State of Florida Conservation Plan for Gulf Sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi) Item Type monograph Authors Wakeford, Anne Publisher Florida Marine Research Institute Download date 28/09/2021 02:46:22 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/1834/18092 ISSN 1092-194X FLORIDA MARINE RESEARCH INSTITUTE TECHNICALTECHNICAL REPORTSREPORTS State of Florida Conservation Plan for Gulf Sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi ) Anne Wakeford Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission FMRI Technical Report TR-8 2001 Jeb Bush Governor of Florida Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Allan E. Egbert Executive Director The Florida Marine Research Institute (FMRI) is a division of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Con- servation Commission (FWC). The FWC is “managing fish and wildlife resources for their long- term well-being and the benefit of people.” The FMRI conducts applied research pertinent to managing marine-fishery resources and marine species of special concern in Florida. Programs at the FMRI focus on resource-management topics such as managing gamefish and shellfish populations, restoring depleted fish stocks and the habitats that support them, pro- tecting coral reefs, preventing and mitigating oil-spill damage, protecting endangered and threatened species, and managing coastal-resource information. The FMRI publishes three series: Memoirs of the Hourglass Cruises, Florida Marine Research Publi- cations, and FMRI Technical Reports. FMRI Technical Reports contain information relevant to imme- diate resource-management needs. Kenneth D. Haddad, Chief of Research James F. Quinn, Jr., Science Editor Institute Editors Theresa M. Bert, Paul R. Carlson, Mark M. Leiby, Anne B. Meylan, Robert G. Muller, Ruth O. Reese Judith G. Leiby, Copy Editor Llyn C. French, Publications Production State of Florida Conservation Plan for Gulf Sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi ) Anne Wakeford Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Florida Marine Research Institute 100 Eighth Avenue Southeast St. Petersburg, Florida 33701 Present address 222 15th Avenue North, Apartment A St. Petersburg, Florida 33704 Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission FMRI Technical Report TR-8 2001 Cover Photographs Background: Sturgeon in pickup truck, Blountstown, Florida, 1954 (Sandy Walko). Clockwise from upper left: University of Florida sturgeon aquaculture project; USFWS sturgeon recovery poster; Ann Wakeford, Choctawhatchee River (USFWS, Frank Parauka); sturgeon roe, University of Florida sturgeon aquaculture project; gravid sturgeon, Suwannee River (University of Florida, Doug Colle); ultrasonic receiver for sonic tagging (FWC FMRI); surgical insertion of sonic tag (FWC FMRI, Harry Grier); cross-section of sturgeon pectoral fin ray, used to calculate age (USFWS); sturgeon on scales (USFWS); sturgeon sampling (USFWS, Panama City, Florida). Copies of this document may be obtained from Florida Marine Research Institute 100 Eighth Avenue SE St. Petersburg, FL 33701-5020 Attn: Librarian Document Citation Wakeford, A. 2001. State of Florida conservation plan for gulf sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi). Florida Marine Research Institute Technical Report TR-8. 100 pp. Document Production This document was composed in Microsoft® Word and produced using QuarkXPress® on Apple Power Macintosh® computers. The headline font is Adobe® Avant Garde, the text font is Adobe® Palatino, and the cover headline is Adobe® Gill Sans.The cover and text papers are Consolidated Fortune Recycled. The cover and text papers used in this publication meet the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials Z39.48—1992. Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . ii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY . 1 INTRODUCTION . 3 Description of Gulf Sturgeon . 3 Fishing and Aquaculture . 5 Protections, Listings, and Recovery Plans . 6 HABITAT REQUIREMENTS . 8 Water-Quality Requirements for Sturgeon . 9 Factors Required for Successful Sturgeon Spawning . 9 Major Impediments to Gulf Sturgeon Recovery in Rivers . 10 ESTUARIES AND RIVERS . 11 Pensacola Bay System . 14 Choctawhatchee Bay System . 19 St. Andrew Bay System . 21 Apalachicola Bay System . 22 Suwannee System . 25 Tampa Bay System . 28 Charlotte Harbor System . 31 Summary of Florida West Coast Estuaries and Rivers . 32 STOCK ENHANCEMENT . 32 Considerations . 33 Overview of Potential Genetic Concerns . 35 Research Needs . 35 Criteria to Examine . 36 Stocking Summary . 37 AQUACULTURE OF STURGEON FOR FOOD . 38 Florida Sturgeon Production Working Group . 38 Permits for Possession and Culture . 39 Sturgeon Aquaculture Risk-Assessment Workshop . 39 Aquaculture Summary . 42 RESEARCH TO RESTORE GULF STURGEON POPULATIONS . 42 Essential Requirements and Population Status . 42 Information Exchange . 45 Funding for the Recovery Program . 45 Monitoring of the Recovery Program . 45 RECOMMENDATIONS . 46 Actions . 46 Education and Information Exchange . 47 SUMMARY . 48 Management Objectives and Recommendations . 48 Priorities . 48 Management Strategies . 48 Systemwide Habitat Needs . 48 Stock Enhancement . 48 Conclusion . 49 LITERATURE CITED . 49 APPENDIX A. Maps of Estuaries and Rivers of the Florida West Coast . 61 APPENDIX B. 1999–2000 Sturgeon Research Funded by FWC . 69 APPENDIX C. 2000–2001 Sturgeon Research Funded by FWC . 71 APPENDIX D. Organizations and Stakeholders Interested and Involved in Gulf Sturgeon . 73 APPENDIX E. Notes from Gulf Sturgeon Workshop and Priorities of the Gulf Sturgeon Recovery and Management Plan . 75 APPENDIX F. Protocol for Sampling Gulf Sturgeon Tissue . 83 APPENDIX G. Progress Report—Gulf Sturgeon Recovery Implementation 1995–2000 . 85 APPENDIX H. Glossary of Common Acronyms in Text and Appendices . 100 i Acknowledgments I thank the following people for making valuable edits to this manuscript: Jim Quinn and Judy Leiby for extensive technical editing; Alan Huff, George Henderson, Mike Tringali,Dan Roberts for scientific edits; Marcia Colby for making the maps; and Robert Brock for photocopying, all FWC FMRI; Robert Palmer, FWC, Division of Marine Fisheries; Karen Metcalf, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Ser- vices; Bobby Reed, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries; Wendell Lorio, Mississippi State Uni- versity, Stennis Space Center; Ken Leber and Steve Serfling, Mote Marine Laboratory; Jennifer Lee, National Marine Fisheries Service; Dewayne Fox, North Carolina State University; Jim Clugston, Save Our Suwannee; Mark Collins, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources; Gail Carmody, Frank Parauka, and Vincent Mudrak, United States Fish and Wildlife Service; Stephen Ross, University of Southern Mississippi; Ann Foster and Ken Sulak, United States Geological Survey; and Paul Anders, Uni- versity of Idaho, Aquaculture Research Institute. ii State of Florida Conservation Plan for Gulf Sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi ) Executive Summary All modern sturgeon species spawn in fresh water, The rivers and estuary-bay systems within the and some species spend their entire lives there. A present and historical ranges of gulf sturgeon were number of sturgeon species, however, spend their evaluated to determine the extent of suitable habitat adulthood in oceanic environments, and still others for sturgeon in all life-history stages and to determine spend it in brackish water (McEnroe and Cech, 1987). the number of resident gulf sturgeon populations pre- Using this life-history information, Doroshov (1985) di- sent.These systems include the bays and rivers asso- vided the extant sturgeon species into three categories: ciated with Pensacola Bay, Choctawhatchee Bay, St. anadromous, semi-anadromous, and landlocked. Andrew Bay, Apalachicola Bay, Suwannee Sound, and Gulf sturgeon are anadromous. They spend the Tampa Bay. cooler months (October or November through March According to the Gulf Sturgeon Recovery/Man- or April) in estuarine or marine habitats, where they agement Plan (USFWS and GSMFC, 1995), before feed on benthic organisms such as isopods, amphipods, recovery measures for gulf sturgeon can be imple- lancets, molluscs, crabs, grass shrimp, and marine mented and monitored, the essential habitat require- worms (Mason and Clugston, 1993). In the spring, gulf ments of sturgeon must be determined; sturgeon sturgeon return to their natal river, where the sexual- populations and habitats must be protected; and re- ly mature sturgeon spawn, and the population spends searchers, managers, and policy-makers must share the next 6–8 months there (Odenkirk, 1989; Foster, pertinent information. 1993; Clugston et al., 1995; Fox et al., 2000). To identify the ecosystems essential to gulf stur- Gulf sturgeon occur in most major tributaries of the geon, assess sturgeon population status, and investi- northeastern Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi River gate sturgeon life-history requirements, several studies east to Florida’s Suwannee River and in the central and must first be conducted. Essential habitats for each eastern gulf waters as far south as Charlotte Harbor sturgeon life-history stage in each river basin and con- (Wooley and Crateau, 1985). In Florida, gulf sturgeon tiguous estuarine and neritic waters need to be iden- are still found in the Escambia, Yellow, Blackwater, tified. Life-history studies on the requirements of Choctawhatchee, Apalachicola, Ochlockonee, and little-known or inadequately sampled gulf sturgeon life Suwannee rivers (Reynolds, 1993). stages need to be conducted. Gulf sturgeon populations Gulf sturgeon require specific