February 2005 Guess The Fish Contest Answer & Winner This month's fish is an Atlantic Sturgeon. A primative looking fish. Sturgeons are important commercially, especially as a source of high-grade caviar;the flesh is sold smoked or fresh. Isinglass was made from the swim bladders of sturgeon! A hundred years ago there was a population of sturgeon in the Delaware River and between 1899-1914, sturgeon was a big industry right here in Villas, NJ! Here is some information about the population of fish today... Delaware River and Bay, NJ/DE/PA The Delaware River, flowing through New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania and into Delaware Bay, historically may have supported the largest stock of Atlantic sturgeon of any Atlantic coastal river system (Kahnle et al. 1998). Juveniles were abundant enough to be considered a nuisance bycatch of the American shad fishery. Very little is known about 18 current spawning locations of Atlantic sturgeon in the Delaware estuary; however, based on reported catches in gill nets and harpoons during the 1830's, they may have spawned as far north as Bordentown, just below Trenton, NJ (PA State Commissioners of Fisheries 1897). Borodin (1925) reported that running-ripe sturgeon were captured near Delaware City, DE adjacent to Pea Patch Island. Good spawning grounds occurred near Chester, PA over hard stony and gravelly bottom. Ryder (1888) suggested that juvenile Atlantic sturgeon used the tidal freshwater reach of the estuary as a nursery area. Lazzari et al. (1986) reported that the Roebling-Trenton stretch of the river may be an important nursery area for the species. During the last 40 years, immature Atlantic sturgeon have been collected throughout the Delaware estuary and tidal reaches of the Delaware River up to Trenton, NJ (Brundage and Meadows 1982, Lazzari et al. 1986). Annual length frequency distributions of subadult fish from 1991-1997 also suggest the presence of several age classes in the lower Delaware River. The presence or absence of ages in these data can indicate changes in abundance and describe relative trends. Strong cohorts appeared to enter the sample as two or three year old fish (650-750 mm) in 1991 and in 1995. Each cohort could be followed through the length frequencies for at least two succeeding years. The current abundance of all Atlantic sturgeon life stages in the Delaware River has been greatly reduced from historical levels. Bottom trawl collections by the Delaware DFW in Delaware Bay began in 1966 and rarely encountered Atlantic sturgeon. However, there are a few isolated areas within the estuary where juvenile sturgeon regularly occur. Lazzari et al. (1986) frequently captured juvenile Atlantic sturgeon from May-December in the upper river below Trenton, NJ. In addition, directed gill net sampling from 1991-1997 consistently took subadult Atlantic sturgeon in the mid-estuary throughout the summer months (C. Shirey, Delaware DFW, personal communication). However, the number of fish taken in the lower river each year declined dramatically through this time period from over 500 to less than 60. Population estimates based on mark and recapture of immature Atlantic sturgeon declined from a high of 5,600 in 1991 to less than 1,000 in 1995. No estimates could be made during 1996 and 1997 due to the lack of any recaptures. Based on the number of fish taken and catch per unit of effort, Atlantic sturgeon abundance continued to sharply decline. An estimate of the abundance of mature adult Atlantic sturgeon occurring in the Delaware estuary cannot be made, although it is likely to be low. Despite the high value of caviar, there was no viable commercial fishery in recent years for adult sturgeon within the estuary, which suggests a very low abundance of spawning stock. The recent gill net sampling by Delaware DFW did not target adult fish and the selectivity of the gear could have prevented efficient capture. Some of the larger specimens taken in the program may. Three carcasses of mature fish have been documented from the lower river and upper Bay during the spawning season, including two gravid mature females and one male in recent years (J. Skjeveland, USFWS, personal communication). A 2.4 m (8 ft) female Atlantic sturgeon was found dead on June 14, 1994, adjacent to Port Penn. A pectoraln spine was used to age it at approximately 25 years old (D. Secor, University of Maryland, personal communication). A second female sturgeon was found in late spring/early summer of 1997 adjacent to Port Penn, just south of the eastern end of the C&D Canal. The third sturgeon, a male, was located on May 19, 1997, just north of the mouth of the Cohansey River, on Beechwood Beach. This fish appeared to have been cut in half by the propeller of a large vessel. Gonadal tissue and a pectoral spine were collected and sent to USFWS-NEFC, Fish Technology Section, Lamar, PA for analysis, which confirmed that it was a male (W. Andrews, New Jersey Division of Fish, Game, and Wildlife, personal communication). Currently, although numbers have declined during the last decade, the Delaware River still hosts both juveniles # age 1 and mature adults. The collection of juveniles # age 1 and gravid females suggest that some spawning has continued to occur (Kahnle et al. 1998).There have been mature males based on the reported size at maturity of Atlantic sturgeon, but no mature females were taken. A link to some other sturgeon info.. http://www.dnr.state.md.us/fisheries/education/sturgeon/sturgeon.html This month's winner is John Landis from Coatesville, PA.