Abstract
(1) Assessing growth and recruitment can be difficult during early life history, especially for rare species such as the pallid sturgeon Scaphirhynchus albus (federally endangered in the United States). One potential tool to address this knowledge gap is the stocking of age-0 individuals. (2) During July 2018, two stocking events of marked age-0 pallid sturgeon (53–56 or 41–42 days old) occurred in the lower Missouri River resulting in the release of 8495 individuals. Over the following three years, pallid sturgeon were sampled with baited trotlines and benthic trawls during routine monitoring. (3) During this period, we captured 77 individuals that recruited to age 1 or older. Only 9% of captured individuals yielded length-at-age values falling below the 95% prediction interval for pallid sturgeon raised entirely in an energetically favorable hatchery environment with abundant food resources. (4) These results suggest that the lower Missouri River is capable of supporting hatchery-level growth for young pallid sturgeon. This study also provided a unique opportunity to document recruitment to age-1 of age-0 pallid sturgeon stocked at relatively small sizes, which highlights the potential benefits of utilizing stocking to address endangered species knowledge gaps.
Highlights
Growth is one of the key metrics studied in fish population dynamics because it affects present and future population status [1]
This study provided a rare opportunity document the survival relatively age-0 pallid sturgeon stocked into the lower Missouri River (LMOR)
Hypothesized factors limiting pallid sturgeon population growth involve the age-0 Many life of hypothesized limiting pallid sturgeon growth involve the1age-0 stage,the and one of the factors main recovery objectives is topopulation increase recruitment to age is available of thisrecruitment life stage because stage,relatively and one little of theinformation main recovery objectivesforis much to increase to age 1 [9]
Summary
Growth is one of the key metrics studied in fish population dynamics because it affects present and future population status [1] This metric can provide important information regarding prey availability and habitat quality (i.e., fast growth indicates sufficient prey resources and habitat quality, whereas slow growth may suggest the opposite) [2]. Having a basic understanding of growth rate for individuals in a study population, and how this metric compares to other populations (e.g., those known to exhibit fast growth), can help guide conservation and management efforts. This information, can be challenging to gather for rare species, especially during early life history
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