Alabama State law currently requires the immediate release of Alabama sturgeon caught by commercial or recreational fishermen. Should the sturgeon become listed, no additional restrictions would occur. The Jackson, Mississippi, Field Office of the Fish and Wildlife Service is responsible for recommending listing and recovery actions in the States of Alabama and Mississippi. There are 93 species federally listed as endangered or threatened in Alabama. Alabama is blessed with a tremendous diversity of habitats and a corresponding high diversity of plant and animal species.
Habitat loss is the principal cause of species imperilment in Alabama.
More than half of Alabama's endangered and threatened species are from river and stream habitats. The State's rivers and streams have been widely modified to meet human needs for transportation, water supply, electricity production, irrigation, and flood control. Streams that weren't modified have been affected to varying degrees by waste disposal, bank erosion, and by land use runoff containing pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, and domestic wastewater. Today, most of Alabama's endangered aquatic species survive in watersheds where modifications and runoff from land use activities have been minimal or reduced.