: Atlantic sturgeon
Atlantic sturgeon: Carefully making an incision to implant an acoustic tag
Atlantic sturgeon: sutures in the abdomen after having an acoustic tag implanted.
Atlantic Sturgeon: with dorsal dart tag
Atlantic sturgeon: mouth
: Juvenile Atlantic sturgeon
Atlantic Sturgeon Tagging
Although the presence of Atlantic sturgeon in James and York rivers has been documented since the Jamestown Settlement, not much is known about their movements in this estuary. Through tagging studies, Virginia Sea Grant researchers at VIMS aim to identify important habitats for these ancient fish.
Dart or PIT Tags
VIMS scientists use dart, PIT (passive integrated transponder), radio, and acoustic tags to track sturgeon in Virginia's rivers.
All sturgeon handled by researchers are tagged with dart and PIT tags. Fish are scanned to determine if the animal was previously tagged with a PIT tag.
Acoustic Tags
- Mature sturgeon are surgically implanted with acoustic transmitters. These animals are tracked by an array of recievers in the James River between Jamestown and Richmond.
- The goal of this work is to identify spawning reaches and essential habitat.
Radio Tags
Some juvenile sturgeon receive surgically implanted radio tags. Radio tracking enables scientists to monitor daily movement patterns. The US Army Corps of Engineers will use this information to avoid dredging when and where sturgeon are most active.
