EFFECTS OF COMMERCIAL HARVEST ON SHOVELNOSE STURGEON POPULATIONS IN THE UPPER 
MISSISSIPPI RIVER

Jeff Koch1, Michael C. Quist1, and Clay L. Pierce2  

1Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Iowa State University, 
Ames, IA  

 2USGS-Iowa Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Iowa State University, 
Ames, IA

      In recent years, shovelnose sturgeon have become an increasingly important 
commercial species in the UMR due to collapsing foreign sturgeon populations and 
bans on imported caviar.  Data regarding shovelnose sturgeon population 
parameters in the UMR are currently more than thirty years old; therefore, more 
recent information is needed for managing these populations. We began a project 
in the spring of 2006, in collaboration with the Iowa Department of Natural 
Resources (IDNR) and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) to 
study the impacts of commercial harvest on shovelnose sturgeon populations in 
the upper Mississippi River (UMR).  Since the onset of the project, 563 
shovelnose sturgeon have been collected from the three study pools (i.e., Pools 
9, 13, and 14).  Preliminary analyses indicate shovelnose sturgeon in Pool 9 
have higher mean lengths, weights, ages, and relative weights (Wr) than Pools 13 
and 14.  Pool 9 is also of interest because of the absence of shovelnose 
sturgeon less than 530 mm, which were present in the samples from Pools 13 and 
14.  Sex ratios were similar for Pools 9 and 13 (62 F : 38 M and 69 F : 31 M, 
respectively), but in Pool 14 the ratio was more evenly distributed among males 
and females (48 F : 52 M).  We are also in the process of modeling potential 
management scenarios with current population parameters from our study pools.  

Keywords: shovelnose sturgeon, Scaphirhynchus platorynchus, commercial harvest, 
Mississippi River, caviar