Management Goals for Conserving White Sturgeon in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Basin

Ulaski, Marta E.; Blackburn, Shannon; Jackson, Zachary J.; Quist, Michael C.

doi:10.3996/jfwm-21-070

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Although winter mortality of Apache Trout has not been studied, two age and growth studies have been conducted. In upper Big Bonito Creek (mean July temperature = 12.8°C), the mean length at age 1 was 41.5 mm TL (SD = 6.7) from 1970 to 1975 (Harper 1976), whereas in the lower East Fork White River (mean July temperature = 13.6°C) the mean length at age 1 was 55.6 mm TL (SD = 9.7) from 2009 to 2016 (Ulaski et al 2020). Mortality of age-0 trout in their first winter has been shown to be higher where temperatures are colder and growth is slower (Meyer and Griffith 1997).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resiliency of Apache Trout habitats in a warmer and drier climate future

Dauwalter

Gatewood²,

Beard

et al. 2023

Trans Am Fish Soc

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Objective The Southwest has the hottest and driest climate in the United States, and projections show that it will only get hotter and drier into the 2100s. The Apache Trout Oncorhynchus apache is native to the Southwest and is currently listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Our goals were to understand how climate factors influence the distribution of juvenile Apache Trout (<125 mm TL) and how climate change will influence the suitability of Apache Trout habitat into the 2080s. MethodsWe used a species distribution model to evaluate how climatic and other factors influence the distribution of juvenile Apache Trout. We used predictions from the model to evaluate how climate change might impact the suitability of streams designated for recovery of the species into the 2080s. Result Juvenile Apache Trout occurrence was predicted well by mean July stream temperature (°C), mean annual precipitation (dm), stream slope (%), and the presence of nonnative trout (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve = 0.85). Standardized parameter estimates showed that Rainbow Trout O. mykiss presence and annual precipitation influenced occupancy the most. Model predictions for the 2080s showed suitable habitat (occurrence probability ≥ 0.25) to increase for 11 (of 45) Apache Trout streams in the increased temperature (+3°C) only scenario (scenario 1), as headwater reaches that are currently too cold warmed to become more suitable. When we also included projected declines in annual precipitation (−5%) for the 2080s (scenario 2), the amount of suitable habitat decreased for eight Apache Trout streams and remained unchanged in all other streams. Conclusion Most Apache Trout populations are isolated upstream of barriers to nonnative trout in stream reaches that are currently thermally suitable with respect to mean July temperatures and would remain suitable into the 2080s. Cold headwater reaches are projected to warm, becoming more suitable in the 2080s. Thus, intentional isolation and the resultant truncated downstream distributions of Apache Trout populations in headwater streams explain the nominal effect of projected temperature increases due to climate change on this cold‐adapted salmonid. Standardized model parameters suggest that future declines in precipitation, manifested through reduced snowpack and its influence on streamflows, will play a larger role than temperature in the suitability—and, thus, resiliency—of Apache Trout habitats at least into the 2080s.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resiliency of Apache Trout habitats in a warmer and drier climate future

Dauwalter

Gatewood²,

Beard

et al. 2023

Trans Am Fish Soc

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“…The largest North American sturgeon, the white sturgeon ( Acipenser transmontanus ), inhabits coastal regions and large river systems along the West Coast of Canada and the United States. Anthropogenic impacts on white sturgeon such as overharvesting, pollution, habitat alteration and dam construction has sparked an increase in recovery efforts and research for the conservation of this species 3 . The large commercial production of sturgeon in North America 4 – 6 —a result of decades of research on sturgeon reproductive biology and embryology—positions white sturgeon as an ideal model for developing advanced breeding technologies for conservation aquaculture initiatives 7 – 10 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Germ cell recovery, cryopreservation and transplantation in the California white sturgeon, Acipenser transmontanus

Romney,

Myers,

Martin

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

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The white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) is the largest freshwater fish in North America. Because of the unique life history characteristics of sturgeon, including longevity, late maturation and long spawning intervals, their aquaculture can be a significant investment of resources. As a result of habitat loss and overharvesting, natural populations of white sturgeon are threatened and there is a growing effort to improve conservation aquaculture programs. Germ cell transplantation is an innovative technology previously demonstrated in a variety of fish species to be able to produce a surrogate broodstock. The technique relies upon optimal donor germ cell recovery and transplantation into a recipient fish. In this study, we developed and optimized the harvest of donor cells for germline transplantation and evaluated methods for ovary cryopreservation for the first time in the white sturgeon. We found that harvesting gonads from juveniles between the ages of 1.5 and 2.5-years resulted in reliably high proportions of pre-meiotic cells regardless of sex, a critical feature for using white sturgeon for transplantation studies since the species shows no distinguishing external sex characteristics. From the viable cells, we identified germline cells using immunolabeling with the antibody DDX4, a marker specific to the germline. For in vivo tracking of donor cells during transplantations, gonadal cells were stained with a long half-life non-toxic cell membrane dye, PKH26, and microinjected into the peritoneal cavity of newly hatched white sturgeon larvae. Larvae were reared until 3 months post-transplantation to monitor for colonization and proliferation of PKH26-labeled cells within the recipient larval gonads. Furthermore, viable cell detection, assessment of germline-specificity, and transplantation was determined for cells recovered from cryopreserved ovarian tissue from sexually immature females. Transplantations using cells cryopreserved with media supplemented with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) rather than ethylene glycol (EG) demonstrated the highest number of PKH26-labeled cells distributed along the gonadal ridges of the larval recipient. Determining optimal methods of tissue cryopreservation, and germ cell recovery and transplantation are foundational to the future development of germ cell transplantation as a strategy to improve the aquaculture and conservation of this species. Our study demonstrates that conservation actions, such as surrogate breeding, could be utilized by hatcheries to retain or improve natural gamete production without genetic modification, and provide an encouraging approach to the management of threatened sturgeon species.

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Leveraging Angler Effort to Inform Fisheries Management: Using Harvest and Harvest Rate to Estimate Abundance of White Sturgeon

Ulaski,

McCormick,

Quist

et al. 2023

Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management

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Traditional methods for estimating abundance of fish populations are not feasible in some systems due to complex population structure and constraints on sampling effort. Lincoln’s estimator provides a technique that uses harvest and harvest rate to estimate abundance. Using angler catch data allows assumptions of the estimator to be addressed without relying on methods that could be prohibitively field-intensive or costly. Historic estimates of White Sturgeon Acipenser transmontanus abundance in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River basin have been obtained using mark-recapture methods. However, White Sturgeon population characteristics often cause violations of model assumptions, such as population closure and independent capture probabilities. We developed a version of Lincoln’s estimator using a joint likelihood, estimated abundance of White Sturgeon in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River basin in 2015 using this method and empirical data, and assessed accuracy and precision of estimates in a simulation study. Estimating abundance using harvest and harvest rate, as represented by our model framework, has the potential to be precise and accurate. The joint likelihood-based approach fitted using Bayesian methods is advantageous because all sources of variation are included in a single model. Precision of abundance estimates was low when the model was applied to White Sturgeon in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River basin and to similar conditions in a simulated dataset. Using simulation, precision and accuracy increased with increases in the number of high-reward and standard tags released, tag reporting rate, tag retention rate, and harvest rate. Results demonstrate potential sources of error when using this approach and suggest that increasing the number of tagged fish and tag reporting rate are potential actions to improve precision and accuracy of abundance estimates of the model.

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Management Goals for Conserving White Sturgeon in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Basin

Cited by 3 publications

References 35 publications

Resiliency of Apache Trout habitats in a warmer and drier climate future

Resiliency of Apache Trout habitats in a warmer and drier climate future

Germ cell recovery, cryopreservation and transplantation in the California white sturgeon, Acipenser transmontanus

Leveraging Angler Effort to Inform Fisheries Management: Using Harvest and Harvest Rate to Estimate Abundance of White Sturgeon

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