Habitat use by shortnose sturgeon Acipenser brevirostrum in the Ogeechee-Canoochee Rivers: management implications for the
Fort Stewart Military Reservation

Principal Investigator: Cecil A. Jennings

Funding: U.S. Department of Defense

Graduate Student Support: Wendi Weber

The Ogeechee and Canoochee Rivers, two coastal rivers that are bounded on at least one side by the Fort Stewart Military Reservation (FSMR), are ideally situated to serve as models for the development of a shortnose sturgeon management plan for coastal rivers. This projects involved the analysis and interpretation of radio telemetry data for shortnose sturgeon in these two rivers and the development of a shortnose management plan. This plan included a synopsis of the scientific literature on shortnose sturgeon, provided an estimate of the shortnose sturgeon on and adjacent to FSMR, identified critical shortnose sturgeon habitat in the Ogeechee and Canoochee Rivers that occur along the boundaries of FSMR, identified mission requirement of FSMR that are incompatible with the conservation of the shortnose sturgeon, identified critical mission areas where activities can and cannot be relocated to avoid shortnose sturgeon habitat, and developed conservation goals for the shortnose sturgeon and the methods to best achieve said goals without adversely affecting the training readiness and other mission requirement of FSMR.

Project Status: Completed.

CONCLUSIONS

?Population size is low and skewed toward older individuals
?Sturgeon tend to move upriver in summer and aggregate in deep holes seeking cool water
?Sturgeon move downriver in fall and winter, possibly seeking food resources in the estuary
?The Ogeechee River appears to have suitable shortnose spawning habitat above the estuary, but spawning was not confirmed

Related Graduate Work:

Wendi Weber, "Population Size and Habitat Use of Shortnose Sturgeon, Acipenser brevirostrum, in the Ogeechee River System, Georgia." M.S. Forest Resources December 1996.

Related Publications:

Weber, W., C.A. Jennings, and S.G. Rogers.  2000.  Population size and movement patterns of shortnose sturgeon in the Ogeechee River System, Georgia.  Proc. Annu. Conf. Southeast. Assoc. Fish and Wildl. Agencies 52:18-28.