Interception Habitat for Pallid Sturgeon in the Upper Channelized Missouri River

The Bank Stabilization and Navigation Project resulted in the loss of 40,000 hectares of shallow water habitat (SWH), including most side channel, island, and sand bar habitats.  In 1990, Pallid Sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) were listed as a federally endangered species.  The USFWS Biological Opinion (2000, amended 2003) recognized the loss of habitat as a critical factor in the decline of Pallid Sturgeon and recommended restoration of 8,000 hectares of SWH. SWH is thought to function as interception and nursery habitat for larval sturgeon.

The bottleneck for Pallid Sturgeon recruitment is believed to occur between spawning and the transition of drifting larvae into nursery habitats.  Currently, the focus has narrowed to potentially constructing ideal spawning habitats in the upper portion of the lower Missouri River (LMR) and interception rearing complexes in the lower portion of the LMR based on larval drift models. Identification and quantifying potential available nursery habitats throughout the LMR could provide critical information on available functional habitats. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission have been working for the past two years on identifying habitat characteristics for age-0 sturgeon in side channels of the Lower Missouri River. We will present initial findings and potential impacts.