Some aquaculture practices, such as crowding, transport and confinement, can be stressful to fish and can negatively affect reproduction. However, very few studies have been conducted to evaluate the effect of stress on cultured sturgeon.

Stress and Reproduction

Defining the relationship between stress and endocrine function is critical to long-lived species like sturgeon, whose economic viability relies on proper endocrine function for the production of caviar. Mote has undertaken research to define the relationship between stress (due to handling and sexing fish) and reproductive function by evaluating the concentrations of various sex steroids.

Nitrate Toxicity

Mote has conducted studies to determine variations in acute toxicity of nitrate in three size classes of Siberian sturgeon. Nitrate toxicity is higher for Siberian sturgeon than for most aquatic species tested to date. It was surprising to find that young sturgeon are more tolerant to elevated nitrate than adult sturgeon. The sensitivity of Siberian sturgeon to nitrate, compared to other species, highlights the need for additional research to determine the sublethal effects of nitrate exposure for sturgeon.