Gulf sturgeon news

​Always exciting to learn of a Gulf sturgeon sighting in the Pearl. This fish was caught in a fisherman's net on the Pearl River near Atwood Water Park, Monticello, MS last week and it was released unharmed.
During this time of the year, Gulf sturgeon are migrating from the Gulf of Mexico into coastal rivers where they spawn. In the summer, the sturgeon will spend their time in between their upstream spawning areas and the estuaries on the coast.

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"Documented distribution of Gulf Sturgeon in North America, determined from acoustic and archival telemetry projects." Click map to view publication

Gulf sturgeon studies in the Pearl River

Several on-going scientific studies of this endangered species are being conducted by USFWS:

• Acoustic receivers used to track the fish movements have recently been placed in the Pearl River at strategic locations from Jackson south to below the sills at Pool's Bluff in LA.
• USFWS and MSU are using side scan sonar to estimate the availability of potential spawning habit in the river.
• USWFS and LSU are accessing patterns of genetic relatedness from genetic samples, overwinter survival, and successful reproduction by capturing and transmitting age-1 sturgeon.
• USFWS are studying sturgeon estuary habitat usage in Lake Borgne.

If you experience a Gulf sturgeon sighting, please note your exact location/time and date/condition and size of the fish, take a photo and share it with USFWS. Of course, it is illegal to harm or otherwise interfere with an endangered species.