This project proposes to document and describe the habitat use and abundance of juvenile atlantic sturgeon in the mattaponi river (a tributary of the york river estuary in virginia), during the…

This project proposes to document and describe the habitat use and abundance of juvenile atlantic sturgeon in the mattaponi river (a tributary of the york river estuary in virginia), during the initial freshwater phase of the atlantic sturgeons life cycle. This project represents the first directed attempt at identifying and confirming spawning by way of documenting the occurrence of young-of-the-year atlantic sturgeon in its watershed, and represents a new contribution to the knowledge of atlantic sturgeon in the chesapeake BAY distinct population segment (DPS). Specific objectives of the proposal include: (1) building tribal recovery capacity through technical tribal citizen training, traditional ecological knowledge integration, outreach and education, (2) developing the needed estimate of the juvenile life-history patterns of atlantic sturgeon in the mattaponi river by conducting a seasonal juvenile abundance index and tagging, and (3) improving physical models of the mattaponi river to better understand the relationship of water quality factors to atlantic sturgeon spawning habitats by conducting targeted water quality monitoring.