Status and Recovery Efforts for the Alabama Sturgeon

The Alabama sturgeon has the smallest maximum size, most restricted native range, and least abundance of any North American sturgeon.  Historic distribution included all large Coastal Plain rivers in the Mobile River Basin, but is currently restricted to 524 km in the lower Cahaba and Alabama rivers.  A commercial fishery existed in the late 1890’s, and the species was still “not uncommon” in the 1930’s.  However, by the 1980’s a sharp decrease in reports of Alabama sturgeon collections was observed.  Commercial harvest likely triggered the initial decline, but the recent collapse is due to loss and fragmentation of free-flowing riverine habitat and blockage of migratory routes due to construction of dams.  Propagation efforts have proved unsuccessful to date. The last confirmed collection of an Alabama sturgeon occurred in April 2007.  Controversy surrounded the rule designating the Alabama sturgeon as federally endangered, with business coalitions challenging the listing all the way to federal circuit court of appeals.  Unless adequate numbers of individuals can be collected for propagation, access can be provided to spawning grounds, and flow and habitat can be restored to meet life history requirements, the outlook for the Alabama sturgeon is bleak.