J.R. Lantry | USGS Science

USGS2011

Evaluation of offshore stocking of Lake Trout in Lake Ontario

Restoration stocking of hatchery-reared lake trout Salvelinus namaycush has occurred in Lake Ontario since 1973. In U.S. waters, fish stocked through 1990 survived well and built a large adult population. Survival of yearlings stocked from shore declined during 1990–1995, and adult numbers fell during 1998–2005. Offshore stocking of lake trout was initiated in the late 1990s in response to its successful mitigation of predation losses to double-crested cormorants Phalacrocorax auritus and the results of earlier studies that suggested it would enhance survival in some cases. The current study was designed to test the relative effectiveness of three stocking methods at a time when poststocking survival for lake trout was quite low and losses due to fish predators was a suspected factor. The stocking methods tested during 2000–2002 included May offshore, May onshore, and June onshore. Visual observations during nearshore stockings and hydroacoustic observations of offshore stockings indicated that release methods were not a direct cause of fish mortality. Experimental stockings were replicated for 3 years at one site in the southwest and for 2 years at one site in the southeast. Offshore releases used a landing craft to transport hatchery trucks from 3 to 6 km offshore out to 55–60-m-deep water. For the southwest site, offshore stocking significantly enhanced poststocking survival. Among the three methods, survival ratios were 1.74 : 1.00 : 1.02 (May offshore : May onshore : June onshore). Although not statistically significant owing to the small samples, the trends were similar for the southeast site, with survival ratios of 1.67 : 1.00 : 0.72. Consistent trends across years and sites indicated that offshore stocking of yearling lake trout during 2000–2002 provided nearly a twofold enhancement in survival; however, this increase does not appear to be great enough to achieve the 12-fold enhancement necessary to return population abundance to restoration targets.

North American Journal of Fisheries Management↗

USGS2008

Disruption of the lower food web in Lake Ontario: Did it affect alewife growth or condition?

From the early 1980s to the late 1990s, a succession of non-native invertebrates colonized Lake Ontario and the suite of consequences caused by their colonization became known as "food web disruption". For example, the native burrowing amphipod Diporeia spp., a key link in the profundal food web, declined to near absence, exotic predaceous cladocerans with long spines proliferated, altering the zooplankton community, and depth distributions of fishes shifted. These changes had the potential to affect growth and condition of planktivorous alewife Alosa pseudoharengus, the most abundant fish in the lake. To determine if food web disruption affected alewife, we used change-point analysis to examine alewife growth and adult alewife condition during 1976-2006 and analysis-of-variance to determine if values between change points differed significantly. There were no change points in growth during the first year of life. Of three change points in growth during the second year of life, one coincided with the shift in springtime distribution of alewife to deeper water but it was not associated with a significant change in growth. After the second year of life, no change points in growth were evident, although growth in the third year of life spiked in those years when Bythotrephes, the largest of the exotic cladocerans, was abundant suggesting that it was a profitable prey item for age-2 fish. We detected two change points in condition of adult alewife in fall, but the first occurred in 1981, well before disruption began. A second change point occurred in 2003, well after disruption began. After the springtime distribution of alewife shifted deeper during 1992-1994, growth in the first two years of life became more variable, and growth in years of life two and older became correlated (P < 0.05). In conclusion, food web disruption had no negative affect on growth and condition of alewife in Lake Ontario although it appears to have resulted in growth in the first two years of life becoming more variable, growth in years of life two and older becoming correlated (P < 0.05), and growth spurts in year of life three. Copyright ?? 2008 AEHMS.

Conference Paper↗