Dominic Vitiello, Dennis Township Elementary School
Cape May County
First Place, Cape May County, Atlantic Sturgeon (c) Dominic Vitiello
Atlantic Sturgeon
Hi! I am Dominic the Atlantic Sturgeon. I have so many amazing facts about me. I am an endangered animal in New Jersey. I can be found off the east coast in the Atlantic Ocean.
The Atlantic Sturgeon is an endangered species because it has been over-fished for many years. Some reasons why people fish for them is that they are a big game fish that people can win trophies for. People have been fishing for them since the 1950s up until the 1990s. Another reason people fish for them is they like to eat their eggs, which is called caviar.
The Atlantic Sturgeon is considered to be a dinosaur. Sturgeons are members of an ancient family. They have been here on earth more than 120 million years! The oldest Atlantic Sturgeon was captured in the St. Lawrence River and said to be 60 years old!
The largest Atlantic Sturgeon was caught off the coast of Canada and measured 14 feet long (4.3 m) and weighed 811 pounds (370 kg.). Mature males are normally about 5 feet and 90 pounds. Mature females are normally about 6 feet and 160 pounds. An Atlantic Sturgeon is bluish-black or olive brown, with paler sides and a white belly. They have one row of boney plates or scutes. Their head is down-sloped and their eyes are small. The Atlantic Sturgeon lays about 400,000 thousand to 8 million eggs.
The Atlantic sturgeon was found in 38 rivers in the United States from St. Croix, Mexico to the Saint Johns River, Florida. The Atlantic Sturgeon is currently present in about 32 of these rivers, and spawning occurs in at least 20 of them.
I think a great way to stop the Atlantic Sturgeon from being endangered is everybody can stop over-fishing for them. Stores can stop selling caviar and then the population of the Atlantic Sturgeon will start to grow.
Written By: Dominic Vitiello
Dennis Township Elementary School, Dennisville
Teacher: Mr. Champion