The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) conducted aerial surveys of the beluga, Delphinapterus leucas, population in Cook Inlet, Alaska, 31 May 9 June 2011 as a continuum of surveys conducted since 1993. Eight of the days in 2011 resulted in complete surveys of the beluga habitat in the upper inlet (north of East Foreland and West Foreland); and the remaining two days included surveys of t...

Ethnohistoric records indicate that the economy of early historic Mackenzie Inuit was centred on the summer hunt for beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas). However, no systematic attempt has been made to quantify the dietary importance of beluga whales to earlier, precontact-period Mackenzie Inuit societies. This issue is addressed herein through analysis of over 2000 beluga bones recovered fro...

In the Bay of Fundy, Atlantic sturgeon from endangered and threatened populations in the USA and Canada migrate through Minas Passage to enter and leave Minas Basin. A total of 132 sub-adult and adult Atlantic sturgeon were tagged in Minas Basin during the summers of 2010-2014 using pressure measuring, uniquely coded, acoustic transmitters with a four or eight year life span. The aim of this st...

INTRODUCTION The sturgeons of the Caspian Sea are considered highly valuable species. The Caspian Sea has traditionally been regarded as the sea of sturgeon since it produces more than 90 percent of the world’s caviar. Despite a remarkable decline of sturgeon numbers over recent years, the Caspian Sea still continues to be of considerable importance in sturgeon fisheries. In 1997, the global la...

background: in recent years, many studies have been conducted on finding a suitable replacement for fish meal to supply the needs of aquaculture feed industry. objectives: the present study was performed to examine the effect of replacing fish meal and fish oil with plant sources on bacterial counts in intestinal contents and mucus and bacterial composition in beluga sturgeon. methods: beluga s...

—Pallid sturgeon Scaphirhynchus albus and shovelnose sturgeon S. platorynchus are recognized morphologically as separate species. A previous genetic study with allozymes was unable to distinguish between the two species or demonstrate their reproductive isolation in regions of sympatry. Our main objective was to measure the genetic variability within and among populations of pallid and shovelno...

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: All living organisms shed DNA into the environment. Recent studies have demonstrated that environmental water samples can be effectively assayed for the DNA of target organisms. The DNA contained in these samples is commonly referred to as environmental DNA or eDNA. Because DNA assays can be sensitive to very small amounts of genetic material, eDNA surveys have the potential ...

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: All living organisms shed DNA into the environment. Recent studies have demonstrated that environmental water samples can be effectively assayed for the DNA of target organisms. The DNA contained in these samples is commonly referred to as environmental DNA or eDNA. Because DNA assays can be sensitive to very small amounts of genetic material, eDNA surveys have the potential ...