The State We're In

Jul 10, 2025

By Alison Mitchell, Executive Director, New Jersey Conservation Foundation

For more than 100 million years, Atlantic sturgeon have navigated the lower reaches of the Delaware River. Now, with fewer than 250 spawning adults left, this population of large, iconic fish is dangerously close to extinction.

Sturgeon have a storied history in the region. It may seem surprising, but the Delaware River was the caviar capital of the world! In the late 19th century, sturgeon were abundant and the river supported a booming global export industry of prized caviar. By 1871, there was even a little south Jersey town named Caviar with a rail line called the Central Railroad of New Jersey to bring the delicacy to markets in Newark and the larger New York City Metropolitan Area.

The gold-rush era for the town of Caviar faded as overfishing decimated sturgeon populations. And because of a variety of other assaults, the fish never recovered. Dredging projects and widespread pollution have taken their toll, reducing habitat and degrading water quality. Industrial runoff and wastewater discharges even stripped oxygen from the water and damaged spawning grounds. The fish have also fallen prey to fatal strikes by large ships traveling up and down the river. Climate change is adding a deadly twist, warming river temperatures and making it even harder for water to hold the oxygen these fish need. Flowing freshwater has been reduced by drought, which allows salty ocean water to push further upriver, shrinking the sturgeon’s spawning habitat.

The Delaware River population is genetically unique, and even though the sturgeon venture far into the Atlantic Ocean as adults, they always return to the river to spawn. If oxygen levels in the river fall below the critical threshold, there are mass die-offs of juvenile fish.

“They’re literally getting slammed from all sides, at every level of their life cycle,” says Maya van Rossum, founder of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network and 30-year veteran advocate for the river’s Atlantic sturgeon.

Losing this special population has far-reaching consequences. It will weaken the resilience of the Atlantic sturgeon’s larger population along the East Coast, reducing genetic diversity essential to long term survival. Of the ten northeast rivers that once hosted sturgeon spawning runs, only three still do: the Delaware, Hudson, and Kennebec.

Erik Silldorff, a scientist studying the sturgeon for Delaware Riverkeeper Network, emphasizes the urgency: “Losing one more of these populations pushes us really, really close to eliminating the whole northeastern population of the species.”

The sturgeon are akin to a canary in a coal mine – their decline signals deteriorating water quality that impacts all river life – and communities that depend on clean water for drinking, recreation, and livelihood.

In the face of clear science and opportunities for action, van Rossum sees our lack of progress in protecting the sturgeon as a moral failing. The sturgeon “have just as much right to be here as we do,” yet we are choosing to allow their extinction through inaction and bad policy.

Although the Atlantic sturgeon is listed as Endangered under the Federal Endangered Species Act, that designation alone will not save them. Limiting the unintended bycatch of sturgeon during commercial fishing, curbing destructive dredging projects, and raising oxygen levels in the river are the kind of steps we need to take. The Delaware Riverkeeper Network has advocated for years to raise oxygen standards and reduce pollution, even petitioning the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to enforce stricter limits.

Hopefully the EPA will act quickly and forcefully enough to keep the Atlantic sturgeon from falling over the edge into extinction. If it does, it will be not a moment too soon! Avoiding the worst effects of a warming planet will also be essential to saving the sturgeon and so many of the other varied and wonderful creatures that dwell in the Delaware River – and that will require a major shift in national policy.

You can join the fight! To stay informed and get involved, visit dinointhedelaware.org, which posts alerts about when and how to participate in public decision-making. Please also visit delawareriverkeeper.org to support efforts to save Atlantic Sturgeon in the Delaware River. And visit https://dep.nj.gov/njfw/conservation/atlantic-sturgeon-conservation/ to report a sturgeon sighting in New Jersey.

To learn more about how you can help preserve New Jersey’s natural resources, visit the New Jersey Conservation Foundation at www.njconservation.org or reach out to us at info@njconservation.org.