Endangered Sturgeon and the Delaware River

Atlantic sturgeon at the Northeast Fishery Center are part of a project to raise sturgeon from egg through sexual maturity. If successful, the Fishery Centers work will provide a roadmap to the development  of domestic broodstock and help in efforts to restore Atlantic sturgeon to their native range. Photo: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Northeast Region

Sturgeon is not a fish many people know about because you don't often see the fish in stores or on menus. But a century ago an estimated 180,000 female Atlantic sturgeon lived in the Delaware River. Those females produced enough eggs, sold as caviar, to make the Delaware River and Bay area the caviar capital of America.

The fish is also smoked and eaten worldwide, though not as popular as it was in the late 1800s and early 20th century.

In 1890, an estimated 6 million pounds of the 7 million pounds of sturgeon caught on the East Coast came from Delaware Bay.

Sturgeon are now endangered there since 2012 when less than 300 spawning sturgeon were believed to be in the Delaware River.

Are they recovering? A piece on NJ.com asks if enough being done or in other words, is a fishing moratorium enough to have them make a comeback, or is further intervention needed?

NOAA Fisheries Service reports led to five population segments of the Atlantic sturgeon being listed as endangered species. The New York Bight population segment found in the Delaware River and the Hudson River is one of the five.

Since caviar and sturgeon as food are not the industry they once were, what threatens the species? Vessel strikes are a big factor along with low water quality in rivers, dredging projects and accidental catching.

In New Jersey, the Division of Fish and Wildlife has placed acoustic receivers in Delaware Bay to track the sturgeon's migration patterns for the endangered population.