Sturgeon in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Watershed: New Insights to Support Conservation and Management

Klimley, A. Peter; Chapman, Eric D.; Cech, Joseph J.; Cocherell, Dennis E.; Fangue, Nann A.; Gingras, Marty; Jackson, Zachary J.; Miller, Emily A.; Mora, Ethan A.; Poletto, Jamilynn B.; Schreier, Andrea; Seesholtz, Alicia M.; Sulak, Kenneth J.; Thomas, Michael J.; Woodbury, David J.; Wyman, Megan T.

doi:10.15447/sfews.2015v13iss4art1

Cited by 14 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 31 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Juvenile GRS (1–3 year olds, <75 cm) are known to reside in freshwater for up to 3 years (Nakamoto et al., ); however, they are able to survive in (and seek out) seawater as early as the end of their first year (Allen et al., ,b; Poletto et al., ). Green Sturgeon juveniles (<60 cm) use riverine, subtidal, and intertidal habitats in lower main‐stem rivers and estuaries (Radtke, ; Klimley et al., ). Captures in freshwater indicate potential overwintering of more than one age class in main‐stem natal rivers (Brown, ).…”

Section: Juvenilesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biology and life history of Green Sturgeon (Acipenser medirostrisAyres, 1854): state of the science

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Summary Green Sturgeon (GRS) Acipenser medirostris is one of the most marine‐oriented of all sturgeons. It primarily spawns in the Sacramento, Klamath, and Rogue Rivers, yet lives most of its life in estuarine and coastal waters along the West Coast of North America. Spawning is only known to occur in the Rogue, Klamath and Sacramento rivers and optimal temperatures for egg incubation and larval growth are not always maintained in these dammed and highly‐regulated systems. Genetic analysis and acoustic telemetry have confirmed the presence of two genetically distinct populations; the southern population is listed as “threatened” under the ESA. Adults only enter natal rivers to spawn every 1–4 years. They make extensive coastal migrations in depths <80 m and move between estuaries where they aggregate in summer. The long marine occupancy of GRS potentially exposes them to mortality from various marine activities such as bottom trawl fishing, dredging, and ocean energy projects, but also provides a theoretical reservoir of fish to support viable populations. Critically‐needed information for protection of this species includes: accurate annual population size estimates, data on distribution and habitat requirements for larvae and juveniles, and assessment of mortality due to bycatch, poaching and marine mammal predation.

show abstract

Section: Juvenilesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biology and life history of Green Sturgeon (Acipenser medirostrisAyres, 1854): state of the science

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Green sturgeon are a long-lived species of important conservation and management concern in the state of California (NMFS 2006;Israel and Klimley Israel and Kimley 2008;Klimley et al 2015). They are fully anadromous (Doroshov 1985;Allen and Cech 2007), which underscores the importance of considering the early life history stages of this species when implementing management or mitigation projects.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of size on juvenile green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris) behavior near water-diversion fish screens

Poletto

Cocherell

et al. 2017

Environ Biol Fish

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Anthropogenic water management projects and facilities that alter the local and regional hydrology of riverine environments greatly influence the behavior, physiology, and survival of native fishes. To mitigate for losses of native fishes at these structures, many are outfitted with fish-exclusion screens to reduce entrainment. The effect of fish size and age on behavior near fish screens, however, is largely unknown. Therefore, we tested two size classes of juvenile green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris; small, early juveniles: 9.2 ± 0.2 cm fork length [FL], 6.9 ± 0.3 g; intermediate juveniles: 18.8 ± 0.2 cm FL, 36.9 ± 0.8 g) near fish-exclusion screens in a laboratory swimming flume. Although size was a significant factor influencing the way in which fish contacted the screens (i.e., proportion of body contacts, p = 2.5×10 −9), it did not significantly influence the number of times fish contacted screens or the amount of time fish spent near screens. We also compared the performance of these two size classes to that of older and larger sturgeon that were tested previously (29.6 ± 0.2 cm FL, 147.1 ± 3.1 g), and documented a clear difference in the behavior of the fish that resulted in disparities in how the large fish contacted screens relative to smallor intermediate-sized juveniles (p = 0.005, 5.4 × 10 −4 , respectively). Our results further our understanding of how ontogeny affects fish behavior near anthropogenic devices, and are informative for managers seeking to identify the most susceptible size and age class of juvenile green sturgeon to water-diversion structures to potentially develop size-specific conservation strategies.

show abstract

“…The Southern Distinct Population Segment (DPS) of green sturgeon that inhabit in the SFBD (Adams et al, 2007) are currently listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (NMFS, 2006), and white sturgeon are listed as State S2 status (low abundance, restricted range, and potentially endangered species) in the California Natural Diversity Database (2009). Given the anticipated climate change impacts in the SFBD, environmental alterations such as decreasing food availability and increasing salinity have been recently spotlighted due to the implications for green and white sturgeon population resilience Klimley et al, 2015;Lee et al, 2015;Vaz et al, 2015). Currently, there is limited information available on integrative physiological performance of green and white sturgeon when faced with increased water temperature and low food availability.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of feed restriction on the upper temperature tolerance and heat shock response in juvenile green and white sturgeon

Lee

Hung

Fangue

et al. 2016

Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular &

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The objective of the current study was to investigate the effects of feed restriction on whole-organism upper thermal tolerance and the heat shock response of green and white sturgeon to determine how changes in food amount might influence physiological performance of each species when faced with temperature stress. Two parallel feed restriction trials were carried out for juvenile green (202 g; 222-day post hatch: dph) and white sturgeon (205 g; 197-dph) to manipulate nutritional status at 12.5%, 25%, 50%, or 100% of optimum feeding rate (100% OFR were 1.6% and 1.8% body weight/day, respectively) for four weeks. Following the trials, the critical thermal maximum (CTMax, 0.3°C/min) of sturgeon (N = 12/treatment/species) was assessed as an indicator of whole-organism upper thermal tolerance. To assess temperature sensitivity, sturgeon (N = 9/treatment/species) were acutely transferred to two temperature treatments (28°C and 18°C as a handling control) for 2 h followed by 2 h of recovery at 18°C before being sacrificed, and gill, brain, and mucus sampled for measurements of 70-kDa heat shock protein levels (Hsc/Hsp70). Feeding rate had species-specific effects on CTMax in green and white sturgeon such that CTMax of green sturgeon decreased as the magnitude of feed restriction increased; whereas, CTMax of white sturgeon did not change with feed restriction. Elevated temperature (28°C) and feed restriction increased Hsc/Hsp70 levels in the gill tissue of green sturgeon, while heat shock increased Hsc/ Hsp70 levels in the mucus of white sturgeon. Our results suggest that green sturgeon may be more susceptible to temperature stress under food-limited conditions.

show abstract

Sturgeon in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Watershed: New Insights to Support Conservation and Management

Cited by 14 publications

References 31 publications

Biology and life history of Green Sturgeon (Acipenser medirostrisAyres, 1854): state of the science

Biology and life history of Green Sturgeon (Acipenser medirostrisAyres, 1854): state of the science

The effect of size on juvenile green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris) behavior near water-diversion fish screens

Effects of feed restriction on the upper temperature tolerance and heat shock response in juvenile green and white sturgeon

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About