WILMINGTON — The Delaware River's near-mythical Atlantic sturgeon won endangered species protection Tuesday, a move reflecting the big and long-lived bottom feeder's century-long slide from fishing industry mainstay to rarely seen victim of pollution, overfishing and habitat loss.
The federal listing could complicate the Delaware River main channel deepening project in areas where sturgeon spawn, feed and once teemed. It also could lead to designation of some upriver areas as critical habitat requiring special attention.
Members of the Delaware Riverkeeper conservation group warned hours after the announcement that they would work to "ensure that the project does not jeopardize the continued existence of any Atlantic sturgeon" and said that the subgroup species found in Delaware is "presently in danger of extinction."
The National Marine Fisheries Service ruling covered four populations of sturgeon, including the New York bight group that includes the Delaware River, the Chesapeake Bay, the Carolina coast and South Atlantic. A fifth group, in the Gulf of Maine, were listed as threatened.
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