Long-Term Migratory Patterns of Roanoke River, NC Atlantic Sturgeon

Atlantic sturgeon are a U.S. endangered species found throughout the Atlantic Coast of the United States and Canada.  Across the range there is uncertainty in the timing and movements of adult sturgeon.  This is the case especially in North Carolina’s Albemarle Sound and adjacent rivers, where only a few adult sturgeon have been observed in recent years. We  implanted sonic transmitters in six adult Atlantic sturgeon in the Roanoke River from 2010-2012 and additional sturgeon were tagged in adjacent states and could be detected by our receiver arrays. Arrays were deployed in the Roanoke River and in western Albemarle Sound.  Over 50% of our tagged sturgeon remained in Albemarle Sound and did not enter marine waters during Summer and Fall.  Movements also corresponded to Fall spawning observed in the Roanoke River.   There was no clear trend in spawning periodicity, but we observed eight spawning migrations out of 14 annual opportunities (57%).  There is considerable interchange among DPS’s: our Atlantic sturgeon were detected in Chesapeake Bay and New York Bight DPS’s, and we detected two sturgeon from the Chesepeake Bay DPS in Western Albemarle Sound.  Effective recovery strategies for Atlantic sturgeon will need to account for these long-term migratory patterns.