Acipenser Brevirostrum
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AR-405 BIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF SHORTNOSE STURGEON Acipenser brevirostrum Prepared by the Shortnose Sturgeon Status Review Team for the National Marine Fisheries Service National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration November 1, 2010 Acknowledgements i The biological review of shortnose sturgeon was conducted by a team of scientists from state and Federal natural resource agencies that manage and conduct research on shortnose sturgeon along their range of the United States east coast. This review was dependent on the expertise of this status review team and from information obtained from scientific literature and data provided by various other state and Federal agencies and individuals. In addition to the biologists who contributed to this report (noted below), the Shortnose Stugeon Status Review Team would like to acknowledge the contributions of Mary Colligan, Julie Crocker, Michael Dadswell, Kim Damon-Randall, Michael Erwin, Amanda Frick, Jeff Guyon, Robert Hoffman, Kristen Koyama, Christine Lipsky, Sarah Laporte, Sean McDermott, Steve Mierzykowski, Wesley Patrick, Pat Scida, Tim Sheehan, and Mary Tshikaya. The Status Review Team would also like to thank the peer reviewers, Dr. Mark Bain, Dr. Matthew Litvak, Dr. David Secor, and Dr. John Waldman for their helpful comments and suggestions. Finally, the SRT is indebted to Jessica Pruden who greatly assisted the team in finding the energy to finalize the review – her continued support and encouragement was invaluable. Due to some of the similarities between shortnose and Atlantic sturgeon life history strategies, this document includes text that was taken directly from the 2007 Atlantic Sturgeon Status Review Report (ASSRT 2007), with consent from the authors, to expedite the writing process. Similarly, where the information had not changed since the publication of the Final Recovery Plan for Shortnose Sturgeon in 1998, we have either referenced the information or included text taken directly from the Recovery Plan. Contributing Biologists: Dr. Matthew Litvak Dr. David Secor Mark Boriek Hal Brundage Dr. Joseph Hightower Dr. Eric Hilton John O'Herron Fritz Rohde Bob Sadzinski Tom Savoy Dr. Wayne Starnes This document should be cited as: Shortnose Sturgeon Status Review Team. 2010. A Biological Assessment of shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum). Report to National Marine Fisheries Service, Northeast Regional Office. November 1, 2010. 417 pp. ii Shortnose Sturgeon Status Review Team Members and their affiliation: Jeanette Bowers- Altman New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife Mark Collins, Ph.D. South Carolina Dept. of Natural Resources Joel Fleming Georgia Department of Natural Resources Kathryn Hattala New York Department of Environmental Conservation Micah Kieffer Conte Anadromous Fish Laboratory (U.S. Geologiocal Survey/Biological Resources Division) Timothy King, Ph.D. U.S. Geological Survey Biological Resources Division, Aquatic Ecology Branch Wilson Laney, Ph.D. U.S. Fish and Widlife Service – South Atlantic Fisheries Coordination Office, Raleigh, North Carolina Malcolm Mohead NOAAs’ National Marine Fisheries Service, Office of Protected Resources, Silver Spring, Maryland Tom Squiers and Gail Wipplehauser Maine Department of Marine Resources Liaisons to the team: Dana Hartley NOAAs’ National Marine Fisheries Service, Northeast Regional Office, Gloucester, Massachusetts1 Stephania Bolden, Ph.D. NOAAs’ National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Regional Office, St. Petersburg, Florida 1 Currently at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, SFESO, 1339 20th Street, Vero Beach, FL, 32960. iii Table of Contents List of Tables……………………………………………………………………………. vi List of Figures…………...………………………………………………………………. xi List of Acronyms and Abbreviations………………………………………………….... xv Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………… 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 4 History of the Endangered Species Act Listing Status ................................................... 4 History of Shortnose Sturgeon Status Reviews and Recovery Planning ........................ 5 Nomenclature and Taxonomy ............................................................................................. 6 Species Description and Natural History .................................................................... 7 Morphology..................................................................................................................... 7 Life History ................................................................................................................... 11 Age and Growth ........................................................................................................ 11 Reproduction ............................................................................................................. 12 Life Stages ................................................................................................................ 13 Migration and Habitat ................................................................................................... 16 Spawning....................................................................................................................... 16 Foraging ........................................................................................................................ 19 Overwintering ............................................................................................................... 20 Species Diversity and Evolutionary Significance ............................................................. 21 Population Structure of Shortnose Sturgeon ................................................................. 23 Behavioral Information ............................................................................................. 24 Coastal Movements ................................................................................................... 24 Genetic Analyses .......................................................................................................... 27 Mitochondrial DNA Analyses .................................................................................. 27 Nuclear DNA Analyses............................................................................................. 37 Captive Broodstock and Progeny.............................................................................. 63 The Present or Threatened Destruction, Modification, or Curtailment of Habitat or Range ............................................................................................................................ 64 Dams and Diversions ................................................................................................ 65 Other Energy Projects ............................................................................................... 70 Dredging, Blasting and Pile Driving ......................................................................... 75 Water Quality and Contaminants .............................................................................. 79 Climate Change ......................................................................................................... 83 Summary and Evaluation .......................................................................................... 88 iv Overutilization for Commercial, Recreational Scientific or Educational Purposes Commercial Fisheries ................................................................................................... 88 Bycatch ..................................................................................................................... 88 Poaching .................................................................................................................... 92 Scientific research ..................................................................................................... 92 Summary and evaluation ........................................................................................... 92 Competition, Predation and Disease ............................................................................. 93 Competition and Predation ....................................................................................... 93 Disease ...................................................................................................................... 96 Summary and Evaluation .......................................................................................... 98 Inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms ............................................................ 98 International .............................................................................................................. 99 National ..................................................................................................................... 99 State......................................................................................................................... 103 Other natural or manmade factors affecting the continued existence of the species .. 104 Ship strikes .............................................................................................................. 104 Artificial propagation .............................................................................................. 105 Escapement of hatchery/captive fishes ................................................................... 105 Potential impacts to genetic diversity from