First Documented Spawning of White Sturgeon in the Lower Willamette River, Oregon

Chapman, Colin G.; Jones, Tucker

doi:10.3955/046.084.0402

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…While our tracking did not produce direct evidence of marine excursions, it clearly showed a substantial exchange of White Sturgeon between the Pitt and Fraser rivers. Though tributary use has been observed for other sturgeon species (e.g., Collins et al 2003) and from other White Sturgeon populations (e.g., Chapman and Jones 2010), the degree of exchange between the Fraser and Pitt rivers was previously assumed to be limited. For example, prior to this study, only 15 White Sturgeon had been PIT-tagged in the Pitt River upstream from the Highway 7 Bridge (only three near the outlet of Pitt Lake), and not surprisingly, given the sample size, none of these fish had been recaptured (Fraser River Sturgeon Conservation Society, unpublished data).…”

Section: Movements Out Of the Fraser Rivermentioning

confidence: 99%

Annual Movements of Acoustic‐Tagged White Sturgeon in the Lower Reaches of the Fraser River and its Tributaries

Robichaud

English

Nelson³

2017

Trans Am Fish Soc

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Details of the spatial ecology of White Sturgeon Acipenser transmontanus in the lower Fraser River, British Columbia, are needed for habitat conservation, assessments of impacts from spatially delimited threats, and refinement of abundance estimation methods. The abundance of threatened lower Fraser River White Sturgeon is assessed annually using a Bayesian, closed‐population, mark–recapture model. If individuals make prolonged departures from the lower Fraser River, either into marine waters or a tributary, the validity of the model's assumed closed population is questionable. There is also concern that fish might move far enough to be exposed to harvest in Puget Sound, Washington. From 2008 to 2012, White Sturgeon of various sizes were acoustically tagged in the Pitt River (n = 58) and in the lower reaches of the Fraser River (near Douglas Island, n = 52) to determine the timing, rate, and spatial extent of movements. Movements were monitored using acoustic receivers at 17 locations in the lowermost 92 km of the main‐stem Fraser River, three in the first 21 km of the Pitt River (a tributary to the lower Fraser River), and nine in the coastal waters of British Columbia and Washington State. Travel speeds showed a strong skew toward slower movements (74% were <1 km/h) and did not differ significantly between upstream and downstream directions. On average, 33.2% of the sample was mobile (displacing ~13.4 km/month) and 66.8% was sedentary (displacing ~1.87 km/month). In general, White Sturgeon were significantly more sedentary during winter months and more mobile during spring and fall. Annual or seasonal migratory movements and patterns were observed for 73% of fish tracked. Repeated use of specific locations within the lower Pitt River during midwinter suggested White Sturgeon have a high fidelity for specific overwintering sites. Several of the tagged fish showed annual movements to the lowest reaches of the Fraser River for 1–3 months between May and September, although there was no direct evidence that they left the Fraser River and entered the Strait of Georgia. By contrast, there was strong evidence for extended and repeated movement into the lower Pitt River. Given that the lower Pitt River is outside the mark–recapture assessment area, our results suggest either that the area's boundaries need expansion, or alternative models should be considered for abundance estimations of lower Fraser River White Sturgeon. Received September 7, 2016; accepted February 3, 2017 Published online April 27, 2017

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Section: Movements Out Of the Fraser Rivermentioning

confidence: 99%

Annual Movements of Acoustic‐Tagged White Sturgeon in the Lower Reaches of the Fraser River and its Tributaries

Robichaud

English

Nelson³

2017

Trans Am Fish Soc

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“…Of these threats, the construction and operation of dams has been suggested as the greatest risk to the persistence and productivity of sturgeon populations worldwide (Votinov & Kasyanov, 1978;Rochard, Castelnaud, & Lepage, 1990;Auer, 1996;Rosenthal & Pourkazemi, 2006;Rosenthal, Gessner, & Bronzi, 2014;Haxton & Cano, 2016). The effects of dams on sturgeon populations include loss of spawning habitat (Chapman & Jones, 2010;Parsley & Beckman, 1994), reduced native prey abundance (Beamesderfer, Rien, & Nigro, 1995), reduced genetic diversity (Drauch-Schreier, Mahardja, & May, 2013), and blockage of historical migration patterns (Jager, Chandler, Lepla, & Van Winkle, 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…White Sturgeon likely used the natural river discharge and thermal regimes as cues to seek out optimal spawning habitats and initiate spawning (Parsley & Beckman, 1994;Perrin et al, 2003). Dam construction and operation have also reduced the quantity and quality of spawning habitats (Chapman & Jones, 2010;Parsley & Beckman, 1994) and disrupted historical migration patterns (North, Beamesderfer, & Rien, 1993).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relating river discharge and water temperature to the recruitment of age-0 White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus Richardson, 1836) in the Columbia River using over-dispersed catch data

Counihan

Chapman

2018

J Appl Ichthyol

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Summary The goals were to (i) determine if river discharge and water temperature during various early life history stages were predictors of age‐0 White Sturgeon, Acipenser transmontanus, recruitment, and (ii) provide an example of how over‐dispersed catch data, including data with many zero observations, can be used to better understand the effects of regulated rivers on the productivity of depressed sturgeon populations. An information theoretic approach was used to develop and select negative binomial and zero‐inflated negative binomial models that model the relation of age‐0 White Sturgeon survey data from three contiguous Columbia River reservoirs to river discharge and water temperature during spawning, egg incubation, larval, and post‐larval phases. Age‐0 White Sturgeon were collected with small mesh gill nets in The Dalles and John Day reservoirs from 1997 to 2014 and a bottom trawl in Bonneville Reservoir from 1989 to 2006. Results suggest that seasonal river discharge was positively correlated with age‐0 recruitment; notably that discharge, 16 June–31 July was positively correlated to age‐0 recruitment in all three reservoirs. The best approximating models for two of the three reservoirs also suggest that seasonal water temperature may be a determinant of age‐0 recruitment. Our research demonstrates how over‐dispersed catch data can be used to better understand the effects of environmental conditions on sturgeon populations caused by the construction and operation of dams.

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“…White sturgeon spawning can be monitored using artificial mats deployed in‐river to collect fertilised eggs (Chapman & Jones, ; Jackson, Gruber & Van Eenennaam, ; McCabe & Beckman, ; Schaffter, ). While genetic studies have been published on North American sturgeons (Anders et al., ), white sturgeon has been relatively underserved due to complications associated with polyploidy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimating number of spawning white sturgeon adults from embryo relatedness

Blankenship

Schumer

Eenennaam

et al. 2017

Fisheries Management Eco

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The goal for using genetic information derived from embryo samples is to gain insight into the reproductive biology of adult white sturgeon, Acipenser transmontanus Richardson. The relationship between egg development stages on the extraction of quality DNA was determined, and subsequent genotype data were used to infer contributing spawner numbers. White sturgeon DNA was present in extractions from all stages; however, pre‐gastrulation stage embryos generally failed to amplify sufficient genetic loci for analysis. Using experimentally created families, multivariate ANOVA and maximum‐likelihood sibship methods estimated the presence of 10 contributing parents from 11 actual adult spawners. It was observed that unidentified half‐sibling relationships (offspring sharing one parent) caused error for inferring parent numbers. Genetic methods estimated 13–40 parents potentially contributed to a collection of wild‐caught embryos, with variable numbers of parents inferred from separate spawning events (varying from 8 to 24). Egg source material provides a means to enhance the accuracy of annual spawning population size estimates, which is important for informing habitat restoration, harvest and water management decisions and recovery planning.

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First Documented Spawning of White Sturgeon in the Lower Willamette River, Oregon

Cited by 8 publications

References 17 publications

Annual Movements of Acoustic‐Tagged White Sturgeon in the Lower Reaches of the Fraser River and its Tributaries

Annual Movements of Acoustic‐Tagged White Sturgeon in the Lower Reaches of the Fraser River and its Tributaries

Relating river discharge and water temperature to the recruitment of age-0 White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus Richardson, 1836) in the Columbia River using over-dispersed catch data

Estimating number of spawning white sturgeon adults from embryo relatedness

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