Draft Recovery Plan for the Southern Distinct Population Segment of North American Green Sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris)

The southern distinct population segment (sDPS) of North American green sturgeon (Acipenser 6 medirostris) is an anadromous, long-lived, late maturing species that spawns in the Sacramento River Basin, located in the Central Valley of California. It spends most of its life in the nearshore marine environment and coastal bays and estuaries along the west coast of North America. On April 7, 2006, NMFS listed sDPS green sturgeon as a threatened species under
the Endangered Species Act (ESA) (71 FR 17757, April 7, 2006). This determination was based on the fact that the Sacramento River basin contains the only known sDPS spawning population, information suggesting population decline, and habitat loss and degradation in the Sacramento River Basin. Since the listing of the sDPS, a number of habitat restoration actions within the Sacramento River Basin have occurred and spawning has been documented in the
Feather River (Seesholtz et al. 2015), but many significant threats have not been addressed. Currently, the majority of sDPS green sturgeon spawning occurs within a single reach of the mainstem Sacramento River, placing the species at increased risk of extinction due to stochastic events.