• Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar

New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Adirondacks & NNY
  • Capital-Saratoga
  • Mohawk Valley
  • Hudson Valley & Catskills
  • NYC & Long Island
  • Western NY
  • History
  • Nature & Environment
  • Arts & Culture
  • Outdoor Recreation
  • Food & Farms
  • Subscribe
  • Support
  • Submit
  • About
  • New Books
  • Events
  • Podcasts

Hudson River Atlantic Sturgeon: The River’s Largest Fish

July 9, 2022 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

studying atlantic sturgeon courtesy Hudson River Valley GreenwayEach June, biologists from New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Hudson River Fisheries Unit study the endangered adult Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus) when the fish return to the Hudson River to spawn.

Atlantic sturgeon, the largest fish species in the Hudson River Estuary, are anadromous, which means they hatch in freshwater, spend most of their lives in saltwater, and return to freshwater to spawn. The Hudson River currently supports the largest population of Atlantic sturgeon along the Atlantic Coast, estimated to be between 1,000 and 1,500 fish.

Sturgeon were one of the types of fish commercially harvested by European settlers and one of the first “cash crops” of Albany, where they became known as “Albany Beef.” In the late 19th century, seven million pounds of sturgeon meat were exported from the US each year. That number soon dropped to 22,000 pounds.

In February 2012, the Atlantic sturgeon was listed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service under the Endangered Species Act.

Atlantic sturgeon may live more than 60 years, reaching a weight of 800 pounds and a length of fourteen feet. They are armored with bony plates, evidence of a lineage extending back to the age of dinosaurs.

Sturgeon are bottom feeders, using whisker-like barbels on the underside of their snouts to find food – chiefly worms, insects, crustaceans, and small fish – that are sucked up in their tube-like mouths.

The fisheries crew set nets to catch the sturgeon, carefully moving the fish from the nets into a large pen in the Hudson, tied to the boat. Crew members then weigh and measure each fish, determines its sex, and scan them for an electronic tag, called a PIT tag (Passive Integrated Transponder Data tag).

PIT tags can be scanned to help learn more about sturgeon movement and behavior while in the Hudson, helping scientists learn what areas they use while in the river and how often they spawn. The tags also can be scanned and detected by other scientists in other rivers along the east coast. Atlantic sturgeon migrate as far south as Georgia and as far north as Canada’s Bay of Fundy, so the tags give scientists clues about where sturgeon migrate from place to place.

Photo of biologist studying Atlantic Sturgeon courtesy Hudson River Valley Greenway.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Filed Under: Hudson Valley - Catskills, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: fish, Fisheries, fishing, Hudson River, sturgeon, Wildlife

About Editorial Staff

Stories written under the Editorial Staff byline are drawn from press releases and other notices. Submit your news to New York Almanack here.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Olivia Twine says

    July 9, 2022 at 8:19 AM

    Save the sturgeon, save the river. btw, nothing more delicious than smoked sturgeon.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Support Our 2022 Fundraising

Subscribe to New York Almanack

Subscribe! Follow the New York Almanack each day via E-mail, RSS, Twitter or Facebook updates.

Recent Comments

  • Jane Aiken on Saratoga Spa in 1935: A State Health Resort Opens
  • Sue on Poetry: Cabin Pantry Discovery
  • Ronald Gary Grove on The Misnamed Columbia County ‘Battle of Egremont’
  • Bob Meyer on Poetry: Cabin Pantry Discovery
  • Raphael Riljk on The Sinking of the S.S. Normandie at NYC’s Pier 88
  • Christian on Orange County Man Ticketed After Killing Rattlesnake
  • ABSS314 on Orange County Man Ticketed After Killing Rattlesnake
  • Evan Barnett on Catskills Resort History: The Beginning of the End
  • Evan Barnett on Catskills Resort History: The Beginning of the End
  • Eva Barnett on Catskills Resort History: The Beginning of the End

Recent New York Books

John Bradstreet's, 1758: A Riverine Operation of the French and Indian War
The Jewish World of Alexander Hamilton
vintage babes of broadway book
Mission Begin With Blood
Special Delivery book
killing time in the catskills
the soft city book
occupied america
stewards of the water
off the northway

Secondary Sidebar

preservation league
Protect the Adirondacks Hiking Guide