Great Lakes Fishery Commission

Updated 2023-12-08 13:51:21

Lake Ontario -> 1.0 Nearshore Zone Goal -> Sturgeon

Restoration indicators: increasing abundance of Lake Sturgeon (within the next 20 years); progress in establishing at least four spawning populations with each having at least 750 sexually mature Lake Sturgeon in historical spawning.

The Niagara River, St. Lawrence River and Black River populations have datasets reflecting abundance trends. None show statistically significant trends, suggesting stable, but variable population estimates (Figure 1a/b). It is important to note that extremely high flows in 2017 and 2018 significantly impacted sampling effectiveness of the St. Lawrence River, and those years’ assessments must be interpreted with care. From 2014 to 2019, New York Stake stocked almost 98,000 sturgeon into Lake Ontario (Table 1, Figure 2). Most other populations are data deficient, although presumably small, and abundance trends are unknown.

 This indicator has not been met. Only one population, the lower Niagara River, is estimated to have more than 750 sexually mature individuals (Table 1). Other populations are estimated to have smaller numbers or have insufficient data for reliable abundance estimates. The Niagara River is estimated to have 6, 465 (95% CI, 6,027 to 6,941) mature individuals. The tributary waters of Oneida Lake are estimated to have 489 (95% CI, 34 to 944) mature adults. While Cayuga Lake and the connecting rivers have known populations, no population estimate has been made. A population in Black River Bay is estimated to have 295 (95% CI, 226 to 427) individuals. Video transects on a portion of an artificial spawning bed near the Iroquois Dam in the St. Lawrence River have observed up to 395 individuals in a day, although no population estimate exists. The Black River Bay and Iroquois Dam populations exceed the minimum threshold of 150 animals for population viability and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation views them as building blocks toward larger populations. Sturgeon have been observed in the Oswegatchie River. In four years of sampling, only one sturgeon was captured in the Trent River. Of note, several populations exist in the St. Lawrence River, but it is unclear how they interact with Lake Ontario populations.

Table1. 

NYS DEC Management Unit	Over 750 Mature Individuals	Natural Reproduction	Number Stocked
Lower Niagara River	Yes	Yes	0
Central Lake Ontario	No	No	6,498
Eastern Lake Ontario	No	No	31,183
Upper St. Lawrence	No	Yes	60,220

Figure 1a. Lake sturgeon catch per unit effort in the St. Lawrence River and Black River St. Lawrence River sturgeon were sampled by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation using gill nets as part of an annual egg take. Black River sturgeon were sampled by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation using gill nets in both the river and into the Black River Bay.

Figure 1b. Lake sturgeon catch per unit effort in the lower Niagara River. Niagara River sturgeon were sampled by the US Fish and Wildlife Service using setlines as part of population demographics study.

Figure 2. Total number of lake sturgeon stocked into Lake Ontario each year by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.