 
— . — . — . — . — , — - — < o.ooo 
0 50 1 00 1 50 200 250 300 350 400 
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 
(ME-NH) 
.il.n. 
0 50 1 00 1 50 200 250 300 350 400 
Depth 
>. 
o 
c 
<D 
c r 
<D 
0.0030 
0.0025 
0.0020 
0.0015 
0.0010 
0.0005 
0.0000 
D (MADMF) 
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 
1.60 ~| 
1.40 - 
1.20 - 
1.00 - 
0.80 - 
0.60 - 
0.40 - 
0.20 - 
0.00 - 
E (NYBTS) 
50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 
Depth 
Figure 3 
Catch per unit of effort (CPUE) for Atlantic sturgeon ( Acipenser oxyrinchus) and frequency of tows conducted by depth 
for the (A) National Marine Fisheries Service bottom trawl surveys (NMFS), (B) Maine-New Hampshire inshore bottom 
trawl survey (ME-NH), (C) New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection finfish survey (NJDEP), (D) New York 
bottom trawl survey (NYBTS), and (E) Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries bottom trawl survey (MADMF). 
from 5 to 30 m and the majority of the tows occurred 
within the 10-25 m range (Fig 3B). CPUE was highest 
for the 10-15 m depth range (0.134 fish/tow) and lowest 
for 20-30 m range (0.005 fish/tow) (Fig. 3B). A total of 
94.78% of all captures occurred in depths less than 20 
m (Fig. 3B). CPUE was highest for the winter months 
(0.124 fish/tow) followed by fall (0.096 fish/tow) and 
spring (0.079 fish/tow) (Table 1). No Atlantic sturgeon 
were captured during the summer months (Table 1). 
During the winter, 74 Atlantic sturgeon were captured 
of which 67 were captured off northern NJ and of that 
number, 59 were taken within a small area outside 
Sandy Hook, NJ. Three fish were captured at 0—20 m 
depth outside of Delaware Bay, DE. During the fall 
season, 74 Atlantic sturgeon were captured of which 92% 
(68 fish) were taken north of Little Egg Inlet, NJ. Of 
