Spawning of the shortnose sturgeon in the Merrimack River, Massachusetts

We tracked 10 ultrasonically tagged shortnose sturgeons Acipenser brevirostrum during spring in the Merrimack River to investigate spawning. Seven fish in 1989 and six fish in 1990 were tracked intensively to identify the timing and location of spawning and to characterize spawning habitat. In mid-April 1989 and 1990, fish moved upstream to just below head of tide, concentrating in a 2-km reach at river kilometers 30-32 (measured from the mouth) at Haverhill, Massachusetts. The estimated spawning time was a 5-d period (26-30 April) in 1989 and an 8-d period (22-29 April) in 1990. Spawning sites covered about 10.5 ha in 1989 and 13.5 ha in 1990. Fish spawned as river; temperature increased from 9.6 to 14.0 degrees C and river discharge decreased from 390 to 240 m(3)/s. Physical characteristics of spawning sites were boulder-rubble substrate, water depth of 1.8-5.5 m, and bottom water velocity of 0.3-0.7 m/s. We captured no ovulating females but verified successful spawning in 1990 by capturing two live embryos. Gill-net captures and telemetry during spring showed that some males moved to the spawning area annually. The low abundance estimates of spawning fish (9 in 1989 and 16 in 1990) indicate that the shortnose sturgeon population in the Merrimack River is the smallest yet identified and is likely vulnerable to extirpation.