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Shortnose Sturgeon and Atlantic Sturgeon in the Kennebec River System, Maine: a 1977–2001 Retrospective of Abundance and Important Habitat
Author(s) -
Wippelhauser Gail S.,
Squiers Thomas S.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1080/00028487.2015.1022221
Subject(s) - acipenser , estuary , fishery , bay , habitat , sturgeon , population , abundance (ecology) , geography , environmental science , fish <actinopterygii> , biology , ecology , demography , archaeology , sociology
Little was known about the populations of Shortnose Sturgeon Acipenser brevirostrum and Atlantic Sturgeon A. oxyrinchus in the Kennebec, Androscoggin, and Sheepscot River estuaries (the Kennebec system) in Maine, prompting a series of field studies spanning the years 1977–2001. Although the impetus for these studies varied, common objectives were to estimate population abundances and locate habitat important to the conservation of both species. During 16 years of gill‐net sampling, we caught 3,372 Shortnose Sturgeon and 403 Atlantic Sturgeon. On the basis of two mark–recapture studies, the adult Shortnose Sturgeon population in the Kennebec system was estimated to be 5,117 (95% confidence interval, 4,206–6,279) for the period 1977–1981 and 9,436 (7,542–11,888) for the period 1998–2000. Gill‐net sampling led to the identification of two spawning areas in the Kennebec system. One was an approximately 0.7‐km‐long reach immediately downstream of Brunswick Dam in the Androscoggin estuary, and the other was an approximately 26‐km‐long reach immediately downstream of Edwards Dam in the upper Kennebec estuary. Shortnose Sturgeon were caught at both locations, while Atlantic Sturgeon were documented only in the upper Kennebec estuary. Acoustic telemetry was used to identify a wintering site in Merrymeeting Bay that was used by Shortnose Sturgeon.