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A Regional Conservation Plan For Atlantic Sturgeon in the U. S. Gulf of Maine
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2013
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[PDF-866.30 KB]
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Description:Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus) once supported a large commercial fishery in the United States. Records of commercial landings from the late 1800s to the late 1900s indicate a severe decline from high catches in 1880 (~1361 mt) and 1890 (~3175 mt) to a low of 22 mt in 1920 (ASMFC 1990; Secor 2002). From the 1920 to the late 1990s, the catch remained below 140 mt. In Maine, exploitation of Atlantic sturgeon began earlier and declined earlier. The first documented fishery was in 1628 at Pejepscot Falls on the Androscoggin River (Wheeler and Wheeler 1878), and by the early 1700s the sturgeon fishery in the Province of Maine employed more than 20 vessels in some years (Atkins 1887). In 1849, harvesters took 160 tons of sturgeon from the Kennebec River for roe and oil, but the fishery was discontinued after 1851 when sturgeon became scare (Atkins 1887). A subsequent fishery in the Kennebec began in 1872, but within five years sturgeon were scarce, and by 1880 the catch was about 150 sturgeon (Atkins 1887). From 1909 to 1981, harvest typically was <2,000 pounds except for 1909-1913, 1933, 1969-1970, 1977, and 1979-1981(Table 11 ), and three counties accounted for most of the landings. In 1983, Maine closed the tidal waters of the Kennebec and Androscoggin to harvest of sturgeon, and instituted a 72-inch minimum size for other areas. In 1992, the harvest of sturgeon (both species) became illegal in Maine’s coastal waters.
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Rights Information:Public Domain
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