Winter 2002
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Biologists at Fort Stewart, Ga., better understand the status of the endangered shortnose sturgeon after two years of intensive sampling, but many questions and challenges remain in their efforts to protect and enhance this unique species.

Fort Stewart's Fish and Wildlife Branch continues to monitor the shortnose sturgeon population in the Ogeechee River system, following the installation's Endangered Species Management Plan (ESMP). The installation and the Army received praise for the proactive conservation efforts in supporting the recovery of this species at the fourth International Sturgeon Symposium in Oshkosh, Wis., in July 2001.

The Ogeechee forms the eastern boundary of the post while its largest tributary, the Canoochee River, flows diagonally through the installation and its artillery impact area.

Courtesy of Fort Stewart

Fort Stewart, Ga., Biological Technician Kathryn Sukkestad holds a shortnose sturgeon.

Fort Stewart first inventoried the shortnose population in the early 1990s. Those studies revealed a depressed population (approximately 266 individuals) with limited recruitment. Critical spawning and rearing habitats went unidentified. According to preliminary results, activities on post would not likely affect the sturgeon, but additional monitoring was required.

The Fish and Wildlife Branch and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Engineer Research and Development Center beganthe second phase of monitoring in 1999. This later effort has been designed to evaluate population trends, locate critical summering, spawning and rearing habitat, assess age structure and growth rates, determine mortality rates, collect tissue samples for genetic studies, and predict population responses to fluctuations in recruitment.

In 1999, Fort Stewart captured 21 shortnose sturgeon and 46 juvenile Atlantic sturgeon. In 2000, 68 shortnose were collected.

All sturgeon are tagged with a radio transponder and numbered. Researchers also remove a small section of the right pectoral spine to determine age and growth, and a tissue sample is collected for genetic evaluation.

Shortly into the 1999 sampling season, shortnose sturgeon with South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) tags began to show up in the catch. It was determined that a significant proportion of the Ogeechee River shortnose adults more than seven years old were South Carolina immigrants.

The number of recaptured shortnose tagged in this study helps determine population estimates. No recaptures occurred in 1999; however, 28 shortnose were recaptured in 2000, five from among fish tagged in 1999. Consequently, population estimates reflected a small adult population, estimated at 195. This population estimate does not differ significantly from the 1993 estimate. The adult shortnose sturgeon population is believed to be either stable or slightly decreasing.

If the National Marine Fisheries Service and the recovery team approve stocking cultured fish, the population could be sustained and increased until limiting factors are corrected to support natural population growth.

Depletion of underlying aquifers may be reducing summering shortnose sturgeon habitat. Water quality degradation, possible by-catch impacts from gillnet fishery, or possible spawning and nursery habitat degradation could also be working against the shortnose sturgeon.

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