Fraser River Sturgeon Conservation Society, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
PLoS One. 2013 Aug 22;8(8):e71552. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0071552. eCollection 2013.
Worldwide, sturgeons (Acipenseridae) are among the most endangered fishes due to habitat degradation, overfishing, and inherent life history characteristics (long life span, late maturation, and infrequent spawning). As most sturgeons are anadromous, a considerable portion of their life history occurs in estuarine and marine environments where they may encounter unique threats (e.g., interception in non-target fisheries). Of the 16 marine-oriented species, 12 are designated as Critically Endangered by the IUCN, and these include species commercially harvested. We review important research tools and techniques (tagging, electronic tagging, genetics, microchemistry, observatory) and discuss the comparative utility of these techniques to investigate movements, migrations, and life-history characteristics of sturgeons. Examples are provided regarding what the applications have revealed regarding movement and migration and how this information can be used for conservation and management. Through studies that include Gulf (Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi) and Green Sturgeon (A. medirostris), we illustrate what is known about well-studied species and then explore lesser-studied species. A more complete picture of migration is available for North American sturgeon species, while European and Asian species, which are among the most endangered sturgeons, are less understood. We put forth recommendations that encourage the support of stewardship initiatives to build awareness and provide key information for population assessment and monitoring.
在全球范围内，由于栖息地退化、过度捕捞以及固有的生命史特征（长寿命、晚成熟和不频繁产卵），鲟鱼（Acipenseridae）是最濒危的鱼类之一。由于大多数鲟鱼是溯河洄游性的，它们的一部分生命史发生在河口和海洋环境中，在这些环境中它们可能会遇到独特的威胁（例如，在非目标渔业中被拦截）。在 16 种海洋导向物种中，有 12 种被 IUCN 列为极度濒危物种，其中包括商业捕捞的物种。我们回顾了重要的研究工具和技术（标记、电子标记、遗传学、微化学、观测站），并讨论了这些技术在研究鲟鱼的运动、洄游和生命史特征方面的比较效用。提供了有关应用程序如何揭示运动和迁移以及如何将这些信息用于保护和管理的示例。通过包括海湾鲟（Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi）和绿鲟（A. medirostris）在内的研究，我们说明了对研究充分的物种的了解情况，然后探讨了研究较少的物种。北美鲟鱼物种的洄游情况有更完整的描述，而欧洲和亚洲的鲟鱼物种，它们是最濒危的鲟鱼之一，了解较少。我们提出了建议，鼓励支持管理倡议，以提高认识并提供人口评估和监测的关键信息。
