Dunton et al.: Abundance and distribution of Acipenser oxynnchus within the Northwest Atlantic Ocean 
459 
76°0'W 72°0'W 
Figure 7 
Number of captures of Atlantic sturgeon ( Acipenser oxyrinchus ) from all 
surveys during summer months. Circle size corresponds to total number 
of Atlantic sturgeon captured at a given location (insert A). Locations of 
all tows can be seen in insert B. 
genetic makeup of the sturgeon in this area 
would add important information on Atlantic 
sturgeon demographics and movements. 
Atlantic sturgeon had a coast-wide distribu- 
tion during the spring and fall, and southerly 
and centrally located distributions during 
the winter and summer, respectively. These 
results corroborate tagging data that indi- 
cate that Atlantic sturgeon undergo large- 
scale southerly fall migrations and north- 
erly spring migrations (Dovel and Berggren, 
1983). Catches varied by season, but were 
greatest during the fall and spring months. 
Because of the strong seasonal movements 
of Atlantic sturgeon, the timing of surveys 
is critical for observing movement patterns. 
Interaction of Atlantic sturgeon abundance 
with temporal and spatial variability in 
sampling effort 
Some of the variation in distribution and 
abundance of Atlantic sturgeon can be 
explained by temporal and spatial differ- 
Total length (cm) 
Figure 8 
Total length distribution for Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrin- 
chus) captured in all surveys combined. 
