Yes, there are sturgeon in the Hudson River, and they’ve been there for millions of years. Two species call the river home: the Atlantic sturgeon and the shortnose sturgeon. Both are federally listed under the Endangered Species Act, making them illegal to catch or possess. Despite their protected status, these ancient fish still spawn, feed, and overwinter in the Hudson, which remains one of the most important sturgeon rivers on the East Coast.
Two Species, Two Size Classes
The Atlantic sturgeon is the larger of the two and the biggest fish in the Hudson River. Adults typically measure five to eight feet long. The largest Atlantic sturgeon ever recorded was caught in Canada, stretching 14 feet and weighing 800 pounds. Hudson River specimens don’t reach that extreme, but fish over six feet are not unusual. They have bony plates called scutes running along their bodies, a flat snout, and four whisker-like barbels near the mouth that help them find food along the river bottom.
Shortnose sturgeon are considerably smaller, generally topping out around three to four feet. Despite the size difference, they’re easy to confuse with juvenile Atlantic sturgeon if you’re not looking closely. The shortnose has a blunter, rounder snout and a wider mouth relative to its body. Both species are bottom feeders, vacuuming up worms, crustaceans, and mollusks from the riverbed.
How Many Are Left
The Hudson’s Atlantic sturgeon population is a fraction of what it once was. Using commercial fishing data from 1980 to 1992, scientists estimated roughly 870 spawning adults remained when the fishery was finally shut down in 1998, split between about 600 males and 270 females. A 2014 estimate of the spawning run put the number at 466 individuals, with a confidence range of 310 to 745. That means the adult population has stayed essentially flat since the fishery closed, showing little sign of recovery over nearly two decades.
In 1995, researchers estimated about 9,500 juvenile Atlantic sturgeon in the Hudson estuary, but nearly half of those (4,900) were hatchery-raised fish that had been stocked. Only about 4,600 were wild-born. The shortnose sturgeon population is harder to pin down. Scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey have used a combination of acoustic telemetry tags and side-scan sonar to estimate overwintering numbers, feeding data into statistical models to track population trends over time.
Where and When They Spawn
Atlantic sturgeon use the upper Hudson for spawning, congregating above river kilometer 100 (measured from Battery Park at the southern tip of Manhattan). Males arrive first, showing up around May 27 on average. Females follow roughly 12 days later, around June 8. Males tend to linger longer, departing around July 11, while females leave earlier, around June 29. The entire spawning window runs from mid-May through the end of July, and conservation efforts aimed at protecting spawning habitat focus on that period.
Shortnose sturgeon also spawn in the Hudson but on a different schedule, typically moving upriver in spring when water temperatures rise. Unlike Atlantic sturgeon, which migrate out to the ocean and may travel hundreds of miles along the coast between spawning years, shortnose sturgeon spend their entire lives in the river and its estuary. This makes the Hudson a permanent, year-round habitat for them rather than a seasonal destination.
Why Populations Crashed
Sturgeon were once so abundant in the Hudson that their meat earned the nickname “Albany beef.” That abundance didn’t last. Between 1880 and 1910, unregulated harvesting decimated most Atlantic sturgeon stocks from New York to South Carolina. Fishermen targeted them for both meat and caviar, and the slow-reproducing fish couldn’t keep up. By the early 1990s, U.S. landings had fallen to about 2% of what they were at the fishery’s peak.
Overfishing was the primary driver, but it wasn’t alone. Bycatch in nets targeting other species continued to kill sturgeon even after dedicated fishing pressure eased. Habitat loss from dredging, dam construction, and shoreline development degraded spawning grounds. Water pollution in the mid-20th century further stressed the population. Shortnose sturgeon were listed as endangered in 1966. Atlantic sturgeon took longer to receive federal protection: the New York Bight population segment, which includes Hudson River fish, was listed as endangered in 2012.
Their Protection Under Law
Both species are fully protected. Atlantic sturgeon from the Hudson belong to the New York Bight distinct population segment, one of four Atlantic sturgeon groups classified as endangered (only the Gulf of Maine group is listed as threatened rather than endangered). Shortnose sturgeon are listed as endangered throughout their entire range and are also protected under the international wildlife trade agreement CITES, which prohibits commercial trade.
It is illegal to target, catch, or possess either species. If you accidentally hook a sturgeon while fishing in the Hudson, you’re required to release it immediately and handle it as little as possible. The commercial fishery for Atlantic sturgeon in the Hudson closed in 1998, and no recreational harvest has been permitted since. Penalties for violations fall under the Endangered Species Act, which carries significant fines.
Spotting Sturgeon in the Hudson
You’re unlikely to see a sturgeon on a casual visit to the riverbank, but it does happen. Sturgeon occasionally breach the surface, launching their heavy bodies out of the water in a behavior scientists still don’t fully understand. Kayakers and boaters on the Hudson sometimes report these startling jumps, particularly in summer months when spawning activity peaks. A leaping Atlantic sturgeon, potentially six feet long and weighing over a hundred pounds, is hard to mistake for anything else.
Scientists track sturgeon movements using acoustic telemetry, implanting small transmitters that ping receivers stationed throughout the river. This network, maintained from 2010 through at least 2016 and expanded since, has allowed researchers to map arrival and departure dates, identify key habitat zones, and estimate how long individual fish spend in different stretches of the river. Side-scan sonar provides a complementary tool, creating images of fish clustered on the bottom during winter aggregation sites. Together, these methods give biologists a detailed picture of how sturgeon use the Hudson without needing to capture them.