“We had more sturgeon than could be devoured by dog and man, of which the industrious by drying and pounding, mingled with caviar, sorrel, and other wholesome herbs, would make bread and good meat.” – Captain John Smith, 1609
STURGEON IN THE NEW WORLD
Jamestown Rediscovery archaeologists have discovered that the early colonists took quick advantage of the tasty fish that was plentiful in the James River from May until October, when the anadromous fish would travel from the sea to the fresh waters of the fall line near Richmond to spawn. Colonists recognized the species so similar to one that had already been so overfished in the Thames River that only the King could legally partake of its meat and roe. Here was a financial windfall free for the taking.
Archaeologists have since unearthed tens of thousands of sturgeon scutes (bony plates which line the bodies of sturgeon in five rows) in James Fort; proof that the large fish was a key source of food for the struggling colony. Some have called the Atlantic sturgeon “the fish that saved Jamestown” during the starving time of 1609, as it was one reliable food source that kept them all from dying.
As the colony eventually thrived, the settlers looked for a way to export this abundant commodity back to England, where its firm, sweet meat and abundant roe could make them rich. Trying various methods, including pickling and smoking, the settlers were unable to keep the fish edible during the three- to- four month journey back to England.
As the centuries advanced and technology improved, smoked sturgeon became a valuable commodity as the fish was shipped all around the eastern part of the country. From 1860 to 1900, unsustainable commercial fishing and the construction of dams in various rivers that restricted the spring and fall spawns proved nearly fatal. By 1920, there was simply not enough sturgeon left to support it, and the fishery collapsed.
“Caviar was one of the reasons for the collapse,” explains Dr. Eric J. Hilton, Professor of Marine Science and Curator, VIMS Ichthyology Collection. “Caviar was one of the targeted commodities the Jamestown settlers thought they could base the new settlement on economically. The rivers were thick with sturgeon but of course they could not get it back to England in a preserved state. Atlantic sturgeon have the fatal combination of being big and tasty, which immediately attracted commercial fishing for more than 200 years.”
Eventually coastwide moratoriums would follow. In 1925 Virginia banned all sturgeon harvesting of fish less than four feet long. When numbers failed to recover, a sturgeon harvest moratorium was issued in 1974 for all Virginia waters, both fresh and salt waters. Yet sturgeon numbers continued to decline, and by the early 1990s experts believed the Chesapeake Bay population of Atlantic sturgeon had been extirpated. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission moratorium for Atlantic sturgeon in all US waters began in 1998. It seemed a sad ending for a once mighty fish.
STURGEON MORPHOLOGY
The Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus) is one of 25 species of sturgeon found worldwide today. With a long fossil record dating back to the Late Cretaceous, its distinctive scutes, skull bones, and pectoral fin spines indicate this robust fish has existed since the time of the dinosaurs.
Courtesy of Virginia Institute of Marine Science
In the necropsy lab of the VIMS Nunnally Ichthyology Collection, a lone juvenile sturgeon shares a coffin with an immature Great white shark and a sailfish. Unfortunate casualties of watermen’s nets, their bodies have been rendered immortal, submerged in 140 proof ethanol alcohol.
A small piece of tissue has been extracted from one fin. Inside the fin, a series of rings much like tree rings can be used to determine the fish’s age. Its pit rosettes are filled with millions of electrical receptors and its four whisker-like barbels provide proof that the sturgeon is a benthic or bottom feeder; its vacuum-like mouth suctioning up aquatic insects, clams, crustaceans, shrimp, mollusks, and some small fishes.
Very young sturgeon are born with mouths that project forward, studded with rows of extremely sharp teeth. When they are approximately two months old, they go through a remarkable transformation. Their forward-facing mouth and teeth disappear as their jaws rotate downward to form a ventral mouth designed for bottom feeding.
It has a brown, tan, or bluish-black body with a whitish belly. Instead of scales, it is lined with five rows of bone plates that cover its head and body; one row along the back, one on either side and two along the belly. These bony plates provide impressive armor that discourage most predators. Males can weigh up to 90 pounds and females up to 160 pounds. The largest known specimen was a 14-foot-long female caught in News Brunswick, Canada.
Sturgeon grow slowly but “they are also long-lived,” Hilton points out. “The Atlantic sturgeon can live upwards of 60 to 70 years and, typical of long-lived species, they don’t reproduce often. Males and females mature relatively late in life, so females may not sexually mature until they are ten years old or more, males a little bit younger. Males may return to the rivers to spawn every year or two; females may not return for up to five years between spawns. If they are ten when they begin reproducing and only return every five years or so, a female may only reproduce ten times during their lifespan.”
Females can lay up to two million eggs, that stick to the rocky substrate of the river bottom. Once hatched, juvenile sturgeon stay in their natal river for about two years, slowly moving downstream before moving into the Chesapeake Bay and eventually into the ocean’s open waters where they become coastal wanderers.
Scientists at VIMS, VCU, and other marine research groups have installed acoustic receivers in rivers that historically have supported Atlantic sturgeon. Live sturgeon have been surgically implanted with tags that are picked up by the receivers when the fishes pass close by. It is this data that is raising hopes that the endangered fish is staging a comeback.
A bumper crop of juvenile sturgeon was detected in the James River this past fall. At the time, VCU Rice Rivers Center scientist Dr. Mathew Balazik found the data exciting but too early to proclaim that a sustainable recovery was taking place. The spring trawl counts have changed his mind.
“I am more positive. We are still continuing to catch sturgeon in good numbers and the young fish have made it through their first winter, which is a stressful time, so I am optimistic.” Although Balazik’s work focuses on Atlantic sturgeon in the James River, he also monitors adult sturgeon in the Rappahannock. The removal of the Embrey Dam in 2004 near Fredericksburg has contributed to the sturgeons’ return to the Rappahannock as well.
“We can assume if their numbers are coming back in the James, we assume they will be recovering in the other Virginia rivers as well.” In fact, according to Dr. Hilton, sturgeon have been gillnetted as far north as the Pamunkey River that feeds the York River.
The Atlantic sturgeon population is composed of five distinct population segments: Gulf of Maine, New York Bight, Chesapeake Bay, Carolina, and South Atlantic. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission manages this species, which continues to be declared depleted along the entire Atlantic coast. The term “depleted” is used in lieu of “overfished” because other factors contribute to the sturgeon’s low numbers, including habitat disruption and loss, ship strikes, by-catches, and climate changes. It is believed that breeding populations still exist in at least 22 coastal rivers from Maine to Georgia and several more in Canada.
Due to water temperatures and other environmental factors that affect a fish’s metabolism, sturgeon in southern rivers reach sexual maturity earlier than those spawning up north, but don’t live as long. It has been noted that in the Chesapeake region, there are two distinct populations among Atlantic sturgeon. One group spawns in early May while the other spawns in mid-September.
This mechanism appears genetically ingrained. In the fall, sturgeon experience a fast growth rate. In southern rivers, sturgeon can therefore reach a fair size before hunkering down for winter. Come spring when the rivers warm, the young sturgeon are primed to feed on emerging food sources. Conversely, the spring spawn numbers are lower, perhaps an evolutionary mechanism from centuries past when the group was likely overfished. They also have an opportunity for a longer growth period over the warm weather months. Scientists are still attempting to understand the variables.
With the sturgeon fishing moratorium, there is a small but growing industry for farmed caviar in the US. At the moment, China and Russia lead the world in state-run raising sturgeon for their eggs. Within the last 5 years start-up companies in the US are beginning to capitalize on the growing demand for premium caviar. The legal term “caviar” applies to sturgeon roe only; eggs from any other species of fish are just that— fish eggs.
As scientists conduct research on the biology, behavior, and ecology of the Atlantic sturgeon, the results are used to inform management agencies in order to enhance the recovery efforts of this remarkable fish. One funded effort has created new fishing gear configurations that maintain catch rates of targeted species but protect the Atlantic sturgeon. Watermen working with Virginia Sea Grant are proof testing various apparatus for future applications. Through their efforts, perhaps one day the Atlantic sturgeon will no longer be considered depleted.