Hepatic Burdens of PCB and PCDD/F Congeners in Federally Endangered Shortnose Sturgeon and Atlantic Sturgeon from the Hudson River, New York, USA: Burden Patterns and Potential Consequences in Offspring
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Abstract Sturgeon populations worldwide are threatened with extirpation but little is known about their tendency to bioaccumulate contaminants and their sensitivities to environmental burdens of these contaminants. Shortnose sturgeon and Atlantic sturgeon, two species that are federally endangered in the U.S., co-occur in the Hudson River (HR) where high sediment levels of PCBs and PCDD/Fs occur. Previous controlled laboratory studies showed that young life-stages of both species are sensitive to toxicities at low levels of TCDD and PCB126 exposure. The objective here was to measure congener-specific hepatic levels of PCBs and PCDD/Fs in HR specimens in order to determine if in situ bioaccumulation of these compounds was sufficiently high to cause the early life-stage toxicities previously observed. Estimates of hepatic burdens of PCBs and PCDD/Fs were obtained from a small number of specimens of each species collected between 2014 and 2016 and specimens of shortnose sturgeon collected over 30 yr earlier and archived in a museum collection. Several significant patterns emerged. Hepatic levels of legacy PCBs and PCDDs were low in specimens of both species, but typically higher in shortnose than Atlantic sturgeon, a pattern consistent with their habitat use in the HR. Hepatic burdens from archived specimens of shortnose sturgeon tended to be higher than more recently collected ones despite expected reduction in their burdens due to preservation methods. Several inadvertent PCBs congeners were detected, including PCB11, but their possible toxicity to natural populations remains to be determined in future experiments. Levels of select PCDFs congeners, 2,3,7,8-TCDF and 2,3,4,7,8 PeCDF, were elevated in some shortnose sturgeon individuals from the HR. Using Relative Potency (ReP) factors derived from white sturgeon, the observed levels of some hepatic PCDFs in HR shortnose sturgeon may have been sufficiently high to impair recruitment of young life-stages in this ecosystem.Keywords:
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Abstract On February 6, 2012, the National Marine Fisheries Service listed five distinct population segments (DPSs) of Atlantic Sturgeon Acipenser oxyrinchus encompassing their entire U.S. range, including one DPS in Chesapeake Bay, as either threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Designation of DPSs is a management tool that identifies significant, discrete, geographically defined portions of a species’ range, which can be listed as unique management units. At the time of listing, all DPSs except the Chesapeake Bay DPS comprised several rivers with known reproduction. After the Chesapeake Bay DPS was established, an additional spawning population was confirmed in the Pamunkey River, which is part of the York River system. We used the Schumacher–Eschmeyer formula for multiple census to estimate the number of adult Atlantic Sturgeon that spawned in the Pamunkey River during 2013. Gill nets were placed between river kilometers 27 and 67 in the upper Pamunkey River for 10 weeks during spawning season. The Schumacher–Eschmeyer model gave an estimate of 75 adult Atlantic Sturgeon (95% confidence interval = 17–168 adults) for the 2013 spawning population. This study represents the first estimate of annual spawning population abundance for any river in the Chesapeake Bay DPS and is only the third estimate of Atlantic Sturgeon abundance rangewide. Received March 24, 2014; accepted July 14, 2014
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Abstract Sturgeon populations worldwide are threatened with extirpation but little is known about their tendency to bioaccumulate contaminants and their sensitivities to environmental burdens of these contaminants. Shortnose sturgeon and Atlantic sturgeon, two species that are federally endangered in the U.S., co-occur in the Hudson River (HR) where high sediment levels of PCBs and PCDD/Fs occur. Previous controlled laboratory studies showed that young life-stages of both species are sensitive to toxicities at low levels of TCDD and PCB126 exposure. The objective here was to measure congener-specific hepatic levels of PCBs and PCDD/Fs in HR specimens in order to determine if in situ bioaccumulation of these compounds was sufficiently high to cause the early life-stage toxicities previously observed. Estimates of hepatic burdens of PCBs and PCDD/Fs were obtained from a small number of specimens of each species collected between 2014 and 2016 and specimens of shortnose sturgeon collected over 30 yr earlier and archived in a museum collection. Several significant patterns emerged. Hepatic levels of legacy PCBs and PCDDs were low in specimens of both species, but typically higher in shortnose than Atlantic sturgeon, a pattern consistent with their habitat use in the HR. Hepatic burdens from archived specimens of shortnose sturgeon tended to be higher than more recently collected ones despite expected reduction in their burdens due to preservation methods. Several inadvertent PCBs congeners were detected, including PCB11, but their possible toxicity to natural populations remains to be determined in future experiments. Levels of select PCDFs congeners, 2,3,7,8-TCDF and 2,3,4,7,8 PeCDF, were elevated in some shortnose sturgeon individuals from the HR. Using Relative Potency (ReP) factors derived from white sturgeon, the observed levels of some hepatic PCDFs in HR shortnose sturgeon may have been sufficiently high to impair recruitment of young life-stages in this ecosystem.
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Natural mortality of Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus) has been determined to be low (M = 0.07). Reported herein is the mortality by beach stranding of 11 Atlantic sturgeon in Scot's Bay, part of the inner Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia, Canada on 22 June 2014. Genetic analyses, histological analysis and age determination were performed to determine origin, maturity stage and age of the stranded Atlantic sturgeon. Microsatellite and mitochondrial DNA analyses indicated that four of the Atlantic sturgeon (2 males and 2 females) were from the Saint John River, NB population, which was designated as threatened by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Seven Atlantic sturgeon (1 male, 5 females, 1 unknown) were from the Kennebec River, Maine population, that was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in the U. S. Ageing of A. oxyrinchus Atlantic sturgeon by pectoral fin spine analysis determined that the mean age of the individuals from the Saint John River (x̄ = 24.25 years, SD = 5.0) and the Kennebec River (x̄ = 22.7 years, SD = 3.5) were not significantly different. This is the first report of a stranding event of Atlantic sturgeon, and describes a source of natural mortality affecting populations of concern in both Canada and the U. S.
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Thirty-one shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) were caught in gillnets in Montsweag Bay in the Sheepscot River system during June and July of 1971 and 1972. Of nine fish preserved for study, six were longer than any previously documented and four exceeded the maximum total length previously postulated. These specimens represent the second population of this endangered species found in the Gulf of Maine.
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Abstract The National Marine Fisheries Service listed five distinct population segments of Atlantic Sturgeon Acipenser oxyrinchus as threatened and endangered under the Endangered Species Act on February 6, 2012. At that time, the only known spawning population of sturgeon in the Chesapeake Bay was in the James River. The goal of this research was to determine whether reproduction was also occurring in the Chesapeake's York River watershed. Based on the assumption that an early fall spawning event occurs in the upper reaches of the watershed, these waters were sampled in late August of 2013 when water temperatures became appropriate for spawning. During a week of sampling, numerous male sturgeon running milt and one spawned‐out female with residual eggs still present were captured. The co‐occurrence of reproductively active males and a recently spawnedout female Atlantic Sturgeon in the upper Pamunkey River at temperatures consistent with documented spawning temperatures in other systems indicates that fall spawning occurs in the York River system. Therefore, the population segment of Atlantic Sturgeon distinct to the Chesapeake Bay has at least two spawning populations that managers should consider when protecting this listed species. Received November 13, 2013; accepted May 12, 2014
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Abstract The Green Sturgeon Acipenser medirostris is an anadromous, long-lived species that is distributed along the Pacific coast of North America. Green Sturgeon is vulnerable to global change because of its sensitive life history (e.g., delayed maturation) and few spawning locations. The persistence of Green Sturgeon is threatened by habitat modification, altered flows, and rising river temperatures. In 2006, because of persistent stressors, the U.S. Endangered Species Act listed the southern distinct population segment as threatened. Despite increased research efforts on this species after the listing, substantial gaps in basic population information for Green Sturgeon remain. We present the only published information on age structure and growth of a threatened population of Green Sturgeon. By analyzing archived fin rays collected from 1984 to 2016, we revealed highly variable growth among individuals. We detected several age classes from 0 to 26 y and found similar growth rates of southern distinct population segment Green Sturgeon compared with northern population Green Sturgeon. Although limited, this analysis is an important first step to understanding Green Sturgeon population dynamics and highlights critical research needs.
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Abstract In 2012, all populations of Atlantic sturgeon Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus were listed as either threatened or endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. During 2007–2010, researchers documented 31 carcasses of adult Atlantic sturgeon in the tidal freshwater portion of the James River, Virginia. Twenty‐six of the carcasses had gashes from vessel propellers, and the remaining five carcasses were too decomposed to allow determination of the cause of death. The types of vessels responsible for these mortalities were not explicitly demonstrated. Most (84%) of the carcasses were found in a relatively narrow reach that was modified to increase shipping efficiency. To explore the number of Atlantic sturgeon being hit and their horizontal and depth distributions in relation to vessel draft, we conducted telemetry experiments on three living fish (all males) and six dead specimens. While staging (holding in an area from hours to days, with minimal upstream or downstream movements), the adult male Atlantic sturgeon spent most (62%) of the time within 1 m of the river bottom. Assuming that behavior is not modified by vessel noise, adult male Atlantic sturgeon in the James River would rarely encounter small recreational boats or tugboats with shallow drafts; instead, mortalities are likely caused by deep‐draft ocean cargo ships, which have drafts that coincide with the distribution of the tracked adult males. Dead specimens ( n = 6) drifted with the current for several hours to almost 4 d before beaching at distances ranging from 0.5 to over 50 river kilometers from the point of release. We estimated that current monitoring in the James River documents less than one‐third of vessel strike mortalities. A better understanding of Atlantic sturgeon behavior in the presence of vessels will aid in restoring this federally endangered species. Received February 20, 2012; accepted July 19, 2012
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Abstract In 2007, a team of U.S. scientists performed a status review of Atlantic sturgeon Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus and concluded that the species would likely become endangered (U.S. Endangered Species Act 1973, as amended) in the foreseeable future over much of its range, including populations of the New York Bight, which is comprised of the Hudson and Delaware rivers. Therefore, we evaluated an experimental release of hatchery-produced Atlantic sturgeon that took place in 1994 to determine the value of using stocked fish as a population recovery tool. We obtained recapture data on hatchery fish (identified by presence of pelvic fin removal) from the Atlantic Coast Sturgeon Tagging Database. Our evaluation of retention for a pelvic fin removal mark on hatchery fish showed that 36% of clipped individuals retained a clean fin clip after 49 d. The minimum survival rate for hatchery fish to age 5 was estimated to be in the range of 0.49–0.66% using documented recaptures (N = 24), known number of fish stocked, and results of the pelvic fin removal evaluation. Length and weight-at-age for recaptured hatchery fish at known ages 5–17 were within the range of values reported for wild fish whose ages were estimated by pectoral spine analysis. We also report that one ripe male hatchery fish at age 15 was captured along with other spermiating males at its parental spawning area in the Hudson River in 2009.
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