POD! Fish- DFG Sturgeon Population estimates and fishery information

Purpose/Objective: Understand white sturgeon and green sturgeon population dynamics. Determine how abundance, distribution, and mortality rates of adult sturgeon are affected by water development and the sport fishery. If sturgeon populations are negatively impacted by changes in freshwater outflow and water export associated with water development, develop criteria to reduce the impacts. If the sport fishery causes unacceptably high mortality on the populations, address through changes in angling regulations. ACTIVITIES: Abundance estimates are made using tag and recapture methods. Sturgeon are tagged and released in San Pablo Bay during fall. Each tagged fish is measured. A year-round creel census is conducted to learn the tagged to untagged ratio and to determine the size composition of catch. Tag returns (corrected for non-response using reward tags) are used to estimate annual harvest rates, mortality rates and migrations.