Science activity

The foundation of conserving a species is monitoring its abundance and habitat. This proposed work has three objectives which will help monitor green sturgeon abundance and understand green sturgeon habitat selection. These objectives build on 12 years of work to support the recovery of green sturgeon. The first objective is to continue the annual green sturgeon spawner census, while also improving our methods. This census is the main piece of information used in monitoring and assessing the Delta resident green sturgeon population. The second objective is to assess spawner site selection and habitat use which will help better understand sturgeon environmental needs so that restoration can better target those needs. The third objective is to assess the relationship between spring flow rates, temperature, and number of spawners observed, which will help managers better understand sturgeon flow cues and improve the accuracy of our spawner census.