Potential for restoration of the Roanoke River population of Atlantic sturgeon

Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle Saga and Setback: Novel Analyses of Cumulative Hatchlings Released and Time-Lagged Annual Nests in Tamaulipas, Mexico

“…Historical landings data indicate that between 7,000 and 10,500 adult female Atlantic sturgeon were present in North Carolina prior to 1890 (Armstrong and Hightower 2002;Secor 2002). Secor (2002) estimates that 8,000 adult females were present in South Carolina during that same time-frame.…”

“…During various seasons and portions of their life cycles, individual fish will make migrations into rivers, nearshore waters, and other areas of the North Atlantic Ocean. Adult and sub-adult (age 2 fish or older) spend a considerable portion of their lives in coastal and marine waters (ASSRT and NMFS 2007;Collins and Smith 1997;Laney et al 2007;Munro et al 2007;Stein et al 2004b) where they are subject to bycatch mortality by commercial fisheries (Armstrong and Hightower 2002;Collins et al 1996;Spear 2007;Stein et al 2004a;Trencia et al 2002), poor water quality in certain estuaries (Collins et al 2000b;Dadswell 2006) and other potential threats, such as dams, dredging, and alteration of spawning and foraging habitat (ASSRT and NMFS 2007;Munro et al 2007). The status of the five DPSs of Atlantic sturgeon in the action area, as well as the threats to these species, are best reflected in their range-wide statuses and supported by the species accounts in Section 3 (Status of Species).…”

Bycatch rates and initial mortality of paddlefish in a commercial gillnet fishery

“…For instance, shortnose sturgeons, Acipenser brevirostrum, and Atlantic sturgeon, A. oxyrinchus, were commonly observed as bycatch in gillnet fisheries targeting migrating American shad, Alosa sapidissima (Collins et al, 1996). Armstrong and Hightower (2002) discussed the ramifications of bycatch mortality in efforts to recover Atlantic sturgeon in a coastal North Carolina river. Hale et al (1996) estimated that freshwater game fish bycatch in Florida's St. John's River striped mullet, Mugil cephalus, fishery accounted for less than 1% of the total catch by number.…”

Estimating Sturgeon Abundance in the Carolinas Using Side‐Scan Sonar

“…Sturgeon have been observed in these rivers and sampled in various studies (Moser and Ross 1995;Collins and Smith 1997;Collins et al 2000;Armstrong and Hightower 2002;Oakley and Hightower 2007;authors' unpublished data), but no assessments have been undertaken. A recent range-wide study estimates that there may be 6,615-29,784 ocean-going Atlantic Sturgeon in the Carolina DPS (Kocik et al 2013).…”