Habitats and Movements of Shovelnose Sturgeons in the Upper Mississippi River

Spatiotemporal variation in flow-dependent recruitment of long-lived riverine fish: Model development and evaluation

“…Shovelnose sturgeon are generally sedentary (mean daily movement rates < 350 m, Hurley et al, 1987;. In the SEIBM-1DSNS, we assume that the maximum distance that fish can travel daily is limited to be within three (above or below the current grid cell) neighboring cells (or 3.0 km).…”

Effects of Commercial Harvest on Shovelnose Sturgeon Populations in the Upper Mississippi River

“…Before large-scale channelization began in 1816, the UMR was characterized as having deep pools separated by shallow rapids (Hurley et al 1987). The first modifications to the Mississippi River were simple snag and debris removal from the river's main channel to improve navigation.…”

“…During the 1930s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers further increased the depth of the navigation channel by constructing a series of locks and dams, as well as over 3,100 wing dams. Eleven locks and dams exist along the Iowa border and serve to maintain a navigation channel of at least 2.7 m in depth and 122 m in width (Hurley et al 1987). Commercial traffic on the river was also enhanced via closures of chutes and backwaters, dredging, and bank stabilization via revetment (Pitlo and Rasmussen 2004).…”

Seasonal Diet Composition of Adult Shovelnose Sturgeon in the Middle Mississippi River

“…This reproductive loss coupled with habitat degradation has led to the collapse of multiple sturgeon populations and may be threatening one of the last commercially viable populations in the world (Billard and Lecointre, 2001;Ludwig et al, 2002;Secor et al, 2002;Tripp et al, 2009a, b). Shovelnose sturgeon Scaphirhynchus platorynchus are the most abundant member of the family Acipenseridae within the Mississippi River and support commercial fisheries in portions of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers (Kline and Golden, 1979;Carlson et al, 1985;Hurley et al, 1987). In the free-flowing Middle Mississippi River extending from Cairo, Illinois to St. Louis, Missouri (MMR; RKM 0-200) shovelnose sturgeon populations have declined perhaps due to habitat degradation and commercial harvest (Keenlyne, 1997;Morrow et al, 1998;Jackson, 2004;Colombo et al, 2007;Tripp et al, 2009a, b).…”