Telemetry Identified, New Spawning Sites for Expanding Gulf Sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi) Population

Historical data collections dating back to 1986 suggest that Gulf sturgeon originating from the Suwannee River drainage engage in spawning activity at five gravel substrate sites between river kilometer (rkm) 201 and 221.  These sites were verified by egg pad sampling, during which eggs were recovered, reared in the laboratory to four inches and confirmed as Gulf sturgeon.  Recent telemetry and sampling data indicate there may be a secondary spawning region available and utilized from rkm 140 to 170. These secondary sites are similar in bathymetry and hydrology to sites between rkm 201 and 221, while still allowing for appropriate larval/juvenile dispersal distance upstream of the estuarine mixing zone.  Since 1986, the Suwannee River Gulf sturgeon population has more than doubled in size.  We hypothesize a density-dependent expansion of spawning grounds for the increased population.  During the Spring 2015 spawning season, egg pads will be deployed to test the hypothesis.