Rockfish to Reeds: Atlantic Sturgeon in the James River

An Atlantic Sturgeon at Presquile NWR (Photo: Lori A.)

After our tree planting volunteer event in October of 2010, we were treated to a tour of the artificial sturgeon spawning reef that had been put in near the end of Presquile Island. It is marked with buoys and the hope is that the sturgeon will find it a good place to spawn. Over the decades the river bottom has silted over and this is not suitable for spawning - the sturgeon need rocks, thus Luck Stone's contribution. Floor polisher mats are hung from buoys and used to collect eggs (the eggs stick to them well) and are periodically examined for evidence of black sturgeon eggs. There is also a sonar buoy that will record any sturgeon that swim by that have been tagged with a sonar tag (the tags last about 3 years). These sonar 'listening' buoys are located along the James River in strategic locations. This was the first I had heard about the sturgeons and it was a fascinating project.

As part of the Partner Preview event, a tagged sturgeon was released in the James River and you can see the picture of that sturgeon above. The sturgeons have been commercially fished almost out of existence so it was quite exciting to find that there might still be spawning sturgeon in the James River and efforts are being made to determine the numbers of sturgeon and potentially help bring them back from that near extinct status. This sturgeon was part of the program to catch, sonar tag, record data, and re-release the fish in the River. The fellow holding the fish is the primary researcher, Matt Balazik, a doctoral candidate at VCU, who is conducting research to determine if the fish are spawning in the River and how often.

A number of links are listed below with information on the sturgeon and the projects underway with such partners as the James River Association, VCU, and Luck Stone. It is an ongoing effort so keep an eye out for future developments and one of these days, let's hope that the sturgeon make a comeback and are a common sight in the James River!