Iranian Journal of Fisheries Sciences 20(1) 45-61 2021 DOI: 10.22092/ijfs.2021.123469 Research Article Population dynamics of stellate sturgeon Acipenser stellatus Pallas, 1771 in the southern Caspian Sea Fazli H.1*; Tavakoli M.2; Behrouz Khoshghalb M.R.2; Moghim M.1 Received: July 2020 Accepted: December 2020 Abstract In the last three decades, several ecological factors were changed and affected the most important commercial fish stocks in the Caspian Sea. This paper aims to assess the effects of these pressures on the population structure, stock status and the vulnerability risk of stock extinction of the stellate sturgeon (Acipenser stellatus Pallas, 1771) in the Southern Caspian Sea, in the years 1990-2011. For this period, we estimated growth parameters, the age structure of catch, sexual maturity, age at first capture, natural and fishing mortality, biomass and risk of stock extinction of stellate sturgeon by IUCN Red List categories. Fork lengths of individuals ranged from 82 to 206 cm and ages −1 from 4 to 29 years. The growth parameters were L∞=215.0 cm, K= 0.064 year , t0=−3.2 years. The majority of the catch (67.4-90.1%, averaged 80.0%) belonged to 9- 13 years old. The biomass had a descending trend from 4983.5 mt in 1990-91 declined to 10.6 mt in 2011-12. The generation length was 16 years. Stock status indicators showed that 89% of catch were mature individuals, mature and optimum fish length comprised 74% and 10% of the fish captured comprise mega-spawners. This study revealed that the stock of the stellate sturgeon is being overfished for the whole years and critically endangered. Downloaded from jifro.ir at 6:37 +0330 on Tuesday September 28th 2021 Keywords: Growth parameters, Biomass, Stock extinction, Acipenser stellatus, Caspian Sea 1-Caspian Sea Ecology Research Center, Iranian Fisheries Science Research Institute, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Sari, Iran. 2-International Sturgeon Research Institute, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Rasht, Iran *Corresponding Author: [email protected]; [email protected] 46 Fazli et al., Population dynamics of Acipenser stellatus in the southern Caspian Sea Introduction I or II CITES due to pollution, poaching The Caspian Sea, with an area of about over the last decades, habitat 380000 km2, is the largest lake which destruction, overexploitation and illegal can be divided into three parts: the trade (Ivanov et al., 1999; Pourkazemi, northern, middle, and southern parts 2006; Graham and Murphy, 2007; (Dumont, 1998). This great lake is a Khodorevskaya et al., 2009, 2014; unique ecosystem known for its several Qiwei, 2010; CITES and UNEP, 2017; aquatic (Karpinsky, 2005). About 130 Tavakoli et al., 2019; Fazli et al., rivers drain into the ecosystem which 2020). According to the Commission on the Volga river is the biggest one, Aquatic Bioresources, commercial contributes more than 85% of the total fishing of sturgeons is banned since inflow volume (Kosarev, 2005). 2012. Stellate sturgeon distributes in the Unfortunately, our knowledge of the Caspian, Azov, and Black Seas. This population dynamics of the stellate species is anadromous in which the sturgeon was limited to the length- largest stock is concentrated in the weight relationships, growth Caspian Sea. This species is found in parameters, and mortality the whole basin of the Caspian Sea, but (Bakhshalizadeh et al., 2012), and its main spawning occurs in the Volga, maturation (Bakhshalizadeh et al., Ural, and Terek rivers (Berg, 1948). In 2017). This information is very Iranian waters, this highly valuable important because of changes in the species was represented about 45% of ecological structure of the Caspian Sea the total sturgeon catch (Moghim et al., due to the impacts of several factors 2002; Florescu et al., 2019). that affected all components of the All sturgeon species such as stellate ecosystem and fish stocks (Daskalov Downloaded from jifro.ir at 6:37 +0330 on Tuesday September 28th 2021 sturgeon Acipenser stellatus (Pallas, and Mamedov, 2007; Karimzadeh et 1771) are especially vulnerable to al., 2010; Pourang et al., 2016; overfishing because of commercial Tavakoli et al., 2019). Therefore, this importance. Also, in the past two study aims to fill the information gaps decades, the anthropogenic effects on the primary population biology influenced all components of the parameters (length-weight relationship, Caspian Sea (Pourang et al., 2016). It is growth, and maturity), explain the stock revealed that the environment of the status and management, and provide Caspian Sea is shifted to a new quantitative methods for assessing condition (Beyraghdar Kashkooli et al. vulnerability extinction of stellate 2017), and Lattuada et al. (2019) sturgeon based on population size reported that the invasive species are during 22 years, from 1990 to 2011. the most important anthropogenic pressure. All sturgeon species are collapsed and listed under Acipeserides Iranian Journal of Fisheries Sciences 20(1) 2021 47 Materials and methods the nearest 100 g, respectively. After Study area and sampling visual sex determination, the maturity The fish samples were collected from stages were determined according to the Iranian commercial fisheries (by six-stage maturity scale based on gillnets and beach seines, Fig. 1) during macroscopic examination in gonad 1990-2011. A total of 92980 specimens development (Moghim et al., 2002). were sampled (Table 1). The fork The age was determined by pectoral fin length (FL) and body weight (W) were ray sections. measured to the nearest centimeter and Downloaded from jifro.ir at 6:37 +0330 on Tuesday September 28th 2021 Figure 1: Map showing the fish landings and sampling locations in the Iranian waters of Caspian Sea. Growth parameters and length at Bertalanffy growth model was fitted to maturity the observed lengths at age data. A log-log transformed data used to Length at maturity (Lm50%) was estimate length-weight relationships estimated for individuals sampled (Ricker, 1975). The non-linear von during March and April with maturity classified into stage IV. The parameters 48 Fazli et al., Population dynamics of Acipenser stellatus in the southern Caspian Sea were estimated using non-linear for others: regression of Saila 1 et al. (1988): P (r(LLm)) 1 e The fishing mortality was calculated as: B Where P is the ratio of mature F ln( ij ) M G ij B j individuals in each length group, r is a i1 j 1 parameter, and Lm Lm=a/r is an intercept. Where Ct is the catch in weight, Gj is the instantaneous coefficient of growth Mortality and age at first capture at age j, Bi+1j+1 is the biomass at age j+1 The natural mortality (M) was in year i+1 and Cij, Bij and Fij are the calculated as (Pauly, 1980): biomass, catch in weight and fishing mortality at age j in year i, respectively. Gj was estimated as the following: Where T is the mean habitat W temperature 16.5 °C (Nasrollahzadeh, G ln( j1 ) j W 2013). j The catch curve method (Ricker, 1975) was applied to calculate the survival Where Wj and Wj+1 are the weight of rate (S) by using the age compositions fish at age j and j+1, respectively. to catch the years from 2008 to 2011. The total mortality (Z) and terminal Stock status The exploitation rate (E) was calculated fishing mortalities (FT) calculated as: as (King, 2007): Z = −ln S FT = Z - M Downloaded from jifro.ir at 6:37 +0330 on Tuesday September 28th 2021 The Pauly length-converted catch curve The stock status assessed using three method was used to calculate age at indicators based on the length of fish in first capture (Pauly, 1984). the catches (Froese 2004): (I) percentage of mature individuals Stock assessment (>L ); (II) frequency of fish at ± According to cohort analysis (Zhang m50% 10% optimum length (L ). L and Sullivan, 1988), the annual biomass opt opt calculated by using the growth (B) and fishing mortality (F) of stellate parameters (using L , M, and K) as: sturgeon were estimated. The biomass ∞ of the last year and the last age-class (Bt) was: (III) frequency of fish with length Ct (Ft M Gt ) Bt (Ft M Gt ) bigger Lopt plus 10%, assigned as mega- Ft (1 e ) spawners (Froese, 2004). Iranian Journal of Fisheries Sciences 20(1) 2021 49 The nine IUCN Red List categories and to 66.0 kg, and averaged (±SD) 126.3 criteria utilized to consider the (±11.8) cm and 10.15 (±3.22) kg, extinction risk of the sturgeon. The respectively. The mean length and criteria related to population reduction weight of females and males were (criteria A) was applied to categorize 129.2±11.2 cm, 10.98±3.12 kg, and the risk of extinction (IUCN, 2017). 117.3±9.6 cm, 7.46±2.44 kg, In general, in many taxa of marine respectively, the values in females is fish species, the reproductive potential significantly higher than in males is closely related to body size. As (t=164.2, p<0.001 and t=186.7, biomass is 'an index of abundance' p<0.001; for length and weight, (IUCN, 2017), therefore the biomass of respectively). In the length classes, mature individuals of stellate sturgeon female and male individuals between is used to apply criterion A, and 110-150 and 100-135 cm were complex pattern decline is used to predominant and accounted for 92.3% explain the stock reduction. and 94.2% of total samples (Fig. 2). The proportional rate of population The fork length-weight relationship mature biomass declines (Reduction=R) 3.049 2 was: W=0.0038FL (R =0.80, was calculated as: standard error of b=0.005, a=9.4-5 and n=92980).