Anadromous alewives, Alosa pseudoharengus, as prey for white perch, Morone americana

USGS Publications Warehouse

Moring, J.R.; Mink, L.H.

2002-01-01

The reintroduction of anadromous alewives, Alosa pseudoharengus, to their historic habitats in the inland waters of the United States and Canada, has prompted concerns about possible interactions with a popular sport fish, white perch, Morone americana. Both species are now widely distributed in northeastern North America. Diets of white perch in Lake George, Maine, U.S.A., where alewives were absent, were monitored and compared with those of white perch populations that were sympatric with anadromous alewives in two coastal Maine lakes, Biscay Pond and North Pond. In the presence of introduced alewives, the diet of adult white perch became almost exclusively juvenile alewives by late summer in ponds where both species were present. White perch that were sympatric with alewives were more piscivorus than were Lake George white perch, which primarily consumed Cladocera. Not only were alewives the principal prey item in the diet of white perch in Biscay and North ponds, but adult alewives were largely cannibalistic by August. Thus, success of reintroducing anadromous alewives in waters containing white perch may be negatively impacted by predation as well as cannibalism.

Reduced swimming performance repeatedly evolves upon loss of migration in landlocked populations of Alewife

USGS Publications Warehouse

Velotta, Jonathan P.; McCormick, Stephen; Jones, Andrew W.; Schultz, Eric T.

2018-01-01

Whole-organism performance tasks are accomplished by the integration of morphological traits and physiological functions. Understanding how evolutionary change in morphology and physiology influences whole-organism performance will yield insight into the factors that shape its own evolution. We demonstrate that nonmigratory populations of alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) have evolved reduced swimming performance in parallel, compared with their migratory ancestor. In contrast to theoretically and empirically based predictions, poor swimming among nonmigratory populations is unrelated to the evolution of osmoregulation and occurs despite the fact that nonmigratory alewives have a more fusiform (torpedo-like) body shape than their ancestor. Our results suggest that elimination of long-distance migration from the life cycle has shaped performance more than changes in body shape and physiological regulatory capacity.

Comparative recruitment dynamics of Alewife and Bloater in Lakes Michigan and Huron

USGS Publications Warehouse

Collingsworth, Paris D.; Bunnell, David B.; Madenjian, Charles P.; Riley, Stephen C.

2014-01-01

The predictive power of recruitment models often relies on the identification and quantification of external variables, in addition to stock size. In theory, the identification of climatic, biotic, or demographic influences on reproductive success assists fisheries management by identifying factors that have a direct and reproducible influence on the population dynamics of a target species. More often, models are constructed as one-time studies of a single population whose results are not revisited when further data become available. Here, we present results from stock recruitment models for Alewife Alosa pseudoharengus and Bloater Coregonus hoyi in Lakes Michigan and Huron. The factors that explain variation in Bloater recruitment were remarkably consistent across populations and with previous studies that found Bloater recruitment to be linked to population demographic patterns in Lake Michigan. Conversely, our models were poor predictors of Alewife recruitment in Lake Huron but did show some agreement with previously published models from Lake Michigan. Overall, our results suggest that external predictors of fish recruitment are difficult to discern using traditional fisheries models, and reproducing the results from previous studies may be difficult particularly at low population sizes.

Increasing thiamine concentrations in lake trout eggs from Lakes Huron and Michigan coincide with low alewife abundance

USGS Publications Warehouse

Riley, Stephen C.; Rinchard, Jacques; Honeyfield, Dale C.; Evans, Allison N.; Begnoche, Linda

2011-01-01

Lake trout Salvelinus namaycush in the Laurentian Great Lakes suffer from thiamine deficiency as a result of adult lake trout consuming prey containing thiaminase, a thiamine-degrading enzyme. Sufficiently low egg thiamine concentrations result in direct mortality of or sublethal effects on newly hatched lake trout fry. To determine the prevalence and severity of low thiamine in lake trout eggs, we monitored thiamine concentrations in lake trout eggs from 15 sites in Lakes Huron and Michigan from 2001 to 2009. Lake trout egg thiamine concentrations at most sites in both lakes were initially low and increased over time at 11 of 15 sites, and the proportion of females with egg thiamine concentrations lower than the recommended management objective of 4 nmol/g decreased over time at eight sites. Egg thiamine concentrations at five of six sites in Lakes Huron and Michigan were significantly inversely related to site-specific estimates of mean abundance of alewives Alosa pseudoharengus, and successful natural reproduction of lake trout has been observed in Lake Huron since the alewife population crashed. These results support the hypothesis that low egg thiamine in Great Lakes lake trout is associated with increased alewife abundance and that low alewife abundance may currently be a prerequisite for successful reproduction by lake trout in the Great Lakes.

Evaluating the effect of stressors on thiaminase activity in alewife

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lepak, J.M.; Kraft, C.E.; Honeyfield, D.C.; Brown, S.B.

2008-01-01

No consistent explanation has been found for the variability in the thiaminase activity of alewives Alosa pseudoharengus despite the role of alewife thiaminase in large-scale salmonine mortality in the Laurentian Great Lakes. We conducted experiments to evaluate the effect of two stressors, reduced salt content in the water and food limitation, on alewife thiaminase activity. Alewives were subjected to treatments in replicated tanks in which conductivity was lowered (<100 ??S/cm) for 8 d and feeding was limited for 39 d. Circulating white blood cells, plasma cortisol, plasma glucose, and whole-body thiaminase were measured in individual alewives to assess their response to these experimental treatments. Alewives from the controls had significantly larger numbers of circulating white blood cells than those in the salt-reduced and food-limited treatments (24,000 and 19,000 cells/??L and 11,000 and 9,000 cells/??L for alewives from the two control and salt-reduced treatment tanks, respectively, and 34,000 and 30,000 cells/??L and 21,000 and 16,000 cells/??L for alewives from the two control and food-limited treatment tanks). No significant differences in alewife thiaminase activity were found between treatment fish and their controls. The mean thiaminase activity in the alewives studied increased from 6,900 to 16,000 pmol??g -1??min-1 from the time of their collection in Cayuga Lake to the start of laboratory experiments 1.5-2.5 years later; the latter value was more than twice that of previously reported levels of thiaminase activity from alewives collected in the wild. These data suggest that the variability in alewife thiaminase is not related to stress from salt reduction or food limitation, but laboratory holding conditions significantly increased thiaminase through a mechanism not evaluated by our experimental treatments. ?? Copyright by the American Fisheries Society 2008.

ESTIMATION OF SURPLUS BIOMASS OF CLUPEIDS IN SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE, VIRGINIA

EPA Science Inventory

Mean annual estimates of surplus biomass of alewife Alosa pseudoharengus and gizzard shad Dorosoma cepedianum in Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia, were calculated using data on the biomass, growth, and mortality of each clupeid species. Surplus biomass, defined as production over a...

Role of origin and release location in pre-spawning distribution and movements of anadromous alewife

USGS Publications Warehouse

Frank, Holly J.; Mather, M. E.; Smith, Joseph M.; Muth, Robert M.; Finn, John T.

2011-01-01

Capturing adult anadromous fish that are ready to spawn from a self sustaining population and transferring them into a depleted system is a common fisheries enhancement tool. The behaviour of these transplanted fish, however, has not been fully evaluated. The movements of stocked and native anadromous alewife, Alosa pseudoharengus (Wilson), were monitored in the Ipswich River, Massachusetts, USA, to provide a scientific basis for this management tool. Radiotelemetry was used to examine the effect of origin (native or stocked) and release location (upstream or downstream) on distribution and movement during the spawning migration. Native fish remained in the river longer than stocked fish regardless of release location. Release location and origin influenced where fish spent time and how they moved. The spatial mosaic of available habitats and the entire trajectory of freshwater movements should be considered to restore effectively spawners that traverse tens of kilometres within coastal rivers.

Lakewide estimates of alewife biomass and Chinook salmon abundance and consumption in Lake Ontario, 1989–2005: implications for prey fish sustainability

USGS Publications Warehouse

Murry, Brent A.; Connerton, Michael J.; O'Gorman, Robert; Stewart, Donald J.; Ringlerd, Neil H.

2010-01-01

Stocking levels of Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha for Lake Ontario have been highly controversial since the early 1990s, largely because of uncertainties about lakewide abundance and rates of prey consumption. Previous estimates have focused on years before 1995; since then, however, the Lake Ontario ecosystem has undergone substantial changes, and there is new evidence of extensive natural recruitment. Presented here are new abundance estimates of Chinook salmon and alewives Alosa pseudoharengus in Lake Ontario and a reevaluation of the potential risk of alewife population collapse. We found that Lake Ontario has been supporting, on average (1989–2005), 1.83 × 106 (range, 1.08 × 106 to 3.24 × 106) Chinook salmon of ages 1–4, amounting to a mean annual biomass of 11.33 × 103 metric tons (range, 5.83 × 103 to 23.04 × 103 metric tons). During the same period (1989–2005), the lake supported an alewife biomass of 173.66 × 103 metric tons (range, 62.37 × 103 to 345.49 × 103 metric tons); Chinook salmon of ages 1–4 consumed, on average, 22% (range, 11–44%) of the alewife biomass annually. Because our estimates probably underestimate total consumption and because Chinook salmon are only one of several salmonine species that depend on alewives, predation pressure on the Lake Ontario alewife population may be high enough to raise concerns about long-term stability of this predator–prey system.

Native rainbow smelt and nonnative alewife distribution related to temperature and light gradients in Lake Champlain

USGS Publications Warehouse

Parrish, Donna; Simonin, Paul W.; Rudstam, Lars G.; Sullivan, Patrick J.; Pientka, Bernard

2012-01-01

Alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) recently became established in Lake Champlain and may compete with native rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) for food or consume larval rainbow smelt. The strength of this effect depends partly on the spatial and temporal overlap of different age groups of the two species; therefore, we need a better understanding of factors affecting alewife and rainbow smelt distributions in Lake Champlain. We used hydroacoustics, trawls, and gill nets to document vertical fish distribution, and recorded environmental data during 16 day–night surveys over two years. Temperature, temperature change, and light were all predictors of adult and age-0 rainbow smelt distribution, and temperature and light were predictors of age-0 alewives' distribution (based on GAMM models evaluated with AIC). Adult alewives were 5–30 m shallower and age-0 alewives were 2–15 m shallower than their rainbow smelt counterparts. Adult rainbow smelt distribution overlapped with age-0 rainbow smelt and age-0 alewives near the thermocline (10–25 m), whereas adult alewives were shallower (0–6 m) and overlapped with age-0 alewives and rainbow smelt in the epilimnion. Adult rainbow smelt were in water < 10–12 °C, whereas age-0 rainbow smelt were in 10–20 °C, and adult and age-0 alewives were in 15–22 °C water. Predicting these species distributions is necessary for quantifying the strength of predatory and competitive interactions between alewife and rainbow smelt, as well as between alewife and other fish species in Lake Champlain.

Estimation of alewife biomass in Lake Michigan, 1967-1978

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hatch, Richard W.; Haack, Paul M.; Brown, Edward H.

1981-01-01

The buildup of salmonid populations in Lake Michigan through annual stockings of hatchery-reared fish may become limited by the quantity of forage fish, mainly alewives Alosa pseudoharengus, available for food. As a part of a continuing examination of salmonid predator-prey relations in Lake Michigan, we traced changes in alewife biomass estimated from bottom-trawl surveys conducted in late October and early November 1967–1978. Weight of adult alewives trawled per 0.5 hectare of bottom (10-minute drag) at 16 depths along eight transects between 1973 and 1977 formed a skewed distribution: 72 of 464 drags caught no alewives; 89 drags caught less than 1 kg; and 2 drags caught more than 100 kg (maximum 159 kg). Analysis of variance in normalized catch per tow indicated highly significant differences between the main effects of years and depths, and highly significant differences in the interactions of years and transects, years and depths, and transects and depths. Five geographic and depth strata, formed by combining parts of transects wherein mean catch rate did not differ significantly, were the basis for calculating annual estimates of adult alewife biomass (with 90% confidence intervals). Estimated biomass of alewives (±90% confidence limits) in Lake Michigan proper (Green Bay and Grand Traverse Bay excluded) rose gradually from 46,000 (±9,000) t in 1967 to 114,000 (±17,000) t in 1973, declined to 45,000 (±8,000) t in 1977, and rose to 77,000 (±19,000) t in 1978.

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

USGS Publications Warehouse

O'Gorman, R.; Prindle, S.E.; Lantry, J.R.; Lantry, B.F.

2008-01-01

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

Transcriptomic imprints of adaptation to fresh water: parallel evolution of osmoregulatory gene expression in the Alewife

USGS Publications Warehouse

Velotta, Jonathan P.; Wegrzyn, Jill L.; Ginzburg, Samuel; Kang, Lin; Czesny, Sergiusz J.; O'Neill, Rachel J.; McCormick, Stephen; Michalak, Pawel; Schultz, Eric T.

2017-01-01

Comparative approaches in physiological genomics offer an opportunity to understand the functional importance of genes involved in niche exploitation. We used populations of Alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) to explore the transcriptional mechanisms that underlie adaptation to fresh water. Ancestrally anadromous Alewives have recently formed multiple, independently derived, landlocked populations, which exhibit reduced tolerance of saltwater and enhanced tolerance of fresh water. Using RNA-seq, we compared transcriptional responses of an anadromous Alewife population to two landlocked populations after acclimation to fresh (0 ppt) and saltwater (35 ppt). Our results suggest that the gill transcriptome has evolved in primarily discordant ways between independent landlocked populations and their anadromous ancestor. By contrast, evolved shifts in the transcription of a small suite of well-characterized osmoregulatory genes exhibited a strong degree of parallelism. In particular, transcription of genes that regulate gill ion exchange has diverged in accordance with functional predictions: freshwater ion-uptake genes (most notably, the ‘freshwater paralog’ of Na+/K+-ATPase α-subunit) were more highly expressed in landlocked forms, whereas genes that regulate saltwater ion secretion (e.g. the ‘saltwater paralog’ of NKAα) exhibited a blunted response to saltwater. Parallel divergence of ion transport gene expression is associated with shifts in salinity tolerance limits among landlocked forms, suggesting that changes to the gill's transcriptional response to salinity facilitate freshwater adaptation.

Changes in movements of Chinook Salmon between lakes Huron and Michigan after Alewife population collapse

USGS Publications Warehouse

Clark, Richard D.; Bence, James R.; Claramunt, Randall M.; Clevenger, John A.; Kornis, Matthew S.; Bronte, Charles R.; Madenjian, Charles P.; Roseman, Edward

2017-01-01

Alewives Alosa pseudoharengus are the preferred food of Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Alewife populations collapsed in Lake Huron in 2003 but remained comparatively abundant in Lake Michigan. We analyzed capture locations of coded-wire-tagged Chinook Salmon before, during, and after Alewife collapse (1993–2014). We contrasted the pattern of tag recoveries for Chinook Salmon released at the Swan River in northern Lake Huron and Medusa Creek in northern Lake Michigan. We examined patterns during April–July, when Chinook Salmon were primarily occupied by feeding, and August–October, when the salmon were primarily occupied by spawning. We found evidence that Swan River fish shifted their feeding location from Lake Huron to Lake Michigan after the collapse. Over years, proportions of Swan River Chinook Salmon captured in Lake Michigan increased in correspondence with the Alewife decline in Lake Huron. Mean proportions of Swan River fish captured in Lake Michigan were 0.13 (SD = 0.14) before collapse (1993–1997) and 0.82 (SD = 0.22) after collapse (2008–2014) and were significantly different. In contrast, proportions of Medusa Creek fish captured in Lake Michigan did not change; means were 0.98 (SD = 0.05) before collapse and 0.99 (SD = 0.01) after collapse. The mean distance to the center of the coastal distribution of Swan River fish during April–July shifted 357 km (SD = 169) from central Lake Huron before collapse to central Lake Michigan after collapse. The coastal distributions during August–October were centered on the respective sites of origin, suggesting that Chinook Salmon returned to release sites to spawn regardless of their feeding locations. Regarding the impact on Alewife populations, this shift in interlake movement would be equivalent to increasing the Chinook Salmon stocking rate within Lake Michigan by 30%. The primary management implication is that interlake coordination of Chinook Salmon

Trade-offs in osmoregulation and parallel shifts in molecular function follow ecological transitions to freshwater in the Alewife

USGS Publications Warehouse

Velotta, Jonathan P.; McCormick, Stephen; Schultz, Eric T.

2015-01-01

Adaptation to freshwater may be expected to reduce performance in seawater because these environments represent opposing selective regimes. We tested for such a trade-off in populations of the Alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus). Alewives are ancestrally anadromous, and multiple populations have been independently restricted to freshwater (landlocked). We conducted salinity challenge experiments, whereby juvenile Alewives from one anadromous and multiple landlocked populations were exposed to freshwater and seawater on acute and acclimation timescales. In response to acute salinity challenge trials, independently derived landlocked populations varied in the degree to which seawater tolerance has been lost. In laboratory-acclimation experiments, landlocked Alewives exhibited improved freshwater tolerance, which was correlated with reductions in seawater tolerance and hypo-osmotic balance, suggesting that trade-offs in osmoregulation may be associated with local adaptation to freshwater. We detected differentiation between life-history forms in the expression of an ion-uptake gene (NHE3), and in gill Na+/K+-ATPase activity. Trade-offs in osmoregulation, therefore, may be mediated by differentiation in ion-uptake and salt-secreting pathways.

Acoustic assessment of pelagic lanktivores, 2016

USGS Publications Warehouse

Holden, Jeremy P.; Connerton, Michael J.; Weidel, Brian C.

2017-01-01

Alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) and Rainbow Smelt (Osmerus mordax) are the most abundant pelagic planktivores in Lake Ontario (Weidel et al 2017), and the most important prey for salmon and trout, making up greater than 90% of the diet of the top predator, Chinook salmon (Lantry 2001, Brandt 1986), and supporting a multimillion dollar sportfishery. Alewife are also important prey for warm water predators, notably Walleye (Sander vitreus). Abundance of Alewife and smelt has declined since the 1980s, likely due to reduced nutrient loading, proliferation of invasive dreissenid mussels, and predation by stocked salmon and trout. Cisco (Coregonus artedi), a native planktivore, historically dominated the offshore pelagic prey fish of Lake Ontario, but their populations were severely reduced in the mid-20th century due to overfishing and competition with Alewife and smelt. Remnant populations of Cisco still exist, mostly in the eastern basin, and Cisco produce periodic strong year classes once or twice per decade (Owens et al 2003, most recently in 2012 and 2014 (OMNRF, 2017).Alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) and Rainbow Smelt (Osmerus mordax) are the most abundant pelagic planktivores in Lake Ontario (Weidel et al 2017), and the most important prey for salmon and trout, making up greater than 90% of the diet of the top predator, Chinook salmon (Lantry 2001, Brandt 1986), and supporting a multimillion dollar sportfishery. Alewife are also important prey for warm water predators, notably Walleye (Sander vitreus). Abundance of Alewife and smelt has declined since the 1980s, likely due to reduced nutrient loading, proliferation of invasive dreissenid mussels, and predation by stocked salmon and trout. Cisco (Coregonus artedi), a native planktivore, historically dominated the offshore pelagic prey fish of Lake Ontario, but their populations were severely reduced in the mid-20th century due to overfishing and competition with Alewife and smelt. Remnant populations of Cisco still

Interactions between hatch dates, growth rates, and mortality of Age-0 native Rainbow Smelt and nonnative Alewife in Lake Champlain

USGS Publications Warehouse

Parrish, Donna; Simonin, Paul W.; Rudstam, Lars G.; Pientka, Bernard; Sullivan, Patrick J.

2016-01-01

Timing of hatch in fish populations can be critical for first-year survival and, therefore, year-class strength and subsequent species interactions. We compared hatch timing, growth rates, and subsequent mortality of age-0 Rainbow Smelt Osmerus mordax and Alewife Alosa pseudoharengus, two common open-water fish species of northern North America. In our study site, Lake Champlain, Rainbow Smelt hatched (beginning May 26) almost a month earlier than Alewives (June 20). Abundance in the sampling area was highest in July for age-0 Rainbow Smelt and August for age-0 Alewives. Late-hatching individuals of both species grew faster than those hatching earlier (0.6 mm/d versus 0.4 for Rainbow Smelt; 0.7 mm/d versus 0.6 for Alewives). Mean mortality rate during the first 45 d of life was 3.4%/d for age-0 Rainbow Smelt and was 5.5%/d for age-0 Alewives. Alewife mortality rates did not differ with hatch timing but daily mortality rates of Rainbow Smelt were highest for early-hatching fish. Cannibalism is probably the primary mortality source for age-0 Rainbow Smelt in this lake. Therefore, hatching earlier may not be advantageous because the overlap of adult and age-0 Rainbow Smelt is highest earlier in the season. However, Alewives, first documented in Lake Champlain in 2003, may increase the mortality of age-0 Rainbow Smelt in the summer, which should favor selection for earlier hatching.

Increase in lake trout reproduction in Lake Huron following the collapse of alewife: Relief from thiamine deficiency or larval predation?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fitzsimons, J.D.; Brown, S.; Brown, L.; Honeyfield, D.; He, J.; Johnson, J.E.

2010-01-01

In the Great Lakes there is still uncertainty as to the population level effects of a thiamine deficiency on salmonines caused by high consumption of alewives Alosa pseudoharengus. A resurgence of lake trout Salvelinus namaycush reproduction in Lake Huron following the crash of alewife stocks between 2002 and 2004 provided an opportunity to evaluate the relative effects of this crash on reproduction through relief from either alewife mediated thiamine deficiency or alewife predation on larval lake trout relative to possible changes in the size of the lake trout spawning stock. Changes in mean lake trout egg thiamine concentration post crash at one spawning reef in Parry Sound, where mean thiamine concentration increased by almost two-fold, were consistent with diet switching from alewives to rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax, the next most abundant prey fish in Lake Huron. Although thiamine levels for lake trout collected at a second reef in Parry Sound did not change post-crash, levels both pre- and post-crash were consistent with a rainbow smelt diet. A reef specific fry emergence index was found to be positively related to reef specific egg thiamine concentration but negatively related to reef specific occurrence of EMS, a thiamine deficiency related mortality syndrome. We found little evidence for overlap between the timing of spring shoreward migration of alewives and lake trout emergence, suggesting that relief from alewife predation effects had relatively little effect on the observed increase in lake trout recruitment. Numbers of spawners in the north, north-central, and southern zones of the lake increased from 2000 onwards. Overall the abundance post-2003 was higher than from pre-2004, suggesting that spawner abundance may also have contributed to increased lake trout reproduction. However, predicted numbers of spawners and measured abundance of wild recruits in assessment gear were poorly correlated suggesting that the increase in reproduction was not totally

Status of important prey fishes in the U.S. waters of Lake Ontario, 2013: Introduction and methods, alewife, rainbow smelt, sculpins, and round goby

USGS Publications Warehouse

Walsh, Maureen; Weidel, Brian C.; Connerton, Michael J.

2014-01-01

Lake Ontario has a mean depth of 86 m (282 ft) and a maximum depth of 244 m (801 ft) (Herdendorf 1982). The southern, New York portion of the lake has the deepest water (Figure 1). In New York waters, about 67% of the lake is <160 m (525 ft) deep and about 82% of the lake is <180 m (591 ft) deep. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) have cooperatively assessed Lake Ontario prey fishes each year since 1978. Bottom trawl assessments were initially focused on Alewife Alosa pseudoharengus (April), Rainbow Smelt Osmerus mordax (June), and Slimy Sculpin Cottus cognatus (October). Seasonal survey timing corresponded to the peak catches in 1972 when collections were made every month May to October (Owens et al. 2003). Twelve transects were established at approximately 25-km intervals along the U.S. shoreline (Figure 2). Alewife assessment was conducted at all transects, Rainbow Smelt assessment at all transects except Fair Haven, and six transects representing eastern, southern, and western lake areas were sampled for Slimy Sculpin (Figure 2). Changes in the Lake Ontario ecosystem (species invasion, oligotrophication, native species rebound) require ongoing evaluation of current methods which sometimes necessitate redistribution of trawl effort, or changes in sampling designs and/or gear. For instance, the spring Alewife assessment is now used also to assess invasive Round Goby Neogobius melanostomus population dynamics. Likewise, the fall benthic fish assessment (formerly sculpin assessment) now also tracks dynamics of the rebounding native Deepwater Sculpin Myoxocephalus thompsonii population, the apparent declining population of Slimy Sculpin, and fall distribution of Round Goby.

The influence of alewife year-class strength on prey selection and abundance of age-1 Chinook salmon in Lake Michigan

USGS Publications Warehouse

Warner, D.M.; Kiley, C.S.; Claramunt, R.M.; Clapp, D.F.

2008-01-01

We used growth and diet data from a fishery-independent survey of Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, acoustic estimates of prey density and biomass, and statistical catch-at-age modeling to study the influence of the year-class strength of alewife Alosa pseudoharengus on the prey selection and abundance of age-1 Chinook salmon in Lake Michigan during the years 1992-1996 and 2001-2005. Alewives age 2 or younger were a large part of age-1 Chinook salmon diets but were not selectively fed upon by age-1 Chinook salmon in most years. Feeding by age-1 Chinook salmon on alewives age 2 or younger became selective as the biomass of alewives in that young age bracket increased, and age-1 Chinook salmon also fed selectively on young bloaters Coregonus hoyi when bloater density was high. Selection of older alewives decreased at high densities of alewives age 2 or younger and, in some cases, high densities of bloater. The weight and condition of age-1 Chinook salmon were not related to age-1 Chinook salmon abundance or prey abundance, but the abundance of age-1 Chinook salmon in year t was positively related to the density of age-0 alewives in year t - 1. Our results suggest that alewife year-class strength exerts a positive bottom-up influence on age-1 Chinook salmon abundance, prey switching behavior by young Chinook salmon contributing to the stability of the predator-prey relationship between Chinook salmon and alewives. ?? Copyright by the American Fisheries Society 2008.

Density-dependent recruitment of the bloater (Coregonus hoyi) in Lake Michigan

USGS Publications Warehouse

Brown, Edward H.; Eck, Gary W.

1992-01-01

Density-dependent recruitment of the bloater (Coregonus hoyi) in Lake Michigan during and after recovery of the population in about 1977-1983 was best reflected in the fit of the Beverton-Holt recruitment function to age -1 and -2 recruits and estimated eggs of parents surveyed with trawls. A lower growth rate and lower lipid content of bloaters at higher population densities and no evidence of cannibalism supported the conclusion that recruitment is resource limited when alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) abundance is low. Predation on larvae by alewives was indicated in earlier studies as the probable cause of depressed recruitment of bloaters before their recovery, which coincided with declining alewife abundance. This negative interaction masked any bloater stock-recruitment relation in the earlier period.

Two hermaphroditic alewives from Lake Michigan

USGS Publications Warehouse

Edsall, Thomas A.; Saxon, Margaret I.

1968-01-01

Hermaphroditism has been reported frequently among many of the Clupeidae, but only one account of hermaphroditism has been published for the alewife, Alosa pseudoharengus. Rothschild discovered four hermaphroditic alewives among 444 fish he examined from Cayuga Lake, New York. We recently collected two hermaphroditic alewives from Lake Michigan. Both fish were normal in external appearance but were easily identified as hermaphrodites by gross examination of their gonads. The first hermaphrodite (177 mm T.L.) was discovered among several hundred normal adult alewives captured in early July 1965 in the Kalamazoo River about one mile upstream from Lake Michigan. The second hermaphroditic alewife (152 mm T.L.) was obtained from a sample of 160 adult alewives captured in Lake Michigan near the mouth of the Kalamazoo River in mid-April 1966.

Misapplied survey data and model uncertainty result in incorrect conclusions about the role of predation on alewife population dynamics in Lake Huron: a comment on He et al. (2015)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Riley, Stephen C.; Dunlop, Erin S.

2016-01-01

Drastic recent and ongoing changes to fish populations and food webs in the Great Lakes have been well-described (Riley et al. 2008; Barbiero et al. 2009; Nalepa et al. 2009; Fahnenstiel et al. 2010;Evans et al. 2011; Gobin et al. 2015), and uncertainty regarding their potential effects on fisheries has caused concern among scientists and fishery managers (e.g., Dettmers et al. 2012). In particular, the relative importance of “bottom-up” (e.g., lower trophic level changes) versus “top-down” (e.g., predation) factors to fish community changes in the Great Lakes have been widely debated (e.g.,Barbiero et al. 2011; Eshenroder and Lantry 2012; Bunnell et al. 2014). In Lake Huron, recent ecosystem changes have been particularly profound, and populations of alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), an offshore pelagic prey fish, collapsed in 2003 and have yet to recover (Riley et al. 2008, 2014). He et al. (2015) recently used a series of linked ecological models to assess the role of predation in the dynamics of the offshore prey fish community in Lake Huron. While we believe that they provide a novel method for combining bioenergetics and stock assessment modeling, we question the validity of their conclusions because of the misapplication of survey data and the lack of critical interpretation of their modeling efforts. Here we describe how He et al. (2015) have misapplied bottom trawl data from Lake Huron, and we provide examples of how this has resulted in erroneous conclusions regarding the importance of predation to the population dynamics and collapse of alewife in Lake Huron.

Feeding ecology and niche overlap of Lake Ontario offshore forage fish assessed with stable isotopes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mumby, James; Johson, Timothy; Stewart, Thomas; Halfyard, Edward; Walsh, Maureen; Weidel, Brian C.; Lantry, Jana; Fisk, Aarron

2017-01-01

The forage fish communities of the Laurentian Great Lakes continue to experience changes that have altered ecosystem structure, yet little is known about how they partition resources. Seasonal, spatial and body size variation in δ13C and δ15N was used to assess isotopic niche overlap and resource and habitat partitioning among the five common offshore Lake Ontario forage fish species (n = 2037) [Alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), Rainbow Smelt (Osmerus mordax), Round Goby (Neogobius melanostomus), and Deepwater (Myoxocephalus thompsonii) and Slimy (Cottus cognatus) Sculpin]. Round Goby had the largest isotopic niche (6.1‰2, standard ellipse area (SEAC)), followed by Alewife (3.4‰2) while Rainbow Smelt, Slimy Sculpin and Deepwater Sculpin had the smallest and similar niche size (1.7-1.8‰2), with only the Sculpin species showing significant isotopic niche overlap (>63%). Stable isotopes in Alewife, Round Goby and Rainbow Smelt varied with location, season and size, but did not in the Sculpin spp. Lake Ontario forage fish species have partitioned food and habitat resources, and non-native Alewife and Round Goby have the largest isotopic niche, suggestive of a boarder ecological niche, and may contribute to their current high abundance.

A multispecies statistical age-structured model to assess predator-prey balance: application to an intensively managed Lake Michigan pelagic fish community

USGS Publications Warehouse

Tsehaye, Iyob; Jones, Michael L.; Bence, James R.; Brenden, Travis O.; Madenjian, Charles P.; Warner, David M.

2014-01-01

Using a Bayesian model fitting approach, we developed a multispecies statistical catch-at-age model to assess trade-offs between predatory demands and prey productivities, focusing on the Lake Michigan pelagic fish community. We assessed these trade-offs in terms of predation mortalities and productivities of alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) and rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) and functional responses of salmonines. Our predation mortality estimates suggest that salmonine consumption has been a major driver of historical fluctuations in prey abundance, with sharp declines in alewife abundance in the 1980s and 2000s coinciding with estimated increases in predation mortalities. While Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) were food limited during periods of low alewife abundance, other salmonines appeared to maintain a (near) maximum per-predator consumption across all observed prey densities, suggesting that feedback mechanisms are unlikely to help maintain a balance between predator consumption and prey productivity in Lake Michigan. This study demonstrates that a multispecies modeling approach that combines stock assessment methods with explicit consideration of predator–prey interactions could provide the basis for tactical decision-making from a broader ecosystem perspective.

Alewife dieoffs: Why do they occur?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Colby, Peter J.

1971-01-01

Periodid midwinter, early spring, and summer mortalities of alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus) have been common in the Great Lakes since the first appearance of the silvery marine invader in Lake Ontario in the mid-1870's. In 1967 a nationally publicized dieoff of tremendous magnitude (estimated at several hundred million pounds of fish) in Lake Michigan resulted in losses to industry,municipalities, and recreational interests in excess of $100 million. The cause of these mortalities is still unclear. The apparent inability of this primarily marine species to adjust completely to the Great Lakes has several suspected causes, among which failure to adjust to temperature extremes and fluctuations in the Great Lakes now appears to be of primary importance. Other possible causes are exhaustion of the food supply, failure to osmoregulate (maintain a suitable chemical balance) adequately in fresh water, failure to extract sufficient iodine from the iodine-poor Great Lakes, and a combination of these several possibilities.

Recruitment variability of alewives in Lake Michigan

USGS Publications Warehouse

Madenjian, C.P.; Hook, T.O.; Rutherford, E.S.; Mason, D.M.; Croley, T.E.; Szalai, E.B.; Bence, J.R.

2005-01-01

We used a long-term series of observations on alewife Alosa pseudoharengus abundance that was based on fall bottom-trawl catches to assess the importance of various abiotic and biotic factors on alewife recruitment in Lake Michigan during 1962–2002. We first fit a basic Ricker spawner–recruit model to the lakewide biomass estimates of age-3 recruits and the corresponding spawning stock size; we then fit models for all possible combinations of the following four external variables added to the basic model: an index of salmonine predation on an alewife year-class, an index for the spring–summer water temperatures experienced by alewives during their first year in the lake, an index of the severity of the first winter experienced by alewives in the lake, and an index of lake productivity during an alewife year-class's second year in the lake. Based on an information criterion, the best model for alewife recruitment included indices of salmonine predation and spring–summer water temperatures as external variables. Our analysis corroborated the contention that a decline in alewife abundance during the 1970s and early 1980s in Lake Michigan was driven by salmonine predation. Furthermore, our findings indicated that the extraordinarily warm water temperatures during the spring and summer of 1998 probably led to a moderately high recruitment of age-3 alewives in 2001, despite abundant salmonines.

Rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) as predators on young bloaters (Coregonus hoyi) in Lake Michigan

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stedman, Ralph M.; Argyle, Ray L.

1985-01-01

Examination of the stomach contents of rainbow smelt caught in bottom trawls in Lake Michigan during mid October, 1982, revealed that of 267 rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) with food in their stomachs, 56% (150) had eaten young-of-the-year fish. Nearly 15% of the prey fish consumed were bloaters (Coregonus hoyi), 21 % were alewives(Alosa pseudoharengus), and the rest could not be positively identified but were probably bloaters and alewives. Although smelt predation did not appear to have affected bloater abundance, continued increases in smelt abundance and declines in alewife populations could lead to increased predator pressure on bloater stocks, which are in the process of rebuilding.

Emergence of a novel prey life history promotes contemporary sympatric diversification in a top predator.

PubMed

Brodersen, Jakob; Howeth, Jennifer G; Post, David M

2015-09-14

Intraspecific phenotypic variation can strongly impact community and ecosystem dynamics. Effects of intraspecific variation in keystone species have been shown to propagate down through the food web by altering the adaptive landscape for other species and creating a cascade of ecological and evolutionary change. However, similar bottom-up eco-evolutionary effects are poorly described. Here we show that life history diversification in a keystone prey species, the alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), propagates up through the food web to promote phenotypic diversification in its native top predator, the chain pickerel (Esox niger), on contemporary timescales. The landlocking of alewife by human dam construction has repeatedly created a stable open water prey resource, novel to coastal lakes, that has promoted the parallel emergence of a habitat polymorphism in chain pickerel. Understanding how strong interactions propagate through food webs to influence diversification across multiple trophic levels is critical to understand eco-evolutionary interactions in complex natural ecosystems.

Effect of sample handling on thiamine and thiaminolytic activity in alewife

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wright, G.M.; Brown, S.B.; Brown, L.R.; Moore, K.; Villella, M.; Zajicek, J.L.; Tillitt, D.E.; Fitzsimons, J.D.; Honeyfield, D.C.

2005-01-01

Alewives Alosa pseudoharengus were collected to evaluate handling and processing conditions that may affect the measurement of their thiamine-thiaminase content. Fish were captured by otter trawl, and reference samples of live fish were quick-frozen on dry ice immediately following capture. Other samples were placed on wet ice (4??C) or held in ambient lake water (21.5??C) for periods of up to 5 h before freezing. Total thiamine levels for reference samples averaged 26 nmol/g and consisted of 66, 15, and 19% thiamine pyrophosphate (TPP), thiamine monophosphate (TMP), and unphosphorylated thiamine (Th), respectively. After 120 min at either 4??C or 21.5??C, total thiamine concentrations were lower. At 21.5??C, the TPP proportion had decreased by 30 min and the proportion as Th increased after 60 min. In the groups sampled after 5 h, total thiamine concentrations were not altered but the proportion of TPP was lower and that of Th was higher than in reference samples. The stability of thiamine in thawed muscle samples from previously frozen alewives was poor (40% loss by 1 h at 22??C and 30% loss by 2 h at 4??C). Thiaminase activity averaged 5,975 pmol??g wet weight -1??min-1 in reference samples. In fresh-caught alewives, thiaminase activities were remarkably consistent throughout the sampling period. At 4??C, thiaminase activity in muscle tissue from previously frozen alewives was stable for the entire investigation period. At 25??C, the activity initially increased by 40% after 60 min but then decreased to 50% of initial value after 5 h. We conclude that sampling times greater than 25 min could cause some changes in the various thiamine forms and net loss in total thiamine. The thiamine content in previously frozen alewife samples is highly labile, requiring low temperatures during processing for analysis. ?? Copyright by the American Fisheries Society 2005.

Multibeam sonar (DIDSON) assessment of American shad (Alosa sapidissima) approaching a hydroelectric dam

USGS Publications Warehouse

Grote, Ann B.; Bailey, Michael M.; Zydlewski, Joseph D.; Hightower, Joseph E.

2014-01-01

We investigated the fish community approaching the Veazie Dam on the Penobscot River, Maine, prior to implementation of a major dam removal and river restoration project. Multibeam sonar (dual-frequency identification sonar, DIDSON) surveys were conducted continuously at the fishway entrance from May to July in 2011. A 5% subsample of DIDSON data contained 43 793 fish targets, the majority of which were of Excellent (15.7%) or Good (73.01%) observation quality. Excellent quality DIDSON targets (n = 6876) were apportioned by species using a Bayesian mixture model based on four known fork length distributions (river herring (alewife,Alosa psuedoharengus, and blueback herring, Alosa aestivalis), American shad, Alosa sapidissima) and two size classes (one sea-winter and multi-sea-winter) of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). 76.2% of targets were assigned to the American shad distribution; Atlantic salmon accounted for 15.64%, and river herring 8.16% of observed targets. Shad-sized (99.0%) and salmon-sized (99.3%) targets approached the fishway almost exclusively during the day, whereas river herring-sized targets were observed both during the day (51.1%) and at night (48.9%). This approach demonstrates how multibeam sonar imaging can be used to evaluate community composition and species-specific movement patterns in systems where there is little overlap in the length distributions of target species.

Growth and condition of alewives in Lake Michigan, 1984-2001

USGS Publications Warehouse

Madenjian, Charles P.; Holuszko, Jeffrey D.; DeSorcie, Timothy J.

2003-01-01

Diets of salmonines in Lake Michigan have been dominated by alewives Alosa pseudoharengus since the 1960s, and information on alewife population dynamics is critical to the management of salmonine fisheries. We monitored alewife size at age and condition (K) at several different locations in Lake Michigan during fall 1984–2001. Alewives were aged by enumerating annuli on otoliths. The results indicated that alewife length at age did not trend upward or downward between 1984 and the late 1990s but decreased from the late 1990s to 2001. Alewife weight at age was relatively constant between 1984 and the mid-1990s but decreased from the mid-1990s to 2001. Mean condition for a given alewife age was, on average, 13.7% higher during 1984–1994 than during 1995–2001. This decline in alewife condition was not a density-dependent response by the alewife population because alewife abundance trended neither upward nor downward during 1984–2001. The decline in alewife condition was possibly due to the lakewide decrease in the abundance of Diporeia spp. during the 1990s. Apparently, the availability of the large-bodied invertebrates Diporeia and Mysis spp. was an important regulator of adult alewife growth because alewives attained a substantially larger size in Lake Michigan, where these invertebrates were relatively important constituents of the adult alewife diet, than in Lake Ontario, where these invertebrates were not readily eaten by adult alewives. For age-2 or older females, mean length was 2–9 mm greater than for males. Alewife size at age and condition were slightly higher on the eastern side of Lake Michigan than on the western side.

Lake Ontario: Food web dynamics in a changing ecosystem (1970-2000)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mills, E.L.; Casselman, J.M.; Dermott, R.; Fitzsimons, J.D.; Gal, G.; Holeck, K. T.; Hoyle, J.A.; Johannsson, O.E.; Lantry, B.F.; Makarewicz, J.C.; Millard, E.S.; Munawar, I.F.; Munawar, M.; O'Gorman, R.; Owens, R.W.; Rudstam, L. G.; Schaner, T.; Stewart, T.J.

2003-01-01

We examined stressors that have led to profound ecological changes in the Lake Ontario ecosystem and its fish community since 1970. The most notable changes have been reductions in phosphorus loading, invasion by Dreissena spp., fisheries management through stocking of exotic salmonids and control of sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus), and fish harvest by anglers and double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus). The response to these stressors has led to (i) declines in both algal photosynthesis and epilimnetic zooplankton production, (ii) decreases in alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) abundance, (iii) declines in native Diporeia and lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis), (iv) behavioral shifts in alewife spatial distribution benefitting native lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush), threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), and emerald shiner (Notropis atherinoides) populations, (v) dramatic increases in water clarity, (vi) predation impacts by cormorants on select fish species, and (vii) lake trout recruitment bottlenecks associated with alewife-induced thiamine deficiency. We expect stressor responses associated with anthropogenic forces like exotic species invasions and global climate warming to continue to impact the Lake Ontario ecosystem in the future and recommend continuous long-term ecological studies to enhance scientific understanding and management of this important resource.

Swimming performance of upstream migrant fishes in open-channel flow: A new approach to predicting passage through velocity barriers

USGS Publications Warehouse

Haro, A.; Castro-Santos, T.; Noreika, J.; Odeh, M.

2004-01-01

The ability to traverse barriers of high-velocity flow limits the distributions of many diadromous and other migratory fish species, yet very few data exist that quantify this ability. We provide a detailed analysis of sprint swimming ability of six migratory fish species (American shad (Alosa sapidissima), alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), blueback herring (Alosa aestivalis), striped bass (Morone saxatilis), walleye (Stizostedion vitreum), and white sucker (Catostomus commersoni)) against controlled water velocities of 1.5-4.5 m??s-1 in a large, open-channel flume. Performance was strictly voluntary: no coercive incentives were used to motivate fish to sprint. We used these data to generate models of maximum distance traversed, taking into account effects of flow velocity, body length, and temperature. Although the maximum distance traversed decreased with increasing velocity, the magnitude of this effect varied among species. Other covariate effects were likewise variable, with divergent effects of temperature and nonuniform length effects. These effects do not account for all of the variability in performance, however, and behavioral traits may account for observed interspecific differences. We propose the models be used to develop criteria for fish passage structures, culverts, and breached dams.

Influence of diet of double-crested cormorants on thiamine, lead, and mineral contents of their eggs

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ketola, H. George; Johnson, James H.; Adams, C.M.; Farquhar, J.F.

2009-01-01

Throughout much of the Great Lakes basin, reproduction of several fish species is impaired by deficiency of thiamine in their eggs, an effect attributed to consumption of thiaminase-containing forage species, primarily alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus.) Because the double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) nesting on islands in Lake Ontario is known to consume considerable amounts of alewife, we examined cormorant food habits and measured thiamine content in eggs collected in 1999 from six separate nests of cormorants from colonies near Lake Ontario and contrasted them with food habits and eggs of cormorants from Oneida Lake where the alewife is rare. Thiamine concentrations in eggs varied between 4.31 and 11.24 nmoleslg with no significant (P>0.18) difference between mean concentrations for Lake Ontario and Oneida Lake (8.08 vs 8.36 nmoles/g) even though alewife comprised approximately 65 vs 0 % of their diets, respectively. Consumption of other thiaminase-containing species was minor in both lakes. Therefore, consumption of alewife and other thiaminase containing fishes by cormorants on Lake Ontario did not appear to significantly impair the levels of thiamine in their eggs. However, we found that the concentration of thiamine in eggs (T; nmoles/g) was inversely related (P<0.02) to lead (Pb) concentration (μg/g) according to the equation: T = −3.142 Pb + 16.25. This relationship may reflect the known ability of thiamine to chelate lead and increase its excretion.

Influence of diet of double-crested cormorants on thiamine, lead, and mineral contents of their eggs

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ketola, H.G.; Johnson, J. H.; Adams, C.M.; Farquhar, J.F.

2009-01-01

Throughout much of the Great Lakes basin, reproduction of several fish species is impaired by deficiency of thiamine in their eggs, an effect attributed to consumption of thiaminase-containing forage species, primarily alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus). Because the double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) nesting on islands in Lake Ontario is known to consume considerable amounts of alewife, we examined cormorant food habits and measured thiamine content in eggs collected in 1999 from six separate nests of cormorants from colonies near Lake Ontario and contrasted them with food habits and eggs of cormorants from Oneida Lake where the alewife is rare. Thiamine concentrations in eggs varied between 4.31 and 11.24 nmoles/g with no significant (P>0.18) difference between mean concentrations for Lake Ontario and Oneida Lake (8.08 vs 8.36 nmoles/g) even though alewife comprised approximately 65 vs 0 % of their diets, respectively. Consumption of other thiaminase-containing species was minor in both lakes. Therefore, consumption of alewife and other thiaminase containing fishes by cormorants on Lake Ontario did not appear to significantly impair the levels of thiamine in their eggs. However, we found that the concentration of thiamine in eggs (T; nmoles/g) was inversely related (P<0.02) to lead (Pb) concentration (µg/g) according to the equation: T = -3.142 Pb + 16.25. This relationship may reflect the known ability of thiamine to chelate lead and increase its excretion.

Dynamics of the Lake Michigan food web, 1970-2000

USGS Publications Warehouse

Madenjian, Charles P.; Fahnenstiel, Gary L.; Johengen, Thomas H.; Nalepa, Thomas F.; Vanderploeg, Henry A.; Fleischer, Guy W.; Schneeberger, Philip J.; Benjamin, Darren M.; Smith, Emily B.; Bence, James R.; Rutherford, Edward S.; Lavis, Dennis S.; Robertson, Dale M.; Jude, David J.; Ebener, Mark P.

2002-01-01

Herein, we document changes in the Lake Michigan food web between 1970 and 2000 and identify the factors responsible for these changes. Control of sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) and alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) populations in Lake Michigan, beginning in the 1950s and 1960s, had profound effects on the food web. Recoveries of lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) and burbot (Lota lota) populations, as well as the buildup of salmonine populations, were attributable, at least in part, to sea lamprey control. Based on our analyses, predation by salmonines was primarily responsible for the reduction in alewife abundance during the 1970s and early 1980s. In turn, the decrease in alewife abundance likely contributed to recoveries of deepwater sculpin (Myoxocephalus thompsoni), yellow perch (Perca flavescens), and burbot populations during the 1970s and 1980s. Decrease in the abundance of all three dominant benthic macroinvertebrate groups, including Diporeia, oligochaetes, and sphaeriids, during the 1980s in nearshore waters (50 m deep) of Lake Michigan, was attributable to a decrease in primary production linked to a decline in phosphorus loadings. Continued decrease in Diporeia abundance during the 1990s was associated with the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) invasion, but specific mechanisms for zebra mussels affecting Diporeia abundance remain unidentified.

Sustainability of hatchery-dependent salmonine fisheries in Lake Ontario: The conflict between predator demand and predator supply

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jones, Michael L.; Koonce, Joseph F.; O'Gorman, Robert

1993-01-01

The offshore fish community of Lake Ontario is presently dominated by intensively managed, nonnative species: Alewife Alosa pseudoharengus and rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax at the planktivore level and stocked salmonines at the piscivore level. Salmonine stocking rates per unit area of Lake Ontario are the highest in the Great Lakes, and fishery managers are concerned about the sustainability of the fishery under present stocking policies, particularly with the recent collapse of the Lake Michigan fishery for chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha. In this paper, we describe and present the results of a simulation model that integrates predator demand estimates derived from bioenergetics, prey and predator population dynamics, and a predation model based on the multiple-species functional response, Model reconstructions of historical alewife biomass trends and salmonine diets corresponded reasonably well with existing data for the period 1978–1992. The simulations suggest that current predator demand does not exceed the threshold beyond which alewife biomass cannot be sustained, but they indicate that the sustainability of the prey fish community is extremely sensitive to fluctuations in overwinter survival of alewife; an additional mortality of 25% in a single winter would be sufficient to cause the collapse of the alewife population. The model includes a number of assumptions and simplifications with a limited empirical basis; better estimates of salmonine survival rates, an evaluation of the importance of spatial and temporal interactions among predators and prey, and incorporation of the effects of recently observed declines in system productivity at lower trophic levels would significantly increase confidence in the model's projections.

Seasonal consumption of Hemimysis anomala by fish in southeastern Lake Ontario, 2009-2010

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lantry, B.F.; Gumtow, C.F.; Walsh, M.G.; Weidel, B.C.; Boscarino, B.T.; Rudstam, L. G.

2012-01-01

We investigated the seasonal occurrence of Hemimysis anomala in the diets of fish that prey on macroinvertebrates at two sites with established Hemimysis populations east of Oswego, NY, during 2009-2010. In 2009, we examined 320 stomachs from 10 species and found Hemimysis only in alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), rockbass (Ambloplites rupestris), and yellow perch (Perca flavescens). Of those species, alewife consumed Hemimysis most frequently and it represented a greater proportion of their diets. During 2009, the dry weight composition of Hemimysis in alewife diets varied seasonally between <1% in June, 5% in July, 98.5% in August, and 18.8% in September. In contrast, we examined 667 stomachs from 15 species in 2010 and observed Hemimysis in only one alewife and two rockbass stomachs. For alewife from September 2009, we found no relationship between predator size and the number of Hemimysis consumed, or between the presence of Hemimysis in fish diets and the presence of other diet taxa or diet diversity. Fish diets collected as bycatch from other assessments revealed large numbers of Hemimysis in fishes that had not previously been observed consuming Hemimysis in Lake Ontario, including cisco (Coregonus artedi) and white perch (Morone americana). Our results indicate Hemimysis consumption by nearshore fish can be high, but that it is variable across seasons and years, and may be most prevalent in fish that feed up in the water column, at or near dark, and have the ability to consume swift moving prey like Mysis diluviana or small fish.

Resurgence of emerald shiners Notropis atherinoides in Lake Huron's main basin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Schaeffer, J.S.; Warner, D.M.; O'Brien, T. P.

2008-01-01

Emerald shiners Notropis atherinoides were formerly common in Lakes Huron and Michigan, but declined during the 1960s as the exotic alewife Alosa pseudoharengus proliferated. The Lake Huron emerald shiner population was chronically depressed through 2004; however, we detected resurgence in emerald shiner density and biomass in Lake Huron during acoustic and midwater trawl surveys conducted during 2004-2006. Emerald shiners were not found during 2004, but by 2006 main basin density exceeded 500 fish/ha, biomass estimates exceeded 0.5 kg/ha, and emerald shiners contributed more to pelagic biomass than alewives or rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax. Length frequency distributions suggested that increased density was the result of two consecutive strong year classes in 2005 and 2006. Emerald shiner distributions also expanded from a focus in western Lake Huron in 2005 to a lakewide distribution in 2006. Emerald shiners occurred offshore, but were nearly always associated with epilimnetic surface waters warmer than 19??C. Resurgence of emerald shiners was likely a consequence of reduced alewife abundance, as they declined concurrently with alewife proliferation during the early 1960s. Return of this species may benefit native nearshore piscivores; however, benefits to Pacific salmonids Oncorhynchus spp. are uncertain because emerald shiners are smaller and still less abundant than historically important prey species, and they may be thermally segregated from salmonines.

Testing for synchrony in recruitment among four Lake Michigan fish species

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bunnell, David B.; Höök, Tomas O.; Troy, Cary D.; Liu, Wentao; Madenjian, Charles P.; Adams, Jean V.

2017-01-01

In the Great Lakes region, multiple fish species display intra-specific spatial synchrony in 28 recruitment success, with inter-annual climate variation hypothesized as the most likely driver. 29 In Lake Michigan, we evaluated whether climatic or other physical variables could also induce 30 spatial synchrony across multiple species, including bloater (Coregonus hoyi), rainbow smelt 31 (Osmerus mordax), yellow perch (Perca flavescens), and alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus). The 32 residuals from stock-recruitment relationships revealed yellow perch recruitment to be correlated 33 with recruitment of both rainbow smelt (r = 0.37) and alewife (r = 0.36). Across all four species, 34 higher than expected recruitment occurred in 5 years between 1978 and 1987 and then switched 35 to lower than expected recruitment in 5 years between 1996 and 2004. Generalized additive 36 models revealed warmer spring and summer water temperatures and lower wind speeds 37 corresponded to higher than expected recruitment for the nearshore-spawning species, and 38 overall variance explained ranged from 14% (yellow perch) to 61% (alewife). For all species 39 but rainbow smelt, higher recruitment also occurred in extremely high or low years of the North 40 Atlantic Oscillation index. Future development of indices that describe the physical Great Lakes 41 environment could improve understanding of how climate can synchronize fish populations 42 within and across species.

Diet niches of major forage fish in Lake Michigan

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hunter, R. Douglas; Savino, J.F.; Ogilvie, L.M.; ,

2007-01-01

A large complex of coregonine species historically dominated the fish community of Lake Michigan. The current species complex is simplified with one remaining coregonine, bloater (Coregonus hoyi), deepwater sculpin (Myoxocephalus thompsoni), slimy sculpin (Cottus cognatus), and two dominant invaders, alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) and rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax). To better understand the diet relationships of the major offshore forage fishes now in Lake Michigan, diets of bloater, alewife, rainbow smelt, deepwater sculpin, and slimy sculpin were compared. The three sites, chosen to represent northern, central, and southern components of the lake, were sampled during spring, summer, and fall in 1994, and spring and fall in 1995. Forage fishes had diverse and variable diets, with niches differentiated by prey type or location. Diporeia hoyi, Mysis relicta, and zooplankton were the major diet items. The index of relative importance showed benthic (slimy and deepwater sculpins) and pelagic (alewife, rainbow smelt) feeding strategies with opportunistic bloaters incorporating both feeding strategies. Highest diet overlaps were between species of sculpin, and between large and small bloaters; both groups partitioned food by size. Though competition for food may be minimized by spatial segregation of potential competitors, the forage fish in Lake Michigan apparently partition food resources. Fishery management models incorporating food habits of pelagic forage fish would need to take into account diet variation associated with location and season. ?? 2007 E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung.

Spawning behaviour of Allis shad Alosa alosa: new insights based on imaging sonar data.

PubMed

Langkau, M C; Clavé, D; Schmidt, M B; Borcherding, J

2016-06-01

Spawning behaviour of Alosa alosa was observed by high resolution imaging sonar. Detected clouds of sexual products and micro bubbles served as a potential indicator of spawning activity. Peak spawning time was between 0130 and 0200 hours at night. Increasing detections over three consecutive nights were consistent with sounds of mating events (bulls) assessed in hearing surveys in parallel to the hydro acoustic detection. In 70% of the analysed mating events there were no additional A. alosa joining the event whilst 70% of the mating events showed one or two A. alosa leaving the cloud. In 31% of the analysed mating events, however, three or more A. alosa were leaving the clouds, indicating that matings are not restricted to a pair. Imaging sonar is suitable for monitoring spawning activity and behaviour of anadromous clupeids in their spawning habitats. © 2016 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

Thiamine content and thiaminase activity of ten freshwater stocks and one marine stock of alewives

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fitzsimons, J.D.; Williston, B.; Zajicek, J.L.; Tillitt, D.E.; Brown, S.B.; Brown, L.R.; Honeyfield, D.C.; Warner, D.M.; Rudstam, L. G.; Pearsall, W.

2005-01-01

Alewives Alosa pseudoharengus contain thiaminase activity that has been implicated in the development of a thiamine deficiency and associated effects in salmonines of the Great Lakes basin. Little is known about the factors that regulate thiaminase activity in alewives. We sampled alewives of uniform size (60-120 mm) during the summer of 1998 from the Gulf of St. Lawrence, seven of New York's Finger Lakes, one inland lake in Ontario, and two Great Lakes to assess possible relationships among thiamine, lipid content, fish abundance, lake morphometry, lake productivity, freshwater residency, and thiaminase activity. Thiaminase activity varied significantly among the 11 locations but was unrelated to thiamine concentration, which did not vary significantly. Alewife thiaminase activity in the Finger Lakes was negatively related to lipid content and positively related to measures of lake size (e.g., area, volume, and maximum depth). Activity in the one marine stock sampled in the Gulf of St. Lawrence was comparable to the highest values observed in the 10 freshwater stocks examined. Variation in alewife thiaminase activity has the potential to affect the extent of a thiamine deficiency associated with salmonines who feed on alewives as well as the viability of their offspring.

Use of conventional fishery models to assess entrainment and impingement of three Lake Michigan fish species

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jensen, A.L.; Spigarelli, J.A.; Thommes, M.M.

1982-01-01

Two conventional fishery stock assessment models, the surplus-production model and the dynamic-pool model, were applied to assess the impacts of water withdrawals by electricity-generating plants, industries, and municipalities on the standing stocks and yields of alewife Alosa pseudoharengus, rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax, and yellow perch Perca flavescens in Lake Michigan. Impingement and entrainment estimates were based on data collected at 15 power plants. The surplus-production model was fitted to the three populations with catch and effort data from the commercial fisheries. Dynamic-pool model parameters were estimated from published data. The numbers entrained and impinged are large, but the proportions ofmore » the standing stocks impinged and the proportions of the eggs and larvae entrained are small. The reductions in biomass of the stocks and in maximum sustainable yields are larger than the proportions impinged. The reductions in biomass, based on 1975 data and an assumed full water withdrawal, are 2.86% for alewife, 0.76% for rainbow smelt, and 0.28% for yellow perch. Fishery models are an economical means of impact assessment in situations where catch and effort data are available for estimation of model parameters.« less

Update COSEWIC status report on the shortjaw cisco, Coregonus zenithicus, in Canada

USGS Publications Warehouse

Todd, Thomas N.

2003-01-01

Extirpated in most of the Great Lakes, the shortjaw cisco, Coregonus zenithicus, is currently found in Lakes Superior and Nipigon in addition to at least 22 Canadian lakes. The species exhibits morphological and genetic variability throughout its range and may consist of more than one distinct taxon. However, a common morph is widely distributed from the Great Lakes to the Northwest Territories, consistent with a hypothesis of preglacial origin for the species. Shortjaw ciscoes have declined because of excessive exploitation by food fisheries, habitat degradation, and predation and competition with introduced and exotic species such as alewife, Alosa pseudoharengus, and rainbow smelt, Osmerus mordax. The status of the species in most Canadian lakes is unknown, but continuing declines in those lakes that have been monitored suggest that the shortjaw cisco should be considered as threatened throughout its range.

Thiamine and thiaminase status in forage fish of salmonines from Lake Michigan

USGS Publications Warehouse

Tillitt, D.E.; Zajicek, J.L.; Brown, S.B.; Brown, L.R.; Fitzsimons, J.D.; Honeyfield, D.C.; Holey, M.E.; Wright, G.M.

2005-01-01

Dietary sources of thiamine (vitamin B1) and thiamine-degrading enzymes (thiaminases) are thought to be primary factors in the development of thiamine deficiency among Great Lakes salmonines. We surveyed major forage fish species in Lake Michigan for their content of thiamine, thiamine vitamers, and thiaminase activity. Concentrations of total thiamine were similar (P ≤ 0.05) among most forage fishes (alewife Alosa pseudoharengus, bloater Coregonus hoyi, spottail shiner Notropis hudsonius, deepwater sculpin Myoxocephalus thompsonii, yellow perch Perca flavescens, ninespine stickleback Pungitius pungitius, and round goby Neogobius melanostomus) and slightly lower in rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax. Concentrations of total thiamine were all above the dietary requirements of coldwater fishes, suggesting the thiamine content of forage fish is not the critical factor in the development of thiamine deficiency in Lake Michigan salmonines. Thiamine pyrophosphate was the predominant form of thiamine in most species of forage fish, followed by free thiamine and thiamine monophosphate. Total thiamine was slightly greater in summer collections of alewife and rainbow smelt than in spring and fall collections, but the same was not true for bloater. Thiaminase activity varied among species and was greatest in gizzard shad Dorosoma cepedianum, spottail shiner, alewife, and rainbow smelt. Thiaminase activity in alewife varied among collection locations, season (greatest in spring), and size of the fish. Size and condition factors were positively correlated with both total thiamine and thiaminase activity in alewife. Thus, thiamine and thiaminase activity in forage fishes collected in Lake Michigan varied among species, seasons, year caught, and size (or condition). Therefore, multiple factors must be considered in the development of predictive models for the onset of thiamine deficiency in Great Lakes salmonines. Most importantly, thiaminase activity was great in alewives and

Chinook salmon foraging patterns in a changing Lake Michigan

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jacobs, Gregory R.; Madenjian, Charles P.; Bunnell, David B.; Warner, David M.; Claramunt, Randall M.

2013-01-01

Since Pacific salmon stocking began in Lake Michigan, managers have attempted to maintain salmon abundance at high levels within what can be sustained by available prey fishes, primarily Alewife Alosa pseudoharengus. Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha are the primary apex predators in pelagic Lake Michigan and patterns in their prey selection (by species and size) may strongly influence pelagic prey fish communities in any given year. In 1994–1996, there were larger Alewives, relatively more abundant alternative prey species, fewer Chinook Salmon, and fewer invasive species in Lake Michigan than in 2009–2010. The years 2009–2010 were instead characterized by smaller, leaner Alewives, fewer alternative prey species, higher abundance of Chinook Salmon, a firmly established nonnative benthic community, and reduced abundance of Diporeia, an important food of Lake Michigan prey fish. We characterized Chinook Salmon diets, prey species selectivity, and prey size selectivity between 1994–1996 and 2009–2010 time periods. In 1994–1996, Alewife as prey represented a smaller percentage of Chinook Salmon diets than in 2009–2010, when alewife comprised over 90% of Chinook Salmon diets, possibly due to declines in alternative prey fish populations. The size of Alewives eaten by Chinook Salmon also decreased between these two time periods. For the largest Chinook Salmon in 2009–2010, the average size of Alewife prey was nearly 50 mm total length shorter than in 1994–1996. We suggest that changes in the Lake Michigan food web, such as the decline in Diporeia, may have contributed to the relatively low abundance of large Alewives during the late 2000s by heightening the effect of predation from top predators like Chinook Salmon, which have retained a preference for Alewife and now forage with greater frequency on smaller Alewives.

Fish community response to dam removal in a Maine coastal river tributary

USGS Publications Warehouse

Zydlewski, Joseph D.; Hogg, Robert S.; Coghlan, Stephen M.; Gardner, Cory

2016-01-01

Sedgeunkedunk Stream, a third-order tributary to the Penobscot River in Maine, historically has supported several anadromous fishes including Atlantic Salmon Salmo salar, Alewife Alosa pseudoharengus, and Sea Lamprey Petromyzon marinus. Two small dams constructed in the 1800s reduced or eliminated spawning runs entirely. In 2009, efforts to restore marine–freshwater connectivity in the system culminated in removal of the lowermost dam (Mill Dam) providing access to 4.7 km of lotic habitat and unimpeded passage into the lentic habitat of Fields Pond. In anticipation of these barrier removals, we initiated a modified before-after-control-impact study, and monitored stream fish assemblages in fixed treatment and reference sites. Electrofishing surveys were conducted twice yearly since 2007. Results indicated that density, biomass, and diversity of the fish assemblage increased at all treatment sites upstream of the 2009 dam removal. No distinct changes in these metrics occurred at reference sites. We documented recolonization and successful reproduction of Atlantic Salmon, Alewife, and Sea Lamprey in previously inaccessible upstream reaches. These results clearly demonstrate that dam removal has enhanced the fish assemblage by providing an undisrupted stream gradient linking a small headwater lake and tributary with a large coastal river, its estuary, and the Atlantic Ocean.

Evaluation of a chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) bioenergetics model

USGS Publications Warehouse

Madenjian, Charles P.; O'Connor, Daniel V.; Chernyak, Sergei M.; Rediske, Richard R.; O'Keefe, James P.

2004-01-01

We evaluated the Wisconsin bioenergetics model for chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in both the laboratory and the field. Chinook salmon in laboratory tanks were fed alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), the predominant food of chinook salmon in Lake Michigan. Food consumption and growth by chinook salmon during the experiment were measured. To estimate the efficiency with which chinook salmon retain polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from their food in the laboratory, PCB concentrations of the alewife and of the chinook salmon at both the beginning and end of the experiment were determined. Based on our laboratory evaluation, the bioenergetics model was furnishing unbiased estimates of food consumption by chinook salmon. Additionally, from the laboratory experiment, we calculated that chinook salmon retained 75% of the PCBs contained within their food. In an earlier study, assimilation rate of PCBs to chinook salmon from their food in Lake Michigan was estimated at 53%, thereby suggesting that the model was substantially overestimating food consumption by chinook salmon in Lake Michigan. However, we concluded that field performance of the model could not be accurately assessed because PCB assimilation efficiency is dependent on feeding rate, and feeding rate of chinook salmon was likely much lower in our laboratory tanks than in Lake Michigan.

Lake Michigan's capacity to support lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) and other salmonines: an estimate based on the status of prey populations in the 1970s

USGS Publications Warehouse

Eck, Gary W.; Brown, Edward H.

1985-01-01

We used a mass balance equation relating total mortality of age II and older alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus) to their removals by predatory fish and other sources of mortality as the basis for estimating that the forage base in Lake Michigan could support an additional 13 000 to 21 000 t of lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) or a total lake trout biomass between 15 000 and 23 000 t. This biomass estimate is projected with biomasses of other trout and salmon held at 1979 levels. Major premises of this approach are that (1) the sustained availability of age II and older alewives to salmonines will ultimately limit the expansion of salmonine stocks, (2) the alewife population was oscillating without trend during 1973–80, and (3) additional limited predation on alewives would be compensated by a reduction in natural mortality caused by physiological stress and disease.

Food of forage fishes in western Lake Erie, 1975-76

USGS Publications Warehouse

Muth, Kenneth M.; Busch, Wolf-Dieter N.

1989-01-01

In western Lake Erie in the summer and fall of 1975–1976, food eaten by seven forage fishes—emerald shiner (Notropis atherinoides), spottail shiner (Notropis hudsonius), trout-perch (Percopsis omiscomaycus), andyoung-of-the-year (YOY) of alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), gizzard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum), white bass (Morone chrysops), and freshwater drum (Aplodi-notus grunniens)—was divided among six major taxa: Cladocera, Copepoda, Diptera, Ostracoda, Amphipoda, and Algae. In addition, fish were eaten by YOY white bass, and Rotifera were consumed by YOY gizzard shad. Interspecies diet overlap indices, calculated to compare the food of the different species and to evaluate diet similarities, were usually highest for YOY white bass and YOY freshwater drum when compared with the other species and usually lowest between emerald shiners and all other forage fishes. Understanding the feeding interactions among fishes that could influence production at the forage-food level of the food web could provide insight into how cascading trophic interactions influence the production of piscivorous predators.

Egg fatty acid composition from lake trout fed two Lake Michigan prey fish species.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Honeyfield, D.C.; Fitzsimons, J.D.; Tillitt, D.E.; Brown, S.B.

2009-01-01

We previously demonstrated that there were significant differences in the egg thiamine content in lake trout Salvelinus namaycush fed two Lake Michigan prey fish (alewife Alosa pseudoharengus and bloater Coregonus hoyi). Lake trout fed alewives produced eggs low in thiamine, but it was unknown whether the consumption of alewives affected other nutritionally important components. In this study we investigated the fatty acid composition of lake trout eggs when females were fed diets that resulted in different egg thiamine concentrations. For 2 years, adult lake trout were fed diets consisting of four combinations of captured alewives and bloaters (100% alewives; 65% alewives, 35% bloaters; 35% alewives, 65% bloaters; and 100% bloaters). The alewife fatty acid profile had higher concentrations of arachidonic acid and total omega-6 fatty acids than the bloater profile. The concentrations of four fatty acids (cis-13, 16-docosadienoic, eicosapentaenoic, docosapentaenoic, and docosahexaenoic acids) were higher in bloaters than in alewives. Although six fatty acid components were higher in lake trout eggs in 2001 than in 2000 and eight fatty acids were lower, diet had no effect on any fatty acid concentration measured in lake trout eggs in this study. Based on these results, it appears that egg fatty acid concentrations differ between years but that the egg fatty acid profile does not reflect the alewife-bloater mix in the diet of adults. The essential fatty acid content of lake trout eggs from females fed alewives and bloaters appears to be physiologically regulated and adequate to meet the requirements of developing embryos.

Occurrence of the Great Lake's most recent invader, Hemimysis anomala, in the diet of fishes in southeastern Lake Ontario

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lantry, B.F.; Walsh, M.G.; Johnson, J. H.; McKenna, J.E.

2010-01-01

The Ponto-Caspian mysid, Hemimysis anomala, was first observed in southeastern Lake Ontario in May 2006. During July and August 2007, gill nets were fished in 6 to 8 m of water at two locations of known Hemimysis colonization in southeastern Lake Ontario to determine if fish that consume macroinvertebrates were beginning to include this new invasive mysid in their diets. Of nine fish species captured in August, September, and October 2007, three species had consumed Hemimysis: alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), rock bass (Ambloplites rupestris), and yellow perch (Perca flavescens); and six species had not: round goby Apollonia melanostoma, smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu, spottail shiner Notropis hudsonius, gizzard shad Dorosoma cepedianum, white perch Morone americana and log perch Percina caprodes. Diets of alewives from all samples were composed predominantly of Hemimysis (69.6% -100% frequency of occurrence, 46.0%–74.5% dry weight diet composition). Two of 6 rock bass stomachs sampled in August contained ≥ 98.9% Hemimysis (10 and 40 individuals each) and one of 61 yellow perch stomachs sampled in September contained 10.0% Hemimysis (6 individuals) and 90.0% fish. While Hemimysis were observed only sparsely in the diet of most nearshore fish, their predominance in alewife diets and their omnivorous feeding behavior indicated that they have the potential to alter energy flow in Great Lakes' foodwebs.

Spatial patterns in PCB concentrations of Lake Michigan lake trout

USGS Publications Warehouse

Madenjian, Charles P.; DeSorcie, Timothy J.; Stedman, Ralph M.; Brown, Edward H.; Eck, Gary W.; Schmidt, Larry J.; Hesselberg, Robert J.; Chernyak, Sergei M.; Passino-Reader, Dora R.

1999-01-01

Most of the PCB body burden in lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) of the Great Lakes is from their food. PCB concentrations were determined in lake trout from three different locations in Lake Michigan during 1994–1995, and lake trout diets were analyzed at all three locations. The PCB concentrations were also determined in alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax), bloater (Coregonus hoyi), slimy sculpin (Cottus cognatus), and deepwater sculpin (Myoxocephalus thompsoni), five species of prey fish eaten by lake trout in Lake Michigan, at three nearshore sites in the lake. Despite the lack of significant differences in the PCB concentrations of alewife, rainbow smelt, bloater, slimy sculpin, and deepwater sculpin from the southeastern nearshore site near Saugatuck (Michigan) compared with the corresponding PCB concentrations from the northwestern nearshore site near Sturgeon Bay (Wisconsin), PCB concentrations in lake trout at Saugatuck were significantly higher than those at Sturgeon Bay. The difference in the lake trout PCB concentrations between Saugatuck and Sturgeon Bay could be explained by diet differences. The diet of lake trout at Saugatuck was more concentrated in PCBs than the diet of Sturgeon Bay lake trout, and therefore lake trout at Saugatuck were more contaminated in PCBs than Sturgeon Bay lake trout. These findings were useful in interpreting the long-term monitoring series for contaminants in lake trout at both Saugatuck and the Wisconsin side of the lake.

Comparative phylogeography and demographic history of European shads (Alosa alosa and A. fallax) inferred from mitochondrial DNA.

PubMed

Faria, Rui; Weiss, Steven; Alexandrino, Paulo

2012-09-30

Comparative broad-scale phylogeographic studies of aquatic organisms provide insights on biotic responses to the paleohydrological dynamics associated with climatic oscillations. These insights can be used to formulate a framework for understanding the evolutionary history of a species or closely related taxa as well as aid in predictive modeling of further responses to climate change. Anadromous fishes constitute interesting models for understanding the relative importance of environmental versus biological factors in shaping intraspecific genetic substructure on the interface between marine and freshwater realms. European shads, Alosa alosa and A. fallax are anadromous species that have persisted through historical large-scale environmental perturbations and now additionally face an array of anthropogenic challenges. A comprehensive phylogeographic investigation of these species is needed to provide insights on both the historical processes that have shaped their extant genetic structure and diversity, and the prospects for their future management and conservation. Despite introgressive hybridization, A. alosa and A. fallax are genetically divergent, congruent with previous studies. Three similarly divergent mtDNA clades were recognized within both A. fallax and A. alosa, most likely originating during common periods of isolation during the Pleistocene among the studied oceanographic regions. Periods of basin isolation apparently extended to the Black Sea as additional Alosa clades occur there. The present day geographic distribution of genetic diversity within European Alosa sp. suggests the existence of a strong but permeable barrier between the Atlantic and Mediterranean seas, as shown for a number of other aquatic species. Overall mtDNA diversity is considerably lower for A. alosa compared to A. fallax, suggesting that the former species is more sensitive to climatic as well as anthropogenic changes. For A. fallax, migration from the Mediterranean to the

Comparative phylogeography and demographic history of European shads (Alosa alosa and A. fallax) inferred from mitochondrial DNA

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Comparative broad-scale phylogeographic studies of aquatic organisms provide insights on biotic responses to the paleohydrological dynamics associated with climatic oscillations. These insights can be used to formulate a framework for understanding the evolutionary history of a species or closely related taxa as well as aid in predictive modeling of further responses to climate change. Anadromous fishes constitute interesting models for understanding the relative importance of environmental versus biological factors in shaping intraspecific genetic substructure on the interface between marine and freshwater realms. European shads, Alosa alosa and A. fallax are anadromous species that have persisted through historical large-scale environmental perturbations and now additionally face an array of anthropogenic challenges. A comprehensive phylogeographic investigation of these species is needed to provide insights on both the historical processes that have shaped their extant genetic structure and diversity, and the prospects for their future management and conservation. Results Despite introgressive hybridization, A. alosa and A. fallax are genetically divergent, congruent with previous studies. Three similarly divergent mtDNA clades were recognized within both A. fallax and A. alosa, most likely originating during common periods of isolation during the Pleistocene among the studied oceanographic regions. Periods of basin isolation apparently extended to the Black Sea as additional Alosa clades occur there. The present day geographic distribution of genetic diversity within European Alosa sp. suggests the existence of a strong but permeable barrier between the Atlantic and Mediterranean seas, as shown for a number of other aquatic species. Overall mtDNA diversity is considerably lower for A. alosa compared to A. fallax, suggesting that the former species is more sensitive to climatic as well as anthropogenic changes. For A. fallax, migration from the

Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays for a bacterial thiaminase I gene and the thiaminase-producing bacterium Paenibacillus thiaminolyticus.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Richter, C.A.; Wright-Osment, Maureen K.; Zajicek, J.L.; Honeyfield, D.C.; Tillitt, D.E.

2009-01-01

The thiaminase I enzyme produced by the gram-positive bacterium Paenibacillus thiaminolyticus isolated from the viscera of Lake Michigan alewives Alosa pseudoharengus is currently the only defined source of the thiaminase activity linked to thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency in early mortality syndrome (EMS) in the larvae of Great Lakes salmonines. Diets of alewife or isolated strains of P. thiaminolyticus mixed in a semipurified diet and fed to lake trout Salvelinus namaycush have been shown to produce EMS in fry. We utilized quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Q-PCR) to aid in studies of the sources of P. thiaminolyticus and thiaminase I. Quantitative PCR assays were established to detect the thiaminase I gene of P. thiaminolyticus, the 16S rRNA gene from most species of bacteria, and the 16S rRNA gene specifically from P. thiaminolyticus and a few closely related taxa. The Q-PCR assays are linear over at least six orders of magnitude and can detect the thiaminase I gene of P. thiaminolyticus from as few as 1,000 P. thiaminolyticus cells/g of sample or the Paenibacillus 16S rRNA gene from as few as 100 P. thiaminolyticus cells/g of sample. The initial results from alewife viscera samples with high thiaminase activity yielded unexpectedly low densities of P. thiaminolyticus cells; Paenibacillus thiaminolyticus was detectable in 2 of 6 alewife viscera tested at densities on the order of 100 cells/g out of 100,000,000 total bacterial cells/g. The low numbers of P. thiaminolyticus detected suggest that alewives contain additional non-P. thiaminolyticus sources of thiaminase activity.

Use of fish-otolith-length regressions to infer size of double-crested cormorant prey fish from recovered otoliths in Lake Ontario

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ross, Robert M.; Johnson, James H.; Adams, Connie M.

2005-01-01

To provide a method for estimating fish size from fish otoliths for forensic applications or other predictive uses, morphometric measurements were obtained from three centrarchid fishes (pumpkinseed [Lepomis gibbosus], rock bass [Ambloplites rupestris], and smallmouth bass [Micropterus dolomieu]), two percids (yellow perch [Perca flavescens] and walleye [Stizostedion vitreum]), and one clupeid (alewife [Alosa pseudoharengus]) from the eastern basin of Lake Ontario. These species are the principal or economically important prey of Double-crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus), whose diet can be determined from regurgitated digestive pellets containing fish otoliths. A fuller understanding of the ecosystem roles of cormorants requires estimation of prey-fish size, obtainable from regressions of otolith length on fish length. Up to 100 fish of each species were collected from eastern Lake Ontario and measured for total length and otolith length. Least-squares regressions of otolith length on fish length were calculated for all species, covering life-stage ranges of immature fish to large adults near maximum known size. The regressions with 95% confidence intervals may be applicable outside the Lake Ontario ecosystem if used with caution.

Lake Michigan offshore ecosystem structure and food web changes from 1987 to 2008

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rogers, Mark W.; Bunnell, David B.; Madenjian, Charles P.; Warner, David M.

2014-01-01

Ecosystems undergo dynamic changes owing to species invasions, fisheries management decisions, landscape modifications, and nutrient inputs. At Lake Michigan, new invaders (e.g., dreissenid mussels (Dreissena spp.), spiny water flea (Bythotrephes longimanus), round goby (Neogobius melanostomus)) have proliferated and altered energy transfer pathways, while nutrient concentrations and stocking rates to support fisheries have changed. We developed an ecosystem model to describe food web structure in 1987 and ran simulations through 2008 to evaluate changes in biomass of functional groups, predator consumption, and effects of recently invading species. Keystone functional groups from 1987 were identified as Mysis, burbot (Lota lota), phytoplankton, alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), nonpredatory cladocerans, and Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). Simulations predicted biomass reductions across all trophic levels and predicted biomasses fit observed trends for most functional groups. The effects of invasive species (e.g., dreissenid grazing) increased across simulation years, but were difficult to disentangle from other changes (e.g., declining offshore nutrient concentrations). In total, our model effectively represented recent changes to the Lake Michigan ecosystem and provides an ecosystem-based tool for exploring future resource management scenarios.

Distribution, abundance, and biology of the alewife in U.S. waters of Lake Superior

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bronte, Charles R.; Selgeby, James H.; Curtis, Gary L.

1991-01-01

Alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus) were first reported in Lake Superior in 1954 and gradually increased in abundance in the late 1950s. In the 1960s and early 1970s, the fish were widespread in the lake but scarce. We determined the more recent abundance and distribution of alewives by cross-contour trawling in the spring in 1978–1988. Alewives were scarce lake-wide; the mean catch rate was only 23 fish per 100 h of trawling and represented a density of 0.003 kg per hectare in the area swept by the trawls. Fish of six age groups were caught in trawls in spring and gill nets in fall in 1983–1987. Total annual mortality was 64%, a high natural rate in the absence of fishing. Alewives in Lake Superior were small at the end of their first growing season but later grew faster than those in the other Great Lakes. Fecundity, estimated to be 64,000 eggs (mean total length = 187 mm) was higher than in other freshwater stocks. Zooplankton was the major food of alewives < 100 mm long and Mysis was the main food of larger fish. Exposure to water temperatures below lethal minimums for overwintering fish and for developing eggs limits the success of this species in Lake Superior.

Phylogenetic relationships among North American Alosa species (Clupeidae)

Treesearch

B.R. Bowen; B.R. Kreiser; P.F. Mickel; J.F. Schaefer; S.B. Adams

2008-01-01

A phylogeny of the six North American species in the genus Alosa, with representatives of three Eurasian species, was generated using mtDNA sequences. This was accomplished by obtaining sequences for three North American species and additional geographical sampling of the other three species. The subgenus Alosa, including the...

Hydraulic and biological analysis of the passability of select fish species at the U.S. Geological Survey streamgaging weir at Blackwells Mills, New Jersey

USGS Publications Warehouse

Haro, Alexander J.; Mulligan, Kevin; Suro, Thomas P.; Noreika, John; McHugh, Amy

2017-10-16

Recent efforts to advance river connectivity for the Millstone River watershed in New Jersey have led to the evaluation of a low-flow gauging weir that spans the full width of the river. The methods and results of a desktop modelling exercise were used to evaluate the potential ability of three anadromous fish species (Alosa sapidissima [American shad], Alosa pseudoharengus [alewife], and Alosa aestivalis [blueback herring]) to pass upstream over the U.S. Geological Survey Blackwells Mills streamgage (01402000) and weir on the Millstone River, New Jersey, at various streamflows, and to estimate the probability that the weir will be passable during the spring migratory season. Based on data from daily fishway counts downstream from the Blackwells Mills streamgage and weir between 1996 and 2014, the general migratory period was defined as April 14 to May 28. Recorded water levels and flow data were used to theoretically estimate water depths and velocities over the weir, as well as flow exceedances occurring during the migratory period.Results indicate that the weir is a potential depth barrier to fish passage when streamflows are below 200 cubic feet per second using a 1-body-depth criterion for American shad (the largest fish among the target species). Streamflows in that range occur on average 35 percent of the time during the migratory period. An increase of the depth criterion to 2 body depths causes the weir to become a possible barrier to passage when flows are below 400 cubic feet per second. Streamflows in that range occur on average 73 percent of the time during the migration season. Average cross-sectional velocities at several points along the weir do not seem to be limiting to the fish migration, but maximum theoretical velocities estimated without friction loss over the face of the weir could be potentially limiting.

Status of alewife and rainbow smelt in U.S. waters of Lake Ontario, 2015

USGS Publications Warehouse

Walsh, Maureen; Weidel, Brian C.; Connerton, Michael J.; Holden, Jeremy P.

2016-01-01

In 2015 the joint USGS and NYSDEC surveys for Alewife and Rainbow Smelt were combined for the first time into a comprehensive spring pelagic prey fish survey. The adult Alewife abundance and weight indices in 2015 increased slightly from 2014 levels, and adult Alewife abundance has remained relatively stable for the past five years. Adult Alewife condition in both spring and fall increased from 2014 values and was above long-term means. Yearling Alewife abundance was the lowest observed in the 38-year time series. Alewife year class strength at age 1 is related to the number of spawning adults and summer temperatures and winter duration in the first year after hatching. Moderate year classes were produced during 2009-2011, and 2012 was the largest year class in the time series. However, severe winters in 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 contributed to two successive very small year classes for the first time in the time series. We expect adult Alewife abundance and biomass to decline in 2016 as older and larger fish decline in the population. The number of spawning adults increased in 2015, summer temperatures were slightly below average, and the anticipated winter duration is below average (i.e., milder winter) for 2015-2016, so these conditions will likely produce a low to moderate year class. A third successive weak year class could be problematic for the Lake Ontario Alewife population and may be of concern to binational lake managers. Rainbow Smelt were also assessed and the population continues to persist at a low and stable level.

Diet shifts by planktivorous and benthivorous fishes in northern Lake Michigan in response to ecosystem changes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bunnell, David B.; Davis, Bruce M.; Chriscinske, Margret Ann; Keeler, Kevin M.; Mychek-Londer, Justin G.

2015-01-01

In Lake Michigan, diets of planktivorous and benthivorous fishes have varied over the past decades, in part owing to food web changes. To update diet information and compare them to a similar effort in 1994–1995, we analyzed the diets of seven benthivorous and planktivorous fish species collected along two northern Lake Michigan transects that spanned nearshore (18 m), intermediate (46 m), and offshore (91, 110, 128 m) bottom depths during spring, summer, and autumn of 2010. Calanoid copepods (e.g., Limnocalanus macrurus, Leptodiaptomus sicilis, and Senecella calanoides) comprised a majority of the diets in at least one season for all sizes of alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), bloater (Coregonus hoyi), and rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax). Similarly, Mysis diluviana was the highest proportion in at least one season for large sizes of alewife, bloater, and rainbow smelt, as well as slimy sculpin (Cottus cognatus) and deepwater sculpin (Myoxocephalus thompsonii). The diets of the remaining two species, ninespine stickleback (Pungitius pungitius) and round goby (Neogobius melanostomus), were dominated by herbivorous cladocerans or dreissenid mussels, respectively. Interspecific diet overlap was minimal at 18 and 46 m. In offshore waters, however, overlap was relatively high, driven by frequent consumption of Mysis. Relative to 1994–1995, 2010 diets revealed increased feeding on calanoid copepods and Mysis, with corresponding declining consumption of Diporeia spp. and herbivorous cladocerans. Relative diet weight was also higher in 1994–1995 than in 2010 for small and large bloater and both sculpin species. We hypothesize that the shifts in diets are reflective of community-level changes in invertebrate prey availability.

Changes in consumption by alewives and lake whitefish after dreissenid mussel invasions in Lakes Michigan and Huron

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pothoven, S.A.; Madenjian, C.P.

2008-01-01

Growth of alewives Alosa pseudoharengus and lake whitefish Coregonus clupeaformis has declined since the arrival and spread of dreissenid mussels in Lakes Michigan and Huron. Alewives are the main forage for the salmonids in Lake Michigan, and lake whitefish are the most important commercial species in both lakes. Bioenergetics modeling was used to determine consumption by the average individual fish before and after the dreissenid invasion and to provide insight into the invasion's effects on fish growth and food web dynamics. Alewives feed on both Zooplankton and benthic macroinvertebrates, and lake whitefish are benthivores. Annual consumption of zooplankton by an average alewife in Lake Michigan was 37% lower and consumption of benthic macroinvertebrates (amphipods Diporeia spp., opossum shrimp Mysis relicta, and Chironomidae) was 19% lower during the postinvasion period (1995-2005) than during the preinvasion period (1983-1994). Reduced consumption by alewives corresponded with reduced alewife growth. In Lakes Michigan and Huron, consumption of nonmollusk macroinvertebrates (Diporeia spp., opossum shrimp, Chironomidae) by the average lake whitefish was 46-96% lower and consumption of mollusks (mainly dreissenids and gastropods) was 2-5 times greater during the postinvasion period than during the preinvasion period. Even though total food consumption by lake whitefish did not differ between the two periods in Lake Huron or the Southern Management Unit in Lake Michigan, postinvasion weight at age was at least 38% lower than preinvasion weight at age. Under the current postinvasion diet regime, consumption by lake whitefish would have to increase by up to 122% to achieve preinvasion growth rates. ?? Copyright by the American Fisheries Society 2008.

Comparison of thiaminase activity in fish using the radiometric and 4-nitrothiophenol colorimetric methods

USGS Publications Warehouse

Honeyfield, D.C.; Hanes, J.W.; Brown, L.; Kraft, C.E.; Begley, T.P.

2010-01-01

Thiaminase induced thiamine deficiency occurs in fish, humans, livestock and wild animals. A non-radioactive thiaminase assay was described in 2007, but a direct comparison with the radioactive 14C-thiamine method which has been in use for more than 30years has not been reported. The objective was to measure thiaminase activity in forage fish (alewife Alosa pseudoharengus, rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax, and slimy sculpin Cottus cognatus) consumed by predators that manifest thiamine deficiency using both methods. Modifications were made to the colorimetric assay to improve repeatability. Modification included a change in assay pH, enhanced sample clean-up, constant assay temperature (37??C), increase in the concentration of 4-nitrothiophenol (4NTP) and use of a spectrophotometer fitted with a 0.2cm cell. A strong relationship between the two assays was found for 51 alewife (R2=0.85), 36 smelt (R2=0.87) and 20 sculpin (R2=0.82). Thiaminase activity in the colorimetric assay was about 1000 times higher than activity measured by the radioactive method. Application of the assay to fish species from which no thiaminase activity has previously been reported resulted in no 4NTP thiaminase activity being found in bloater Coregonus hoyi, lake trout Salvelinus namaycusch, steelhead trout Oncorhynchus mykiss or Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha. In species previously reported to contain thiaminase, 4NTP thiaminase activity was measured in bacteria Paenibacillus thiaminolyticus, gizzard shad Dorosoma cepedianum, bracken fern Pteridium aquilinum, quagga mussel Dreissena bugensis and zebra mussels D. polymorpha. ?? 2010.

Little Galloo Island, Lake Ontario: A review of nine years of double-crested cormorant diet and fish consumption information

USGS Publications Warehouse

Johnson, James H.; Ross, Robert M.; McCullough, Russ D.

2002-01-01

The diet of double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) on Little Galloo Island (LGI) in the eastern basin of Lake Ontario has been quantified since 1992. Over the past nine years considerable information has been generated on cormorant feeding ecology through the examination of approximately 12,000 pellets collected on LGI, where three distinct cormorant feeding periods, pre-chick, chick, and post-chick, are delineated by differences in diet composition and daily fish consumption. Yellow perch (Perca flavescens) were the major prey during pre-chick and post-chick feeding periods. Alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), which move inshore to spawn in mid-June, dominated (>60%) cormorant diets during the chick feeding period. Mean daily fish consumption (14.6) during the pre-chick feeding period was significantly greater than during the chick feeding (9.3) or post-chick feeding (8.0) periods. The proportion of smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) in the diet increased over the season (0.8% to 7.2%), while the size of bass consumed declined (214 mm to 143 mm). Forage fish (mainly alewife, three-spine sticklebacks [Gasterosteus aculeatus] and minnows) comprised 58% of the diet of LGI cormorants, followed by panfish (37%) (yellow perch, pumpkinseed [Lepomis gibbosus], rock bass [Ambloplites rupestris]) and gamefish (5%) (mostly smallmouth bass). On the average LGI cormorants consumed about 32.8 million fish annually, weighing about 1.4 million kilograms. Cormorants from LGI consumed more biomass of smallmouth bass and yellow perch annually than is taken by sport (bass and yellow perch) and commercial (perch) fishermen.

Evidence that sea lamprey control led to recovery of the burbot population in Lake Erie

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stapanian, M.A.; Madenjian, C.P.; Witzel, L.D.

2006-01-01

Between 1987 and 2003, the abundance of burbot Lota lota in eastern Lake Erie increased significantly, especially in Ontario waters. We considered four hypotheses to explain this increase: (1) reduced competition with lake trout Salvelinus namaycush, the other major coldwater piscivore in Lake Erie; (2) increased abundance of the two main prey species, rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax and round goby Neogobius melanostomus; (3) reduced interference with burbot reproduction by alewives Alosa pseudoharengus; and (4) reduced predation by sea lampreys Petromyzon marinus on burbot. Species abundance data did not support the first three hypotheses. Our results suggested that the apparent recovery of the burbot population of Lake Erie was driven by effective sea lamprey control. Sea lamprey predation appeared to be the common factor affecting burbot abundance in Lakes Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. In addition, relatively high alewife density probably depressed burbot abundance in Lakes Ontario and Michigan. We propose that a healthy adult lake trout population may augment burbot recovery in some lakes by serving as a buffer against sea lamprey predation and will not negatively impact burbot through competition.

Response of slimy sculpins to predation by juvenile lake trout in southern Lake Ontario

USGS Publications Warehouse

Owens, Randall W.; Bergstedt, Roger A.

1994-01-01

Abundance and biomass of slimy sculpin Cottus cognatus declined in Lake Ontario at depths most frequently occupied by juvenile lake trout Salvelinus namaycush (<70 m), but not at greater depths, during 1980–1987. The abundance of juvenile lake trout increased at depths less than 70 m between 1980 and 1987, and slimy sculpin abundance was negatively correlated with lake trout abundance. The size of slimy sculpins caught at depths less than 70 m decreased between 1980 and 1987, fish 50–99 mm becoming less common and fish 100 mm or longer becoming rare. The size of slimy sculpins at depths greater than 70 m did not change, Because slimy sculpins are the principal fish eaten by juvenile lake trout, and because juvenile lake trout were most abundant at depths where the greatest changes in the slimy sculpin population took place, we conclude that juvenile lake trout in Lake Ontario altered the slimy sculpin population. No significant negative correlations were found between abundance of slimy sculpins and those of the two most abundant fishes in Lake Ontario: Alewife Alosa pseudoharengus and rainbow smeltOsmerus mordax.

Landscape scale measures of steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) bioenergetic growth rate potential in Lake Michigan and comparison with angler catch rates

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hook, T.O.; Rutherford, E.S.; Brines, Shannon J.; Geddes, C.A.; Mason, D.M.; Schwab, D.J.; Fleischer, G.W.

2004-01-01

The relative quality of a habitat can influence fish consumption, growth, mortality, and production. In order to quantify habitat quality, several authors have combined bioenergetic and foraging models to generate spatially explicit estimates of fish growth rate potential (GRP). However, the capacity of GRP to reflect the spatial distributions of fishes over large areas has not been fully evaluated. We generated landscape scale estimates of steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) GRP throughout Lake Michigan for 1994-1996, and used these estimates to test the hypotheses that GRP is a good predictor of spatial patterns of steelhead catch rates. We used surface temperatures (measured with AVHRR satellite imagery) and acoustically measured steelhead prey densities (alewife, Alosa pseudoharengus) as inputs for the GRP model. Our analyses demonstrate that potential steelhead growth rates in Lake Michigan are highly variable in both space and time. Steelhead GRP tended to increase with latitude, and mean GRP was much higher during September 1995, compared to 1994 and 1996. In addition, our study suggests that landscape scale measures of GRP are not good predictors of steelhead catch rates throughout Lake Michigan, but may provide an index of interannual variation in system-wide habitat quality.

Spring-summer diet of lake trout on Six Fathom Bank and Yankee Reef in Lake Huron

USGS Publications Warehouse

Madenjian, C.P.; Holuszko, J.D.; Desorcie, T.J.

2006-01-01

We examined the stomach contents of 1,045 lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) caught on Six Fathom Bank and Yankee Reef, two offshore reef complexes in Lake Huron, during late spring and early summer 1998-2003. Lake trout ranged in total length from 213 to 858 mm, and in age from 2 to 14 years. In total, 742 stomachs contained food. On a wet-weight basis, alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) dominated the spring-summer diet of lake trout on both of these offshore reef complexes. Alewives accounted for 75 to 90% of lake trout diet, depending on the lake trout size category. Size of alewives found in lake trout stomachs increased with increasing lake trout size. Faster growth of juvenile lake trout on Six Fathom Bank and Yankee Reef than on Sheboygan Reef in Lake Michigan was attributed to greater availability of small alewives on the offshore reefs in Lake Huron. Our findings indicated that alewives inhabited Six Fathom Bank and Yankee Reef during spring and summer months. Thus, our study provided support for the contention that alewives may have interfered with natural reproduction by lake trout on these offshore reef complexes in Lake Huron.

Egg thiamine status of Lake Ontario salmonines 1995-2004 with emphasis on lake trout

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fitzsimons, J.D.; Williston, B.; Williston, G.; Brown, L.; El-Shaarawi, A.; Vandenbyllaardt, L.; Honeyfeld, D.; Tillitt, D.; Wolgamood, M.; Brown, S.B.

2007-01-01

Alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus), the major prey fish for Lake Ontario, contain thiaminase. They are associated with development of a thiamine deficiency in salmonines which greatly increases the potential for developing an early mortality syndrome (EMS). To assess the possible effects of thiamine deficiency on salmonine reproduction we measured egg thiamine concentrations for five species of Lake Ontario salmonines. From this we estimated the proportion of families susceptible to EMS based on whether they were below the ED20, the egg thiamine concentration associated with 20% mortality due to EMS. The ED20s were 1.52, 2.63, and 2.99 nmol/g egg for Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush), and coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), respectively. Based on the proportion of fish having egg thiamine concentrations falling below the ED20, the risk of developing EMS in Lake Ontario was highest for lake trout, followed by coho (O. kisutch), and Chinook salmon, with the least risk for rainbow trout (O. mykiss). For lake trout from western Lake Ontario, mean egg thiamine concentration showed significant annual variability during 1994 to 2003, when the proportion of lake trout at risk of developing EMS based on ED20 ranged between 77 and 100%. Variation in the annual mean egg thiamine concentration for western Lake Ontario lake trout was positively related (p < 0.001, r2 = 0.94) with indices of annual adult alewife biomass. While suggesting the possible involvement of density-dependent changes in alewives, the changes are small relative to egg thiamine concentrations when alewife are not part of the diet and are of insufficient magnitude to allow for natural reproduction by lake trout.

Roles of predation, food, and temperature in structuring the epilimnetic zooplankton populations in Lake Ontario, 1981-1986

USGS Publications Warehouse

Johannsson, Ora E.; O'Gorman, Robert

1991-01-01

We sampled phytoplankton, zooplankton, and alewives Alosa pseudoharengus and measured water temperature in Lake Ontario during 1981–1986. Through the use of general linear regression models we then sought evidence of control of the eplimnetic zooplankton community (mid-July to mid-October) by producers, consumers, and temperature. Our measures of the zooplankton community were total biomass, cladoceran biomass, and the ratio of large to small Daphnia spp. (D. galeata mendotae andD. retrocurva). Zooplankton population variables assessed were abundance, egg ratio, and productivity. Through factor analysis, factors were created from the standardized, transformed independent variables for use in the regression analyses. Regression models showed significant inverse relationships (P < 0.05) between alewives and Bosmina longirostris (abundance, production, and egg ratio), Ceriodaphnia lacustris (egg ratio), andDaphnia retrocurva (egg ratio). Bosmina longirostris and D. retrocurva egg ratios were inversely related to algae biomass (<20 μm), thus the smaller algae might be controlled in part by the zooplankton community. Production of C. lacustris was directly related to temperature, as was the production and abundance of Tropocyclops prasinus. The annual size-frequency distributions of B. longirostris and D. retrocurva were inversely related to yearling alewife abundance and directly related to adult alewife abundance, which suggested that yearlings use a particulate-feeding mode on these zooplankton species more frequently than adults. We found no significant negative correlations among the zooplankton species, which suggested that interzooplankton predation and competition were not as important in structuring the community as were planktivory and temperature.

Estimates of lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) diet in Lake Ontario using two and three isotope mixing models

USGS Publications Warehouse

Colborne, Scott F.; Rush, Scott A.; Paterson, Gordon; Johnson, Timothy B.; Lantry, Brian F.; Fisk, Aaron T.

2016-01-01

Recent development of multi-dimensional stable isotope models for estimating both foraging patterns and niches have presented the analytical tools to further assess the food webs of freshwater populations. One approach to refine predictions from these analyses is to include a third isotope to the more common two-isotope carbon and nitrogen mixing models to increase the power to resolve different prey sources. We compared predictions made with two-isotope carbon and nitrogen mixing models and three-isotope models that also included sulphur (δ34S) for the diets of Lake Ontario lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush). We determined the isotopic compositions of lake trout and potential prey fishes sampled from Lake Ontario and then used quantitative estimates of resource use generated by two- and three-isotope Bayesian mixing models (SIAR) to infer feeding patterns of lake trout. Both two- and three-isotope models indicated that alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) and round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) were the primary prey items, but the three-isotope models were more consistent with recent measures of prey fish abundances and lake trout diets. The lake trout sampled directly from the hatcheries had isotopic compositions derived from the hatchery food which were distinctively different from those derived from the natural prey sources. Those hatchery signals were retained for months after release, raising the possibility to distinguish hatchery-reared yearlings and similarly sized naturally reproduced lake trout based on isotopic compositions. Addition of a third-isotope resulted in mixing model results that confirmed round goby have become an important component of lake trout diet and may be overtaking alewife as a prey resource.

Ecosystem transformations of the Laurentian Great Lake Michigan by nonindigenous biological invaders.

PubMed

Cuhel, Russell L; Aguilar, Carmen

2013-01-01

Lake Michigan, a 58,000-km(2) freshwater inland sea, is large enough to have persistent basin-scale circulation yet small enough to enable development of approximately balanced budgets for water, energy, and elements including carbon and silicon. Introduction of nonindigenous species-whether through invasion, intentional stocking, or accidental transplantation-has transformed the lake's ecosystem function and habitat structure. Of the 79 nonindigenous species known to have established reproductive populations in the lake, only a few have brought considerable ecological pressure to bear. Four of these were chosen for this review to exemplify top-down (sea lamprey, Petromyzon marinus), middle-out (alewife, Alosa pseudoharengus), and bottom-up (the dreissenid zebra and quagga mussels, Dreissena polymorpha and Dreissena rostriformis bugensis, respectively) transformations of Lake Michigan ecology, habitability, and ultimately physical environment. Lampreys attacked and extirpated indigenous lake trout, the top predator. Alewives outcompeted native planktivorous fish and curtailed invertebrate populations. Dreissenid mussels-especially quagga mussels, which have had a much greater impact than the preceding zebra mussels-moved ecosystem metabolism basin-wide from water column to bottom dominance and engineered structures throughout the lake. Each of these non indigenous species exerted devastating effects on commercial and sport fisheries through ecosystem structure modification.

Prioritizing removal of dams for passage of diadromous fishes on a major river system

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kocovsky, P.M.; Ross, R.M.; Dropkin, D.S.

2009-01-01

Native diadromous fishes have been extirpated from much of the Susquehanna River system for nearly a century. Recent restoration efforts have focused on removal of dams, but there are hundreds of dams and presently there is no biologically based system to assist in prioritizing their removal. We present a new method that uses existing habitat suitability index models (HSI) for American shad Alosa sapidissima, alewife A. pseudoharengus, blueback herring A. aestivalis, and American eel Anguilla rostrata to prioritize the removal of non-hydropower dams within the Susquehanna River system. We ranked HSI scores for each of the four species, association between a landscape-scale factor and HSIs, length of river opened by removing a dam, and distance from the mouth at Chesapeake Bay for each dam and then calculated a mean rank prioritization for dam removal by averaging the ranks for the seven criteria. This prioritization method is resistant to outliers, is not strongly affected by somewhat arbitrary decisions on metrics included in the analysis, and provides a biologically based prioritization for dam removal that can be easily amended to include other metrics or adapted to other river systems and that complements other social and economic considerations that must be included in decisions to remove dams.

Relaxed selection causes microevolution of seawater osmoregulation and gene expression in landlocked Alewives

USGS Publications Warehouse

Velotta, Jonathan P.; McCormick, Stephen D.; O'Neill, Rachel J.; Schultz, Eric T.

2014-01-01

Ecological transitions from marine to freshwater environments have been important in the creation of diversity among fishes. Evolutionary changes associated with these transitions likely involve modifications of osmoregulatory function. In particular, relaxed selection on hypo-osmoregulation should strongly affect animals that transition into novel freshwater environments. We used populations of the Alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) to study evolutionary shifts in hypo-osmoregulatory capacity and ion regulation associated with freshwater transitions. Alewives are ancestrally anadromous, but multiple populations in Connecticut have been independently restricted to freshwater lakes; these landlocked populations complete their entire life cycle in freshwater. Juvenile landlocked and anadromous Alewives were exposed to three salinities (1, 20 and 30 ppt) in small enclosures within the lake. We detected strong differentiation between life history forms: landlocked Alewives exhibited reduced seawater tolerance and hypo-osmoregulatory performance compared to anadromous Alewives. Furthermore, gill Na+/K+-ATPase activity and transcription of genes for seawater osmoregulation (NKCC—Na+/K+/2Cl− cotransporter and CFTR—cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator) exhibited reduced responsiveness to seawater challenge. Our study demonstrates that adaptations of marine-derived species to completely freshwater life cycles involve partial loss of seawater osmoregulatory performance mediated through changes to ion regulation in the gill.

Angler-caught piscivore diets reflect fish community changes in Lake Huron

USGS Publications Warehouse

Roseman, Edward F.; Schaeffer, Jeff; Bright, Ethan; Fielder, David G.

2014-01-01

Examination of angler-caught piscivore stomachs revealed that Lake Trout Salvelinus namaycush, Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, and Walleyes Sander vitreus altered theirdiets in response to unprecedented declines in Lake Huron's main-basin prey fish community.Diets varied by predator species, season, and location but were nearly always dominated numerically by some combination of Alewife Alosa pseudoharengus, Rainbow Smelt Osmerus mordax, Emerald Shiner Notropis atherinoides, Round Goby Neogobius melanostomus, or terrestrial insects. Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss (steelhead), Coho Salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch, and Atlantic Salmon Salmo salar had varied diets that reflected higher contributions of insects. Compared with an earlier (1983–1986) examination of angler-caught predator fishes from Lake Huron, the contemporary results showed an increase in consumption of nontraditional prey (including conspecifics), use of smaller prey, and an increase in insects in the diet, suggesting that piscivores were faced with chronic prey limitation during this study. The management of all piscivores in Lake Huron will likely require consideration of the pervasive effects of changes in food webs, especially if prey fish remain at low levels.

Trawl-based assessment of Lake Ontario pelagic prey fishes including Alewife and Rainbow Smelt

USGS Publications Warehouse

Weidel, Brian C.; Walsh, Maureen; Connerton, Michael J.; Holden, Jeremy P.

2017-01-01

Managing Lake Ontario fisheries in an ecosystem-context, requires reliable data on the status and trends of prey fishes that support predator populations. We report on the community and population dynamics of Lake Ontario pelagic prey fishes, based on bottom trawl surveys. We emphasize information that supports the international Lake Ontario Committee’s Fish Community Objectives. In 2016, 142 bottom trawls were collected in U.S. waters, and for the first time 46 trawls were conducted in Canadian waters. A total of 420,386 fish from 24 species were captured. Alewife were 89% of the total fish catch and 93% of the pelagic prey fish catch. The Rainbow Smelt abundance index in U.S. waters increased slightly in 2016 relative to 2015. Interestingly, the Rainbow Smelt abundance index from tows in Canadian waters was 35% higher than the U.S. index. Abundances of Threespine Stickleback and Emerald Shiners in both U.S. and Canadian waters were low in 2016 relative to their peak abundances in the late 1990s, but Cisco abundance indices suggest a recent increase in their abundance. This year, the reported Alewife abundance time series was truncated to only include values since 1997, which were collected with the same trawl and eliminated the need to adjust values for different trawls. The 2016 adult Alewife abundance index was the second lowest abundance ever observed in the time series. This value was expected to decline from the 2015 value since the indices of juvenile Alewife were low in 2014 and the lowest ever observed in 2015. The fall condition index of adult Alewife increased in 2016 and is consistent with lower abundance and reduced competition for zooplankton resources. The 2016 Age-1 Alewife index increased relative to 2014 and 2015, and suggested lake conditions were favorable for Age-1 survival and growth during the summer of 2015 and the 2015-2016 winter. Interestingly, the catch of adult and Age1 Alewife was higher in trawls conducted in Canadian waters

Assessing prey fish populations in Lake Michigan: Comparison of simultaneous acoustic-midwater trawling with bottom trawling

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fabrizio, Mary C.; Adams, Jean V.; Curtis, Gary L.

1997-01-01

The Lake Michigan fish community has been monitored since the 1960s with bottom trawls, and since the late 1980s with acoustics and midwater trawls. These sampling tools are limited to different habitats: bottom trawls sample fish near bottom in areas with smooth substrates, and acoustic methods sample fish throughout the water column above all substrate types. We compared estimates of fish densities and species richness from daytime bottom trawling with those estimated from night-time acoustic and midwater trawling at a range of depths in northeastern Lake Michigan in summer 1995. We examined estimates of total fish density as well as densities of alewife Alosa pseudoharengus (Wilson), bloater Coregonus hoyi (Gill), and rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax (Mitchell) because these three species are the dominant forage of large piscivores in Lake Michigan. In shallow water (18 m), we detected more species but fewer fish (in fish/ha and kg/ha) with bottom trawls than with acoustic-midwater trawling. Large aggregations of rainbow smelt were detected by acoustic-midwater trawling at 18 m and contributed to the differences in total fish density estimates between gears at this depth. Numerical and biomass densitites of bloaters from all depths were significantly higher when based on bottom trawl samples than on acoustic-midwater trawling, and this probably contributed to the observed significant difference between methods for total fish densities (kg/ha) at 55 m. Significantly fewer alewives per ha were estimated from bottom trawling than from acoustics-midwater trawling at 55 m, and in deeper waters, no alewives were taken by bottom trawling. The differences detected between gears resulted from alewife, bloater, and rainbow smelt vertical distributions, which varied with lake depth and time of day. Because Lake Michigan fishes are both demersal and pelagic, a single sampling method cannot be used to completely describe characteristics of the fish community.

A shift in bloater consumption in Lake Michigan between 1993 and 2011 and its effects on Diporeia and Mysis prey

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pothoven, Steven A.; Bunnell, David B.

2016-01-01

Bioenergetics modeling was used to determine individual and population consumption by Bloater Coregonus hoyi in Lake Michigan during three time periods with variable Bloater density: 1993–1996 (high), 1998–2002 (intermediate), and 2009–2011 (low). Despite declines in Bloater abundance between 1993 and 2011, our results did not show any density-dependent compensatory response in annual individual consumption, specific consumption, or proportion of maximum consumption consumed. Diporeia spp. accounted for a steadily decreasing fraction of annual consumption, and Bloater were apparently unable to eat enough Mysis diluviana or other prey to account for the loss of Diporeia in the environment. The fraction of production of both Diporeia and Mysis that was consumed by the Bloater population decreased over time so that the consumption-to-production ratio for Diporeia + Mysis was 0.74, 0.26, and 0.14 in 1993–1996, 1998–2002, and 2009–2011, respectively. Although high Bloater numbers in the 1980s to 1990s may have had an influence on populations of Diporeia, Bloater were not the main factor driving Diporeia to a nearly complete disappearance because Diporeia continued to decline when Bloater predation demands were lessening. Thus, there appears to be a decoupling in the inverse relationship between predator and prey abundance in Lake Michigan. Compared with Alewife Alosa pseudoharengus, the other dominant planktivore in the lake, Bloater have a lower specific consumption and higher gross conversion efficiency (GCE), indicating that the lake can support a higher biomass of Bloater than Alewife. However, declines in Bloater GCE since the 1970s and the absence of positive responses in consumption variables following declines in abundance suggest that productivity in Lake Michigan might not be able to support the same biomass of Bloater as in the past.

Fish losses to double-crested cormorant predation in Eastern Lake Ontario, 1992-97

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ross, Robert M.; Johnson, James H.

1999-01-01

We examined 4,848 regurgitated digestive pellets of double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) over a 6-year period (1992–97) to estimate annual predation on sport and other fishes in the eastern basin of Lake Ontario. We found more than 51,000 fish of 28 species. Using a model that incorporates annual colony nest counts; fledgling production rates; adult, immature, and young-of-year residence times (seasonal); estimates of mean number of fish per pellet and mean fish size; and a fecal pathway correction factor (4.0 percent), we estimate total annual number of fish consumed by cormorants in the eastern basin of Lake Ontario to range from 37 million to 128 million fish for 1993–97. This fish loss equates to an estimated 0.93 million to 3.21 million kg (mean 2.07 million kg) of fish consumed per year, principally alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus, 42.3 percent) and yellow perch (Perca flavescens, 18.4 percent). Forage fish (alewife, cyprinids, trout-perch [Percopsis omiscomaycus], and other minor components) accounted for 65 percent of the diet, and panfish contributed 34 percent of the diet for the 5-year period. Game fish were minor components of the diet, in view of an average estimated annual consumption of 900,000 smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieui, 1.1 percent) and 168,000 salmonines (mostly lake trout, Salvelinus namaycush, 0.2 percent). Cormorant predation on lake trout fingerlings stocked in May 1993 and June 1994 was estimated through the use of coded wire tag recoveries from pellets collected on Little Galloo Island 1 and 4 days after stocking events. We estimated losses of 13.6 percent and 8.8 percent, respectively, of the fish stocked for the two events, an average of 11.2 percent. Such losses may be reduced through alteration of existing stocking practices.

A synthesis of ecological and fish-community changes in Lake Ontario, 1970-2000

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mills, E.L.; Casselman, J.M.; Dermott, R.; Fitzsimons, J.D.; Gal, G.; Holeck, K. T.; Hoyle, J.A.; Johannsson, O.E.; Lantry, B.F.; Makarewicz, J.C.; Millard, E.S.; Munawar, I.F.; Munawar, M.; O'Gorman, R.; Owens, R.W.; Rudstam, L. G.; Schaner, T.; Stewart, T.J.

2005-01-01

We assessed stressors associated with ecological and fishcommunity changes in Lake Ontario since 1970, when the first symposium on Salmonid Communities in Oligotrophic Lakes (SCOL I) was held (J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 29: 613-616). Phosphorus controls implemented in the early 1970s were undeniably successful; lower food-web studies showed declines in algal abundance and epilimnetic zooplankton production and a shift in pelagic primary productivity toward smaller organisms. Stressors on the fish community prior to 1970 such as exploitation, sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) predation, and effects of nuisance populations of alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) were largely ameliorated by the 1990s. The alewife became a pivotal species supporting a multi-million-dollar salmonid sport fishery, but alewife-induced thiamine deficiency continued to hamper restoration and sustainability of native lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush). Expanding salmonine populations dependent on alewife raised concerns about predator demand and prey supply, leading to reductions in salmonine stocking in the early 1990s. Relaxation of the predation impact by alewives and their shift to deeper water allowed recovery of native fishes such as threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) and emerald shiner (Notropis atherinoides). The return of the Lake Ontario ecosystem to historical conditions has been impeded by unplanned introductions. Establishment of Dreissena spp. led to increased water clarity and increased vectoring of lower trophic-level production to benthic habitats and contributed to the collapse of Diporeia spp. populations, behavioral modifications of key fish species, and the decline of native lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis). Despite reduced productivity, exotic-species introductions, and changes in the fish community, offshore Mysis relicta populations remained relatively stable. The effects of climate and climate change on the population abundance and dynamics of Lake Ontario

Measurement error associated with surveys of fish abundance in Lake Michigan

USGS Publications Warehouse

Krause, Ann E.; Hayes, Daniel B.; Bence, James R.; Madenjian, Charles P.; Stedman, Ralph M.

2002-01-01

In fisheries, imprecise measurements in catch data from surveys adds uncertainty to the results of fishery stock assessments. The USGS Great Lakes Science Center (GLSC) began to survey the fall fish community of Lake Michigan in 1962 with bottom trawls. The measurement error was evaluated at the level of individual tows for nine fish species collected in this survey by applying a measurement-error regression model to replicated trawl data. It was found that the estimates of measurement-error variance ranged from 0.37 (deepwater sculpin, Myoxocephalus thompsoni) to 1.23 (alewife, Alosa pseudoharengus) on a logarithmic scale corresponding to a coefficient of variation = 66% to 156%. The estimates appeared to increase with the range of temperature occupied by the fish species. This association may be a result of the variability in the fall thermal structure of the lake. The estimates may also be influenced by other factors, such as pelagic behavior and schooling. Measurement error might be reduced by surveying the fish community during other seasons and/or by using additional technologies, such as acoustics. Measurement-error estimates should be considered when interpreting results of assessments that use abundance information from USGS-GLSC surveys of Lake Michigan and could be used if the survey design was altered. This study is the first to report estimates of measurement-error variance associated with this survey.

Status and trends of pelagic prey fishes in Lake Huron, 2012

USGS Publications Warehouse

Warner, David M.; O'Brien, Timothy P.; Farha, Steve A.; Schaeffer, Jeff; Lenart, Stephen

2012-01-01

The USGS Great Lakes Science Center (GLSC) conducted acoustic/midwater trawl surveys of Lake Huron during 1997 and annually during 2004-2012. The 2012 survey was conducted during September and October, and included transects in Lake Huron’s Main Basin, Georgian Bay, and North Channel. Pelagic fish density (638 fish/ha) was lower in 2012 compared to 2011, with density in 2012 only 34% of 2011. Total biomass in 2012 was 74% of the 2011 value. Alewife Alosa pseudoharengus remained nearly absent, and only one cisco Coregonus artedi was captured. Rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax density was only 31% of the 2011 density. Bloater Coregonus hoyi density was less than half the 2011 density, mostly as a result of lower density of small bloater. Density and biomass of large bloater in 2012 were similar to 2011 levels. During 2012 we observed significantly higher fish biomass in North Channel than in the Main Basin or Georgian Bay. Prey availability during 2013 will likely be similar to 2012. Lake Huron now has pelagic fish biomass similar to that observed in recent lakewide acoustic surveys of Lake Michigan and Lake Superior, but species composition differs in the three lakes. There is an increasing diversity and prevalence of native species gradient from Lake Michigan to Lake Superior, with Lake Huron being intermediate in the prevalence of native fish species like coregonines and emerald shiner Notropis atherinoides.

Status and trends of pelagic prey fishes in Lake Huron, 2012

USGS Publications Warehouse

Warner, David M.; O'Brien, Timothy P.; Farha, Steve A.; Schaeffer, Jeff; Lenart, Stephen

2013-01-01

The USGS Great Lakes Science Center (GLSC) conducted acoustic/midwater trawl surveys of Lake Huron during 1997 and annually during 2004-2012. The 2012 survey was conducted during September and October, and included transects in Lake Huron’s Main Basin, Georgian Bay, and North Channel. Pelagic fish density (638 fish/ha) was lower in 2012 compared to 2011, with density in 2012 only 34% of 2011. Total biomass in 2012 was 74% of the 2011 value. Alewife Alosa pseudoharengus remained nearly absent, and only one cisco Coregonus artedi was captured. Rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax density was only 31% of the 2011 density. Bloater Coregonus hoyi density was less than half the 2011 density, mostly as a result of lower density of small bloater. Density and biomass of large bloater in 2012 were similar to 2011 levels. During 2012 we observed significantly higher fish biomass in North Channel than in the Main Basin or Georgian Bay. Prey availability during 2013 will likely be similar to 2012. Lake Huron now has pelagic fish biomass similar to that observed in recent lakewide acoustic surveys of Lake Michigan and Lake Superior, but species composition differs in the three lakes. There is an increasing diversity and prevalence of native species gradient from Lake Michigan to Lake Superior, with Lake Huron being intermediate in the prevalence of native fish species like coregonines and emerald shiner Notropis atherinoides.

Lactococcus lactis, causative agent of an endocarditis valvularis and parietalis thromboticans in the allis shad, Alosa alosa (L.).

PubMed

Wünnemann, H; Eskens, U; Prenger-Berninghoff, E; Ewers, C; Lierz, M

2018-05-28

Since the 1940s, the anadromous allis shad, Alosa alosa (L.), has suffered population declines throughout its distribution range in Europe. In context of EU-LIFE projects for the reintroduction of the allis shad in the Rhine system, a comprehensive study was started in 2012 to investigate infectious diseases occurring in allis shad. In course of the study, 217 mature and young-of-the-year allis shad originating from the wild population from the Gironde-Garonne-Dordogne system (GGD-system) and the Rhine system as well as 38 allis shad from the breeding population were examined by use of bacteriological and histological methods. In 2012 and 2014, an endocarditis valvularis thromboticans caused by a coccoid bacterium was detected in 16% and 25% of mature allis shad originating from the GGD-system. Results of microbiologic examinations, including biochemical characteristics, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, revealed Lactococcus lactis as causative agent of this infection. This is the first report of an endocarditis valvularis and parietalis thromboticans caused by Lactococcus lactis in fish. Possible sources of infection as well as the impact for the reintroduction programme are discussed. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Spatially explicit measures of production of young alewives in Lake Michigan: Linkage between essential fish habitat and recruitment

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hook, Tomas O.; Rutherford, Edward S.; Brines, Shannon J.; Mason, Doran M.; Schwab, David J.; McCormick, Michael; Desorcie, Timothy J.

2003-01-01

The identification and protection of essential habitats for early life stages of fishes are necessary to sustain fish stocks. Essential fish habitat for early life stages may be defined as areas where fish densities, growth, survival, or production rates are relatively high. To identify critical habitats for young-of-year (YOY) alewives (Alosa pseud oharengus) in Lake Michigan, we integrated bioenergetics models with GIS (Geographic Information Systems) to generate spatially explicit estimates of potential population production (an index of habitat quality). These estimates were based upon YOY alewife bioenergetic growth rate potential and their salmonine predators’ consumptive demand. We compared estimates of potential population production to YOY alewife yield (an index of habitat importance). Our analysis suggested that during 1994–1995, YOY alewife habitat quality and yield varied widely throughout Lake Michigan. Spatial patterns of alewife yield were not significantly correlated to habitat quality. Various mechanisms (e.g., predator migrations, lake circulation patterns, alternative strategies) may preclude YOY alewives from concentrating in areas of high habitat quality in Lake Michigan.

Repatriation of an old fish host as an opportunity for myxozoan parasite diversity: The example of the allis shad, Alosa alosa (Clupeidae), in the Rhine.

PubMed

Wünnemann, Hannah; Holzer, Astrid Sybille; Pecková, Hana; Bartošová-Sojková, Pavla; Eskens, Ulrich; Lierz, Michael

2016-09-15

Wildlife repatriation represents an opportunity for parasites. Reintroduced hosts are expected to accumulate generalist parasites via spillover from reservoir hosts, whereas colonization with specialist parasites is unlikely. We address the question of how myxozoan parasites, which are characterized by a complex life-cycle alternating between annelids and fish, can invade a reintroduced fish species and determine the impact of a de novo invasion on parasite diversity. We investigated the case of the anadromous allis shad, Alosa alosa (L.), which was reintroduced into the Rhine approximately 70 years after its extinction in this river system. We studied parasites belonging to the Myxozoa (Cnidaria) in 196 allis shad from (i) established populations in the French rivers Garonne and Dordogne and (ii) repatriated populations in the Rhine, by screening the first adults returning to spawn in 2014. Following microscopical detection of myxozoan infections general myxozoan primers were used for SSU rDNA amplification and sequencing. Phylogenetic analyses were performed and cloned sequences were analyzed from individuals of different water sources to better understand the diversity and population structure of myxozoan isolates in long-term coexisting vs recently established host-parasite systems. We describe Hoferellus alosae n. sp. from the renal tubules of allis shad by use of morphological and molecular methods. A species-specific PCR assay determined that the prevalence of H. alosae n. sp. is 100 % in sexually mature fish in the Garonne/Dordogne river systems and 22 % in the first mature shad returning to spawn in the Rhine. The diversity of SSU rDNA clones of the parasite was up to four times higher in the Rhine and lacked a site-specific signature of SNPs such as in the French rivers. A second myxozoan, Ortholinea sp., was detected exclusively in allis shad from the Rhine. Our data demonstrate that the de novo establishment of myxozoan infections in rivers is slow

The future of salmonid communities in the Laurentian Great Lakes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Smith, Stanford H.

1972-01-01

The effects of human population growth, industrialization, and the introduction of marine fishes have reduced the suitability of each of the Great Lakes for oligotrophic fish communities. The ultimate consequence has been a reduction of fishery productivity that has ranged from extreme in Lake Ontario to moderate in Lake Superior. If measures are not taken to alleviate the adverse effects of marine invaders and trends in environmental quality, a major reduction in fishery productivity can eventually be expected throughout the Great Lakes.Prospects for the next century will be improved if the lakes can be intensively managed. More stringent control of the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus), and subsequent reduction of the alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), by the reestablishment of populations of large piscivores, should permit the recovery of some of the previous predator and prey species, or the development of populations of new species that are more compatible with a reduced number of lampreys. Even if marine species can be reduced greatly, the full restoration of the former fishery productivity remains uncertain and will require a high degree of coordination among all management and research agencies that have responsibilities on the Great Lakes.Unfavorable trends toward progressive degradation of water quality pose the greatest threat to restoration of the fishery resources of the Great Lakes. Where changes in water quality have been the greatest, oligotrophic species have become scarce or absent, and in the deepwater regions no other species have reoccupied the vacated niches.

Evidence that PCBs are approaching stable concentrations in Lake Michigan fishes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stow, Craig A.; Carpenter, Stephen R.; Eby, Lisa A.; Amrhein, James F.; Hesselberg, Robert J.

1995-01-01

We examined PCB concentration data for seven species of Lake Michigan fishes to determine what trends were apparent °20 yr after PCB restrictions became effective. Total PCB concentrations in all seven species, lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush), rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), brown trout (Salmo trutta), chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), and bloater chub (Coregonus hoyi) declined and appeared to stabilize in the mid-to-late 1980s. Concentrations in two species, chinook and coho salmon, appear to have increased slightly since the late 1980s. All species are currently well below the high PCB levels that existed when PCB use was curtailed in the 1970s. We believe stabilizing concentrations are the result of large pools of PCBs that are being recycled in the environment. Atmospheric and sediment PCB inputs to the lake probably constitute current PCB sources. Increasing concentrations in chinook and coho salmon are likely the result of changing growth dynamics caused by alterations in the mid-trophic levels of the food web. Median stable PCB concentrations estimated in this analysis are below the current FDA action level of 2 mg/kg, but not appreciably below this threshold. Improvements beyond these levels may result if management practices that maximize fish growth rates are implemented. Detection of future improvements in PCB levels may require samples in the range of 1000-2000 fish because of the high variability in PCB concentrations among individuals.

Fish community dynamics in northeastern Lake Ontario with emphasis on the growth and reproductive success of yellow perch (Perca flavescens) and white perch (Morone americana), 1978 to1997

USGS Publications Warehouse

O'Gorman, Robert; Burnett, John A.D.

2001-01-01

Fishes were assessed in Guffin, Chaumount, and Black River bays in northeastern Lake Ontario with a 7.9-m (headrope) bottom trawl during late September and early October, 1978 to 1997. Fish density declined in the early 1990s with sharp declines in abundance of spottail shiner (Notropis hudsonius), trout-perch (Percopsis omiscomaycus), and johnny darter (Etheostoma nigrum) occurring in 1993 to 1995. Rising numbers of piscivores, walleye (Stizostedion vitreum) and double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus), increased predation pressure, presumably acting in concert with oligotrophication to lower fish density, particularly after 1991 when large numbers of adult alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) no longer migrated to the northeast basin in spring. Annual mortality of yellow perch (Perca flavescens) from age 2 to 5 rose from 33% in 1980–83 to 65% in 1992–95 and was positively related to piscivore numbers (P = 0.01, r = 0.96, n = 5). Annual mortality of yellow perch from age 0 to 2 also peaked in 1992–95. Abundance of yellow perch YOY in fall varied 40 fold and was not related to water warming in spring (P = 0.45, r = −0.19, n = 18) but was negatively related to the abundance of adult alewives in spring (P = 0.04, r = −0.49, n = 18). Although yellow perch produced moderate to strong year classes each year during 1991–95, stock size failed to increase because of rapidly accelerating mortality. Fully 85% of the variation in mean length of yellow perch YOY was explained by a multiple regression model which included YOY abundance, mean total phosphorus, and cumulative degree days > 13.5°C (P < 0.01, n = 15). Abundance of white perch (Morone americana) YOY varied nearly 200 fold and was not related to water warming or spring alewife abundance (P > 0.15). Variation in mean length of white perch YOY was related to cumulative degree days > 15°C (P < 0.01, r = 0.69).

Habitat Suitability Index Models: Alewife and blueback herring

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pardue, Garland B.

1983-01-01

Alewives and blueback herring are anadromous clupeids found along the Atlantic coast in marine, estuarine, and riverine habitats, depending upon life stage. Both are important commercial species, used fresh or salted for human consumption, and used as crab bait, fish meal (particularly in animal food manufacturing), and fish oil. Alewife and blueback herring are marketed collectively as 'river herring,' a term that will be used for both species in this report. River herring play important ecological roles. In marine, estuarine, and riverine food webs, they occupy a level between zooplankton, their principal food, and piscivores.

Thiamine Deficiency Complex Workshop final report: November 6-7, 2008, Ann Arbor, MI

USGS Publications Warehouse

Honeyfield, Dale C.; Tillitt, Donald E.; Riley, Stephen C.

2008-01-01

Fry mortality which was first observed in the late 1960s in Great Lakes salmonines and in Baltic Sea salmon in 1974 has now been linked to thiamine deficiency (historically referred to as Early Mortality Syndrome, or EMS and M74, respectively). Over the past 14 years significant strides have been made in our understanding of this perplexing problem. It is now known that thiamine deficiency causes embryonic mortality in these salmonids. Both overt mortality and secondary effects of thiamine deficiency are observed in juvenile and adult animals. Collectively the morbidity and mortality (fry and adult mortality, secondary metabolic and behavior affects in juveniles and adult fish) are referred to as Thiamine Deficiency Complex (TDC). A workshop was held in Ann Arbor, MI on 6-7 November 2008 that brought together 38 federal, state, provincial, tribal and university scientists to share information, present data and discuss the latest observations on thiamine status of aquatic animals with thiamine deficiency and the causative agent, thiaminase. Twenty presentations (13 oral and 7 posters) detailed current knowledge. In Lake Huron, low alewife Alosa pseudoharengus abundance has persisted and egg thiamine concentrations in salmonines continue to increase, along with evidence of natural reproduction in lake trout Salvelinus namaycush. Lake Michigan Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha appear to have a lower thiamine requirement than other salmonids in the lake. Lake Ontario American eel Anguilla rostrata foraging on alewife have approximately one third the muscle thiamine compared to eels not feeding on alewife, suggesting that eels may be suffering from thiamine deficiency. Secondary effects of low thiamine exist in Great Lakes salmonines and should not be ignored. Thiaminase activity in dreissenid mussels is extremely high but a connection to TDC has not been made. Thiaminase in net plankton was found more consistently in lakes Michigan and Ontario than other lakes

Population biology of alewives, Alosa pseudoharengus, in Lake Michigan, 1949-70

USGS Publications Warehouse

Brown, Edward H.

1972-01-01

Alewives were unknown in Lake Michigan before 1949, but became extremely abundant in the 1960s and soon exceeded the carrying capacity of the lake. In 1967 they were decimated by a lakewide mass mortality, and have since been less abundant as 'adults' (a?Y 120 mm long), although numerous young were produced in 1969-70 and the adult population appeared to be gradually increasing. Alewives were studied intensively during 1962-70 on the basis of collections made primarily with bottom trawls. Principal considerations in the population study include effects of seasonal changes in distribution on length composition of young and adults, sex and maturity in relation to size and age at recruitment into adult stocks, and changes in age, growth, condition, and population structure that accompanied the drastic changes in abundance. A substantial increase in the age of adults in the bottom stocks and on the spawning grounds was among the important population changes after the 1967 die-off. Growth of older adults also increased appreciably immediately after the die-off, and a sharp increase in average weight (16-26%) over a standard range of lengths was maintained in 1968-70. Selective depletion of zooplankton by alewives was evidence that overabundance decreased the food supply, depressed growth, and caused the poor condition that made alewives vulnerable to excessive mortality in 1967. Although poor condition in fall undoubtedly increased winter and spring mortality in the mid-1960s, alewives apparently were stressed by below-average temperature in the winter of 1969-70, and experiences a light die-off through May 1970 despite their good condition and relatively low population density the preceding fall. The population upsurge that preceded the 1967 die-off was reflected by a fivefold increase of adults in the fall index catch (in trawls) from 1962 to 1965 and 1966. The index catch then dropped 70% in fall 1967. Mortality among the 1960-64 year-classes, as represented by annual losses from age III to age IV in the index catch during 1964-68, ranged from 40% in 1965 to 89% in 1967, and averaged 68%. Assessment of mortality from the index catches was difficult because the age of alewives at full recruitment into bottom stocks increased from III in the mid-1960s to IV or older in 1968-70, when alewives remained longer at midlevels, possibly because of a delay in sexual maturity. Annual mortality after the fifth year of life, on the basis of average percentage age composition of the trawl catches in 1964-70, was tentatively estimated at 79-80%. The number of alewives recruited to the adult population from the 1962-67 year-classes over several ages in the fall index catch was inversely related to the abundance of their parents in the fall immediately preceding the year in which each year-class was spawned. Annual commercial production in the 1960s (peak in 1967, 42 million lb) may not have exceeded 7.7-18.6% of the bottom stocks, on the basis of the estimated weights of alewives available to trawls in the spring of 1964 and 1969. Yield per recruitment to the commercial fishery was low because of slow growth and high natural mortality.

Variations of thiaminase I activity pH dependencies among typical Great Lakes forage fish and Paenibacillus thiaminolyticus.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Zajicek, J.L.; Brown, L.; Brown, S.B.; Honeyfield, D.C.; Fitzsimons, J.D.; Tillitt, D.E.

2009-01-01

The source of thiaminase in the Great Lakes food web remains unknown. Biochemical characterization of the thiaminase I activities observed in forage fish was undertaken to provide insights into potential thiaminase sources and to optimize catalytic assay conditions. We measured the thiaminase I activities of crude extracts from five forage fish species and one strain of Paenibacillus thiaminolyticus over a range of pH values. The clupeids, alewife Alosa pseudoharengus and gizzard shad Dorosoma cepedianum, had very similar thiaminase I pH dependencies, with optimal activity ranges (> or = 90% of maximum activity) between pH 4.6 and 5.5. Rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax and spottail shiner Notropis hudsonius had optimal activity ranges between pH 5.5-6.6. The thiaminase I activity pH dependence profile of P. thiaminolyticus had an optimal activity range between pH 5.4 and 6.3, which was similar to the optimal range for rainbow smelt and spottail shiners. Incubation of P. thiaminolyticus extracts with extracts from bloater Coregonus hoyi (normally, bloaters have little or no detectable thiaminase I activity) did not significantly alter the pH dependence profile of P. thiaminolyticus-derived thiaminase I, such that it continued to resemble that of the rainbow smelt and spottail shiner, with an apparent optimal activity range between pH 5.7 and 6.6. These data are consistent with the hypothesis of a bacterial source for thiaminase I in the nonclupeid species of forage fish; however, the data also suggest different sources of thiaminase I enzymes in the clupeid species.

Ichthyoplankton assemblages of coastal west-central Lake Erie and associated habitat characteristics

USGS Publications Warehouse

McKenna, J.E.; Hunter, R. Douglas; Fabrizio, M.C.; Savino, J.F.; Todd, T.N.; Bur, M.

2008-01-01

Early life stage survival often determines fish cohort strength and that survival is affected by habitat conditions. The structure and dynamics of ichthyoplankton assemblages can tell us much about biodiversity and fish population dynamics, but are poorly understood in nearshore areas of the Great Lakes, where most spawning and nursery habitats exist. Ichthyoplankton samples were collected with a neuston net in waters 2-13 m deep weekly or biweekly from mid-April through August, during 3 years (2000-2002) as part of a study of fish assemblages in west-central Lake Erie. A suite of abiotic variables was simultaneously measured to characterize habitat. Cluster and ordination analyses revealed several distinct ichthyoplankton assemblages that changed seasonally. A lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) dominated assemblage appeared first in April. In May, assemblages were dominated by several percid species. Summer assemblages were overwhelmingly dominated by emerald shiner (Notropis atherinoides), with large gizzard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum) and alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) components. This seasonal trend in species assemblages was also associated with increasing temperature and water clarity. Water depth and drift processes may also play a role in structuring these assemblages. The most common and widely distributed assemblages were not associated with substratum type, which we characterized as either hard or soft. The timing of hatch and larval growth separated the major groups in time and may have adaptive significance for the members of each major assemblage. The quality and locations (with reference to lake circulation) of spawning and nursery grounds may determine larval success and affect year class strength.

Lipid concentrations in Lake Michigan fishes: Seasonal, spatial, ontogenetic, and long-term trends

USGS Publications Warehouse

Madenjian, Charles P.; Elliott, Robert F.; DeSorcie, Timothy J.; Stedman, Ralph M.; O'Connor, Daniel V.; Rottiers, Donald V.

2000-01-01

Lipid concentrations were measured in seven species of fish from several locations in Lake Michigan during spring, summer, and fall in 1994 to 1995. Adult alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) and age-2 coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) exhibited pronounced seasonal changes in lipid content. Adult alewives averaged 7.4% lipid, on a wet weight basis, during spring (May), 2.6% in summer (July), and 12.2% in fall (late September through October). Spring lipid concentration was low in age-2 coho salmon, averaging only 1.9%, then increased to 7.8% during summer and decreased to 4.5% by fall. In contrast, lipid content in adult bloater (Coregonus hoyi) was relatively constant with respect to season, ranging between 10.6% and 12.4% during the year. Lipid concentration increased with fish size for all species except rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax). Although deepwater sculpin (Myoxocephalus thompsoni) were considerably larger than slimy sculpin (Cottus cognatus) (mean total length of 117 mm vs 68 mm), mean lipid content of deepwater sculpin (7.6%) was only slightly higher than that for slimy sculpin (6.6%). Comparison of lipid concentrations from this study with previous studies indicated that lipid concentration in lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) and alewives in Lake Michigan did not change significantly from 1969–1971 to 1994–1995. Lipid concentration in large (about 250 mm total length) adult bloaters near Saugatuck (along the southeastern shore of the lake) decreased from 23.3% in 1980 to 11.9% in 1986, but showed no significant change between 1986 and 1994–1995.

Proximate composition and caloric content of eight Lake Michigan fishes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rottiers, Donald V.; Tucker, Robert M.

1982-01-01

We measured the proximate composition (percentage lipid, water, fat-free dry material, ash) and caloric content of eight species of Lake Michigan fish: lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush), coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis), bloater (Coregonus hoyi), alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax), deepwater sculpin (Myoxocephalus quadricornis), and slimy sculpin (Cottus cognatus). Except for alewives, proximate composition and caloric content did not differ significantly between males and females. And, for coho salmon, there was no significant difference in composition between fish collected in different years. Lipid and caloric content of lake trout increased directly with age. In all species examined, lipids and caloric contents were significantly lower in small, presumably immature, fish than in larger, older fish. Lipid content of lake trout, lake whitefish, and bloaters (range of means, 16-22%) was nearly 3 times higher than that of coho salmon, sculpins, rainbow smelt, and alewives (range of means, 5.2-7.0%). The mean caloric content ranged from 6.9 to 7.1 kcal/g for species high in lipids and from 5.8 to 6.3 kcal/g for species low in lipids. Although the caloric content of all species varied directly with lipid content and inversely with water content, an increase in lipid content did not always coincide with a proportional increase in caloric content when other components of fish composition were essentially unchanged. This observation suggests that the energy content of fish estimated from the proximate composition by using universal conversion factors may not necessarily be accurate.

Evaluating the importance of abiotic and biotic drivers on Bythotrephes biomass in Lakes Superior and Michigan

USGS Publications Warehouse

Keeler, Kevin M.; Bunnell, David B.; Diana, James S.; Adams, Jean V.; Mychek-Londer, Justin G.; Warner, David M.; Yule, Daniel; Vinson, Mark

2015-01-01

The ability of planktivorous fishes to exert top-down control on Bythotrephes potentially has far-reaching impacts on aquatic food-webs, given previously described effects of Bythotrephes on zooplankton communities. We estimated consumption of Bythotrephes by planktivorous and benthivorous fishes, using bioenergetics and daily ration models at nearshore (18 m), intermediate (46 m), and offshore (110 m) depths along one western Lake Superior transect (April, and September-November) and two northern Lake Michigan transects (April, July, September). In Lake Superior, consumption (primarily by cisco Coregonus artedi) exceeded Bythotrephes production at all offshore sites in September-November (up to 396% of production consumed) and at the intermediate site in November (842%) with no evidence of consumption nearshore. By comparing Bythotrephes biomass following months of excessive consumption, we conservatively concluded that top-down control was evident only at the offshore site during September-October. In Lake Michigan, consumption by fishes (primarily alewife Alosa pseudoharengus) exceeded production at nearshore sites (up to 178%), but not in deeper sites (< 15%). Evidence for top-down control in the nearshore was not supported, however, as Bythotrephes never subsequently declined. Using generalized additive models, temperature, and not fish consumption, not zooplankton prey density, best explained variability in Bythotrephes biomass. The non-linear pattern revealed Bythotrephes to increase with temperature up to 16 °C, and then decline between 16 and 23 °C. We discuss how temperature likely has direct negative impacts on Bythotrephes when temperatures near 23 °C, but speculate that predation also contributes to declining biomass when temperatures exceed 16 °C.

Evaluating stocking efficacy in an ecosystem undergoing oligotrophication

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kao, Yu-Chun; Rogers, Mark W.; Bunnell, David B.

2018-01-01

Oligotrophication has negatively affected fisheries production in many freshwater ecosystems and could conceivably reduce the efficacy of stockings used to enhance fisheries. In Lake Michigan, offshore oligotrophication has occurred since the 1970s, owing to reductions in total phosphorus (TP) inputs and nearshore sequestration of TP by nonindigenous dreissenid mussels. We evaluated simultaneous effects of stock enhancement and oligotrophication on salmonine species (Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, lake trout Salvelinus namaycush, and steelhead O. mykiss) that support valuable recreational fisheries. We employed a novel application of an Ecopath with Ecosim model by conducting a full factorial simulation experiment. Our design included multiple levels of salmonine stocking, consumption by invasive quagga mussels (Dreissena bugensis), and TP that were informed by manager interests. Under all levels of TP and quagga mussel consumption, our results showed that stock enhancement could still increase salmonine biomass, but positive responses were stronger for lake trout and steelhead than Chinook salmon. Simulations showed that quagga mussel consumption has deleterious effects on pelagic-oriented prey fishes and Chinook salmon, which feed almost exclusively on the pelagic-oriented alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus). In summary, results from our simulation experiment suggested that lake trout and steelhead are better suited to the current ecosystem than Chinook salmon, and therefore, stock enhancement provides the highest gains for these two species. Furthermore, simulated biomass of all recreational salmonine species increased with increasing TP, indicating the need for managers to consider how potential future oligotrophication will limit the carrying capacity of salmonine biomass in Lake Michigan

Great Lakes prey fish populations: a cross-basin overview of status and trends based on bottom trawl surveys, 1978-2013

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gorman, Owen T.; Weidel, Brian C.

2014-01-01

The assessment of Great Lakes prey fish stocks have been conducted annually with bottom trawls since the 1970s by the Great Lakes Science Center, sometimes assisted by partner agencies. These stock assessments provide data on the status and trends of prey fish that are consumed by important commercial and recreational fishes. Although all these annual surveys are conducted using bottom trawls, they differ among the lakes in the proportion of the lake covered, seasonal timing, trawl gear used, and the manner in which the trawl is towed (across or along bottom contours). Because each assessment is unique, population indices were standardized to the highest value for a time series within each lake for the following prey species: Cisco (Coregonus artedi), Bloater (C. hoyi), Rainbow Smelt (Osmerus mordax), Alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), and Round Goby (Neogobius melanostomus). In this report, standardized indices are presented in graphical form along with synopses to provide a short, informal cross-basin summary of the status and trends of principal prey fishes. There was basin-wide agreement in the trends of age-1 and older biomass for all prey species, with the highest concordance occurring for coregonids and Rainbow Smelt, and weaker concordance for Alewife. For coregonids, the highest biomass occurred from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. Rainbow Smelt biomass declined slowly and erratically during the last quarter century. Alewife biomass was generally higher from the early 1980s through 1990s across the Great Lakes, but since the early 1990s, trends have been divergent across the lakes, though there has been a downward trend in all lakes since 2005. Recently, Lake Huron has shown resurgence in biomass of Bloater, achieving 75% of its maximum record in 2012 due to recruitment of a succession of strong and moderate year classes that appeared in 2005-2011. Also, strong recruitment of the 2010 year class of Alewife has led to a sharp increase in biomass of Alewife in

Diet of juvenile Alabama shad (Alosa alabamae) in two northern Gulf of Mexico drainages

Treesearch

Paul F. Mickle; Jacob Schaefer; Donald A. Yee; Susan B. Adams

2013-01-01

Understanding food-web ecology is valuable to conservation by linking interactions of multiple species together and illustrating the functionality of trophic exchange. Alosa alabamae (Alabama Shad), an anadromous species, reproduces in northern Gulf of Mexico drainages from February through May, and for this study, the Pascagoula and Apalachicola...

The Peñalosa Principle of Transportation Democracy: Lessons from Bogotá on the Morality of Urban Mobility.

PubMed

Epting, Shane

2017-08-01

The mayor of Bogotá, Enrique Peñalosa strives to deliver transit services that promote social equity through bicycle lanes, improved sidewalks, and a world-famous Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, "TransMilenio." Through examining the principles that guide his planning, we can flesh out a starting point for socially just transit systems. While such measures can alleviate several harms that transit systems cause, they rest on an incomplete foundation due to their top-down nature. To amend this situation, the author argues for a restorative justice approach to transportation democracy, using examples from Peñalosa's mayoral tenure. In turn, lessons from Bogotá's transportation history reveal how to develop transit systems that strongly favor justice.

Eco-evolution in size-structured ecosystems: simulation case study of rapid morphological changes in alewife.

PubMed

Kang, Jung Koo; Thibert-Plante, Xavier

2017-02-27

Over the last 300 years, interactions between alewives and zooplankton communities in several lakes in the U.S. have caused the alewives' morphology to transition rapidly from anadromous to landlocked. Lakes with landlocked alewives contain smaller-bodied zooplankton than those without alewives. Landlocked adult alewives display smaller body sizes, narrower gapes, smaller inter-gill-raker spacings, reach maturity at an earlier age, and are less fecund than anadromous alewives. Additionally, landlocked alewives consume pelagic prey exclusively throughout their lives whereas anadromous alewives make an ontogenetic transition from pelagic to littoral prey. These rapid, well-documented changes in the alewives' morphology provide important insights into the morphological evolution of fish. Predicting the morphological evolution of fish is crucial for fisheries and ecosystem management, but the involvement of multiple trophic interactions make predictions difficult. To obtain an improved understanding of rapid morphological change in fish, we developed an individual-based model that simulated rapid changes in the body size and gill-raker count of a fish species in a hypothetical, size-structured prey community. Model parameter values were based mainly on data from empirical studies on alewives. We adopted a functional trait approach; consequently, the model explicitly describes the relationships between prey body size, alewife body size, and alewife gill-raker count. We sought to answer two questions: (1) How does the impact of alewife populations on prey feed back to impact alewife size and gill raker number under several alternative scenarios? (2) Will the trajectory of the landlocked alewives' morphological evolution change after 150-300 years in freshwater? Over the first 250 years, the alewives' numbers of gill-rakers only increased when reductions in their body size substantially improved their ability to forage for small prey. Additionally, alewives' gill

Bathythermal habitat use by strains of Great Lakes- and Finger Lakes-origin lake trout in Lake Huron after a change in prey fish abundance and composition

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bergstedt, Roger A.; Argyle, Ray L.; Krueger, Charles C.; Taylor, William W.

2012-01-01

A study conducted in Lake Huron during October 1998–June 2001 found that strains of Great Lakes-origin (GLO) lake trout Salvelinus namaycush occupied significantly higher temperatures than did Finger Lakes-origin (FLO; New York) lake trout based on data from archival (or data storage) telemetry tags that recorded only temperature. During 2002 and 2003, we implanted archival tags that recorded depth as well as temperature in GLO and FLO lake trout in Lake Huron. Data subsequently recorded by those tags spanned 2002–2005. Based on those data, we examined whether temperatures and depths occupied by GLO and FLO lake trout differed during 2002–2005. Temperatures occupied during those years were also compared with occupied temperatures reported for 1998–2001, before a substantial decline in prey fish biomass. Temperatures occupied by GLO lake trout were again significantly higher than those occupied by FLO lake trout. This result supports the conclusion of the previous study. The GLO lake trout also occupied significantly shallower depths than FLO lake trout. In 2002–2005, both GLO and FLO lake trout occupied significantly lower temperatures than they did in 1998–2001. Aside from the sharp decline in prey fish biomass between study periods, the formerly abundant pelagic alewife Alosa pseudoharengus virtually disappeared and the demersal round goby Neogobius melanostomus invaded the lake and became locally abundant. The lower temperatures occupied by lake trout in Lake Huron during 2002–2005 may be attributable to changes in the composition of the prey fish community, food scarcity (i.e., a retreat to cooler water could increase conversion efficiency), or both.

Depth distribution, diet, and overwinter growth of lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) in southeastern Lake Michigan sampled in December 1981 and March 1982

USGS Publications Warehouse

Eck, Gary W.; Wells, LaRue

1986-01-01

Lake trout were collected in graded-mesh gill nets and forage fishes were collected in trawls in mid December 1981 and late March 1982. The length ranges of 317 lake trout caught in December and 138 in March were 280-767 and 286-857 mm, and the age ranges I-XI and II-XIV, respectively. Three year classes (1977-79) made up almost 80% of the catches of lake trout in both sampling periods. Lake trout were most abundant at depth of 18 to 37 m in December (water temperatures, 5.5-6.8A?C) and at 2864 m in March (water temperatures, 1.0-1.3A?C). Fish of the 1977-79 year classes completed 9 to 24% of their annual growth in length, and 14 to 39% of their growth in weight, between mid December and late March. Lake trout ate mainly alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus), especially young-of-the-year, in December, but primarily slimy sculpins (Cottus cognatus) in March, when alewives were mainly at depths of greater than those occupied by most lake trout. Other important food items were rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) and, in deeper water, deepwater sculpins (Myoxocephalus thompsoni). Bloaters (Coregonus hoyi) were eaten only sparingly, although they were abundantly available in both sampling periods. Perhaps this species, which coevolved with the lake trout in Lake Michigan and was important in the native trout's diet, is better able to avoid capture by the trout than are the exotic alewife and rainbow smelt. It may not again become a major forage species unless the other food sources become scarce.

Evaluation of methods for identifying spawning sites and habitat selection for alosines

USGS Publications Warehouse

Harris, Julianne E.; Hightower, Joseph E.

2010-01-01

Characterization of riverine spawning habitat is important for the management and restoration of anadromous alosines. We examined the relative effectiveness of oblique plankton tows and spawning pads for collecting the eggs of American shad Alosa sapidissima, hickory shad A. mediocris, and “river herring” (a collective term for alewife A. pseudoharengus and blueback herring A. aestivalis) in the Roanoke River, North Carolina. Relatively nonadhesive American shad eggs were only collected by plankton tows, whereas semiadhesive hickory shad and river herring eggs were collected by both methods. Compared with spawning pads, oblique plankton tows had higher probabilities of collecting eggs and led to the identification of longer spawning periods. In assumed spawning areas, twice-weekly plankton sampling for 15 min throughout the spawning season had a 95% or greater probability of collecting at least one egg for all alosines; however, the probabilities were lower in areas with more limited spawning. Comparisons of plankton tows, spawning pads, and two other methods of identifying spawning habitat (direct observation of spawning and examination of female histology) suggested differences in effectiveness and efficiency. Riverwide information on spawning sites and timing for all alosines is most efficiently obtained by plankton sampling. Spawning pads and direct observations of spawning are the best ways to determine microhabitat selectivity for appropriate species, especially when spawning sites have previously been identified. Histological examination can help determine primary spawning sites but is most useful when information on reproductive biology and spawning periodicity is also desired. The target species, riverine habitat conditions, and research goals should be considered when selecting methods with which to evaluate alosine spawning habitat.

Great lakes prey fish populations: a cross-basin overview of status and trends based on bottom trawl surveys, 1978-2012

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gorman, Owen T.

2012-01-01

The assessment of prey fish stocks in the Great Lakes have been conducted annually with bottom trawls since the 1970s by the Great Lakes Science Center, sometimes assisted by partner agencies. These stock assessments provide data on the status and trends of prey fish that are consumed by important commercial and recreational fishes. Although all these annual surveys are conducted using bottom trawls, they differ among the lakes in the proportion of the lake covered, seasonal timing, bottom trawl gear used, and the manner in which the trawl is towed (across or along bottom contours). Because each assessment is unique in one or more important aspects, direct comparison of prey fish catches among lakes is not straightforward. However, all of the assessments produce indices of abundance or biomass that can be standardized to facilitate comparisons of status and trends across all the Great Lakes. In this report, population indices were standardized to the highest value for a time series within each lake for the following principal prey species: cisco (Coregonus artedi), bloater (C. hoyi), rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax), and alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus). Indices were also provided for round goby (Neogobius melanostomus), an invasive fish that has proliferated throughout the basin over the past 18 years. These standardized indices represent the best available long-term indices of relative abundance for these fishes across all of the Great Lakes. In this report, standardized indices are presented in graphical form along with synopses to provide a short, informal cross-basin summary of the status and trends of principal prey fishes. In keeping with this intent, tables, references, and a detailed discussion were omitted.

Changes in the Lake Michigan food web following dreissenid mussel invasions: A synthesis

USGS Publications Warehouse

Madenjian, Charles P.; Bunnell, David B.; Warner, David M.; Pothoven, Steven A.; Fahnenstiel, Gary L.; Nalepa, Thomas F.; Vanderploeg, Henry A.; Tsehaye, Iyob; Claramunt, Randall M.; Clark, Richard D

2015-01-01

Using various available time series for Lake Michigan, we examined changes in the Lake Michigan food web following the dreissenid mussel invasions and identified those changes most likely attributable to these invasions, thereby providing a synthesis. Expansion of the quagga mussel (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis) population into deeper waters, which began around 2004, appeared to have a substantial predatory effect on both phytoplankton abundance and primary production, with annual primary production in offshore (> 50 m deep) waters being reduced by about 35% by 2007. Primary production likely decreased in nearshore waters as well, primarily due to predatory effects exerted by the quagga mussel expansion. The drastic decline inDiporeia abundance in Lake Michigan during the 1990s and 2000s has been attributed to dreissenid mussel effects, but the exact mechanism by which the mussels were negatively affecting Diporeia abundance remains unknown. In turn, decreased Diporeiaabundance was associated with reduced condition, growth, and/or energy density in alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis), deepwater sculpin (Myoxocephalus thompsonii), and bloater (Coregonus hoyi). However, lake-wide biomass of salmonines, top predators in the food web, remained high during the 2000s, and consumption of alewives by salmonines actually increased between the 1980–1995 and 1996–2011 time periods. Moreover, abundance of the lake whitefish population, which supports Lake Michigan's most valuable commercial fishery, remained at historically high levels during the 2000s. Apparently, counterbalancing mechanisms operating within the complex Lake Michigan food web have enabled salmonines and lake whitefish to retain relatively high abundances despite reduced primary production.

Intervention analysis of power plant impact on fish populations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Madenjian, C.P.

1984-10-01

Intervention analysis was applied to 10 yr (years 1973-1982) of field fish abundance data at the D. C. Cook Nuclear Power Plant, southeastern Lake Michigan. Three log-transformed catch series, comprising monthly observations, were examined for each combination of two species (alewife, Alosa pseudoharenga, or yellow perch, Perca flavescens) and gear (trawl or gill net): catch at the plant discharged transect, catch at the reference transect, and the ratio of plant catch to reference catch. Time series separated by age groups were examined. Based on intervention analysis, no change in the abundance of fish populations could be attributed to plant operation.more » Additionally, a modification of the intervention analysis technique was applied to investigate trends in abundance at both the plant discharge and reference transects. Significant declines were detected for abundance of alewife adults at both of the transects. Results of the trend analysis support the contention that the alewives have undergone a lakewide decrease in abundance during the 1970s.« less

Optimal swim speeds for traversing velocity barriers: An analysis of volitional high-speed swimming behavior of migratory fishes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Castro-Santos, T.

2005-01-01

Migrating fish traversing velocity barriers are often forced to swim at speeds greater than their maximum sustained speed (Ums). Failure to select an appropriate swim speed under these conditions can prevent fish from successfully negotiating otherwise passable barriers. I propose a new model of a distance-maximizing strategy for fishes traversing velocity barriers, derived from the relationships between swim speed and fatigue time in both prolonged and sprint modes. The model predicts that fish will maximize traversed distance by swimming at a constant groundspeed against a range of flow velocities, and this groundspeed is equal to the negative inverse of the slope of the swim speed-fatigue time relationship for each mode. At a predictable flow velocity, they should switch from the optimal groundspeed for prolonged mode to that for sprint mode. Data from six migratory fish species (anadromous clupeids: American shad Alosa sapidissima, alewife A. pseudoharengus and blueback herring A. aestivalis; amphidromous: striped bass Morone saxatilis; and potomodromous species: walleye (previously known as Stizostedion vitrium) and white sucker Catostomus commersonii) were used to explore the ability of fish to approximate the predicted distance-maximizing behaviors, as well as the consequences of deviating from the optima. Fish volitionally sprinted up an open-channel flume against fixed flow velocities of 1.5-4.5 m s-1, providing data on swim speeds and fatigue times, as well as their groundspeeds. Only anadromous clupeids selected the appropriate distance-maximizing groundspeed at both prolonged and sprint modes. The other three species maintained groundspeeds appropriate to the prolonged mode, even when they should have switched to the sprint optima. Because of this, these species failed to maximize distance of ascent. The observed behavioral variability has important implications both for distributional limits and fishway design.

Dynamics of alewives in Lake Ontario following a mass mortality

USGS Publications Warehouse

O'Gorman, Robert; Schneider, Clifford P.

1986-01-01

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the New York Department of Environmental Conservation assessed the population of alewives Alosa pseudoharengus in U.S. waters of Lake Ontario during 1976–1982 with bottom trawls. Alewives were abundant in 1976 but a die-off greatly reduced their numbers during the winter of 1976–1977. The population quickly recovered, however, adult abundance increasing nearly sevenfold during 1978–1981. In spring 1981 the bottom population in southern Lake Ontario was estimated to be 5.25 × 109 fish weighing 128,500 t. Estimated average alewife biomass per hectare during 1978–1982 far exceeded the estimates for either Lake Michigan during 1967–1982 or western Lake Huron during 1973–1982. Recruitment of age-II fish to the population was affected by abundance of adults in two ways: (1) the number of yearlings produced was directly related to adult abundance at low population levels but inversely related at high population levels; and (2) survival of yearlings to age II was inversely related to adult abundance. Growth in 1977 was exceptional, leaving a wide, unmistakable band on scales of the previously slow-growing adults. This wide growth zone served as a marker to identify survivors of the 1976–1977 die-off and to show that each year after 1978 a successively larger proportion of survivors was failing to grow in length or to form an annulus (54% in 1979, 96% in 1980, and 100% in 1981). There was no marker on scales of alewives recruited after the die-off, but the apparent age composition of our catches strongly suggested that most of them also failed to grow in 1981.

Temporal patterns of migration and spawning of river herring in coastal Massachusetts

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rosset, Julianne; Roy, Allison; Gahagan, Benjamin I.; Whiteley, Andrew R.; Armstrong, Michael P.; Sheppard, John J.; Jordaan, Adrian

2017-01-01

Migrations of springtime Alewife Alosa pseudoharengus and Blueback Herring A. aestivalis, collectively referred to as river herring, are monitored in many rivers along the Atlantic coast to estimate population sizes. While these estimates give an indication of annual differences in the number of returning adults, links to the subsequent timing and duration of spawning and freshwater juvenile productivity remain equivocal. In this study, we captured juvenile river herring at night in 20 coastal Massachusetts lakes using a purse seine and extracted otoliths to derive daily fish ages and back-calculate spawn dates. Estimates of spawning dates were compared with fishway counts of migrating adults to assess differences in migration timing and the timing and duration of spawning. We observed a distinct delay between the beginning of the adult migration run and the start of spawning, ranging from 7 to 28 d across the 20 lakes. Spawning continued 13–48 d after adults stopped migrating into freshwater, further demonstrating a pronounced delay in spawning following migration. Across the study sites the duration of spawning (43–76 d) was longer but not related to the duration of migration (29–66 d). The extended spawning period is consistent with recent studies suggesting that Alewives are indeterminate spawners. The long duration in freshwater provides the opportunity for top-down (i.e., predation on zooplankton) and bottom-up (i.e., food for avian, fish, and other predators) effects, with implications for freshwater food webs and nutrient cycling. General patterns of spawn timing and duration can be incorporated into population models and used to estimate temporal changes in productivity associated with variable timing and density of spawning river herring in lakes.

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, dibenzofurans, biphenyls and 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin equivalents in fishes from Saginaw Bay, Michigan

USGS Publications Warehouse

Giesy, John P.; Jude, David J.; Tillitt, Donald E.; Gale, Robert W.; Meadows, John C.; Zajieck, James L.; Peterman, Paul H.; Verbrugge, David A.; Sanderson, J. Thomas; Schwartz, Ted R.; Tuchman, Marc L.

1997-01-01

Concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs), polychlorinated dibenzothiophenes (PCDTs), and 2,3,7,8-tetrachlo-rodibenzo-p-dioxin (2,3,7,8-TCDD) equivalents were measured in composite samples of forage fishes and several sizes of walleyes (Stizostedion vitreum) and common carp (Cyprinus carpio) collected from Saginaw Bay, Michigan, USA. The concentrations of 2,3,7,8-TCDD equivalents determined from the use of TCDD equivalency factors (TEFs) and instrumentally determined concentrations of individual congeners were designated TEq. The 2,3,7,8-TCDD equivalents determined on the same extracts with the H4IIE bioassay were defined as TCDD-EQ. Concentrations of TCDD-EQ and TEq were significantly, but poorly correlated (R2 = 0.44). Concentrations of TCDD-EQ and TEq ranged from 10.6 to 348 and 13.5 to 69.5 ng/kg, wet weight, respectively. The ratio of TCDD-EQ to TEq ranged from 0.5 to 5.0, with the greatest ratio observed in common carp but the average ratio between TEq and TCDD-EQ was approximately 1.0. In common carp, larger walleye, and medium-sized alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) there were significant concentrations of TCDD-EQ that could not be accounted for by TEq calculated from an additive model of PCBs, PCDDs, or PCDFs. As much as 75% of the TCDD-EQ in some samples could not be accounted for by TEqs. It is unlikely that PCNs, PCDTs, or polychlorinated diphenyl ethers (PCDEs) occurred at concentrations that were, based on their relative potencies, great enough to contribute significant quantities of TCDD-EQ. The discrepency between TCDD-EQs and TEqs was not due to antagonisms among congeners or extraction efficiencies.

Development of thiamine deficiencies and early mortality syndrome in lake trout by feeding experimental and feral fish diets containing thiaminase

USGS Publications Warehouse

Honeyfield, D.C.; Hinterkopf, J.P.; Fitzsimons, J.D.; Tillitt, D.E.; Zajicek, J.L.; Brown, S.B.

2005-01-01

We conducted a laboratory investigation on the consequences of feeding predatory salmonids either experimental diets low in thiamine or diets containing alewife Alosa pseudoharengus. In experiment 1, adult lake trout Salvelinus namaycush were fed experimental diets containing bacterial thiaminase. In experiment 2, adult lake trout were fed natural prey species, alewives, and bloaters Coregonus hoyi. The diets consisted of four combinations of alewives and bloaters from Lake Michigan (100% alewives, 65% alewives–35% bloaters, 35% alewives–65% bloaters, and 100% bloaters), alewives from Cayuga Lake, a casein bacterial thiaminase, and a commercial trout diet. We assessed the effects of each diet on egg thiamine concentration and incidence of an embryonic early mortality syndrome (EMS). In experiment 1, incidence of EMS ranged from 0% to 100%. Significant relationships were found between the incidence of EMS and thiamine. In experiment 2, adult lake trout fed 100% alewives from either Lake Michigan or Cayuga Lake or fish fed the casein bacterial thiaminase diet produced eggs with low thiamine and swim-up fry with EMS. At either 35% or 65% alewives in the diet, egg thiamine was significantly lowered. The number of females that produced offspring that died from EMS were low but demonstrated the negative potential if feral lake trout foraged on either 35% or 65% alewives. Depleted egg thiamine and the onset of EMS required diets containing thiaminase for a minimum of 2 years in lake trout initially fully thiamine replete. We conclude that EMS can be caused by extensive feeding on 100% alewives and dietary levels of 35% or greater may prove detrimental to sustainable reproduction of salmonids in the Great Lakes. The data are consistent with that observed in feral lake trout, and it is concluded that EMS is the result of a thiamine deficiency.

Temporal trends of young-of-year fishes in Lake Erie and comparison of diel sampling periods

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stapanian, M.A.; Bur, M.T.; Adams, J.V.

2007-01-01

We explored temporal trends of young-of-year (YOY) fishes caught in bottom trawl hauls at an established offshore monitoring site in Lake Erie in fall during 1961–2001. Sampling was conducted during morning, afternoon, and night in each year. Catches per hour (CPH) of alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) YOY were relatively low and exhibited no temporal trend. This result was consistent with the species’ intolerance to Lake Erie’s adverse winter water temperatures. Gizzard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum) YOY decreased sharply after 1991, which was consistent with recent oligotrophication of the lake. Following the establishment in 1979 and rapid increase of white perch (Morone americana) YOY, white bass (Morone chrysops) and freshwater drum (Aplodinotus grunniens) YOY decreased. Trout-perch (Percopsis omiscomaycus) YOY decreased during 1986–1991, but recovered to previous levels during 1991–2001. The recovery coincided with the resurgence of mayflies (Ephemoptera) in the lake. CPH of spottail shiner (Notropis hudsonius) and emerald shiner (N. atherinoides) YOY exhibited no temporal trend between 1961 and the late 1970s to early 1980s. CPH of yellow perch (Perca flavescens) YOY decreased during 1961–1988, and walleye (Sander vitreum) YOY increased overall during the time series. These observations were consistent with published studies of adults in the region. CPH of 4 of the 10 species of YOY considered were greatest during night. CPH for walleye YOY was higher in the morning than in the afternoon, but there was no significant difference between night and morning abundances. The results suggest that (1) CPH of YOY fishes may be a useful monitoring tool for Lake Erie, and (2) offshore monitoring programs that do not include night sampling periods may underestimate recruitment for several common species.

Precision and relative effectiveness of a purse seine for sampling age-0 river herring in lakes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Devine, Matthew T.; Roy, Allison; Whiteley, Andrew R.; Gahagan, Benjamin I.; Armstrong, Michael P.; Jordaan, Adrian

2018-01-01

Stock assessments for anadromous river herring, collectively Alewife Alosa pseudoharengus and Blueback Herring A. aestivalis, lack adequate demographic information, particularly with respect to early life stages. Although sampling adult river herring is increasingly common throughout their range, currently no standardized, field‐based, analytical methods exist for estimating juvenile abundance in freshwater lakes. The objective of this research was to evaluate the relative effectiveness and sampling precision of a purse seine for estimating densities of age‐0 river herring in freshwater lakes. We used a purse seine to sample age‐0 river herring in June–September 2015 and June–July 2016 in 16 coastal freshwater lakes in the northeastern USA. Sampling effort varied from two seine hauls to more than 50 seine hauls per lake. Catch rates were highest in June and July, and sampling precision was maximized in July. Sampling at night (versus day) in open water (versus littoral areas) was most effective for capturing newly hatched larvae and juveniles up to ca. 100 mm TL. Bootstrap simulation results indicated that sampling precision of CPUE estimates increased with sampling effort, and there was a clear threshold beyond which increased effort resulted in negligible increases in precision. The effort required to produce precise CPUE estimates, as determined by the CV, was dependent on lake size; river herring densities could be estimated with up to 10 purse‐seine hauls (one‐two nights) in a small lake (<50 ha) and 15–20 hauls (two‐three nights) in a large lake (>50 ha). Fish collection techniques using a purse seine as described in this paper are likely to be effective for estimating recruit abundance of river herring in freshwater lakes across their range.

Shifts in depth distributions of alewives, rainbow smelt, and age-2 lake trout in southern Lake Ontario following establishment of Dreissenids

USGS Publications Warehouse

O'Gorman, Robert; Elrod, Joseph H.; Owens, Randall W.; Schneider, Clifford P.; Eckert, Thomas H.; Lantry, Brian F.

2000-01-01

In the mid-1990s, biologists conducting assessments of fish stocks in Lake Ontario reported finding alewives Alosa pseudoharengus, rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax, and juvenile lake trout Salvelinus namaycush at greater depths than in the mid-1980s. To determine if depth distributions shifted coincident with the early 1990s colonization of Lake Ontario by exotic Dreissena mussels, we calculated mean depth of capture for each of the three species during trawl surveys conducted annually during 1978–1997 and examined the means for significant deviations from established patterns. We found that mean capture depth of alewives, rainbow smelt, and age-2 lake trout shifted deeper during the build up of the dreissenid population in Lake Ontario but that timing of the shift varied among seasons and species. Depth shifts occurred first for rainbow smelt and age-2 lake trout in June 1991. In 1992, alewives shifted deeper in June followed by age-2 lake trout in July–August. Finally, in 1993 and 1994, the distribution of lake trout and alewives shifted in April–May. Reasons why the three fishes moved to deeper water are not clear, but changes in distribution were not linked to temperature. Mean temperature of capture after the depth shift was significantly lower than before the depth shift except for alewives in April–May. Movement of alewives, rainbow smelt, and age-2 lake trout to colder, deeper water has the potential to alter growth and reproduction schedules by exposing the fish to different temperature regimes and to alter the food chain, increasing predation on Mysis relicta in deep water and decreasing alewife predation on lake trout fry over nearshore spawning grounds in spring.

Reproduction and early-life accommodations of landlocked alewives to a southern range extension

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nigro, A.A.; Ney, John J.

1982-01-01

Reproduction and first-year growth and food habits of landlocked alewives Alosa pseudoharengus in Claytor Lake, Virginia were examined and compared to descriptions for populations in the species' established New England-Great Lakes range. Alewives in mesothermal (2–27 C) Claytor Lake are shorter-lived (3 years) but grow faster, mature earlier (age 1), and have higher relative and absolute fecundities than have been reported for populations in colder northern waters. The 1979 spawning period extended from early May to early August, beginning at least 1 month earlier and lasting 4–9 weeks longer than in northern lakes. Changes in ovary condition during the spawning period suggest that alewives may be fractional spawners. Evidence of spawning was found in littoral areas throughout the lower 15 km of the reservoir. Growth in length of age-0 Claytor Lake alewives was linear through September and terminated in late autumn. Total first-year growth was reduced in 1979 (maximum of 130 mm total length, TL) from previous years (average of 160 mm TL), although it was substantially greater than recorded in the Great Lakes and the northeastern United States. The longer growing season, rather than accelerated in-season growth, appears to account for larger size achieved in Claytor Lake. High annual growth limits predation by Claytor Lake game fish on early spawned age-0 alewives by late summer. As elsewhere, larval and juvenile alewives (6–70 mm TL) fed primarily on copepods and cladocerans. Age-0 alewives longer than 35 mm TL demonstrated positive size-selection for cyclopoid copepods comparable to that shown by adults. Our findings suggest that self-sustaining alewife populations can be established in many inland waters but raise concerns regarding their forage value and community impacts.

Anadromous sea lampreys recolonize a Maine coastal river tributary after dam removal

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hogg, Robert; Coghlan, Stephen M.; Zydlewski, Joseph D.

2013-01-01

Sedgeunkedunk Stream, a third-order tributary to the Penobscot River, Maine, historically supported several anadromous fishes, including the Atlantic Salmon Salmo salar, AlewifeAlosa pseudoharengus, and Sea Lamprey Petromyzon marinus. However, two small dams constructed in the 1800s reduced or eliminated spawning runs entirely. In 2009, efforts to restore marine–freshwater connectivity in the system culminated with removal of the lowermost dam, thus providing access to an additional 4.6 km of lotic habitat. Because Sea Lampreys utilized accessible habitat prior to dam removal, they were chosen as a focal species with which to quantify recolonization. During spawning runs of 2008–2011 (before and after dam removal), individuals were marked with PIT tags and their activity was tracked with daily recapture surveys. Open-population mark–recapture models indicated a fourfold increase in the annual abundance of spawning-phase Sea Lampreys, with estimates rising from 59±4 () before dam removal (2008) to 223±18 and 242±16 after dam removal (2010 and 2011, respectively). Accompanying the marked increase in annual abundance was a greater than fourfold increase in nesting sites: the number of nests increased from 31 in 2008 to 128 and 131 in 2010 and 2011, respectively. During the initial recolonization event (i.e., in 2010), Sea Lampreys took 6 d to move past the former dam site and 9 d to expand into the furthest upstream reaches. Conversely, during the 2011 spawning run, Sea Lampreys took only 3 d to penetrate into the upstream reaches, thus suggesting a potential positive feedback in which larval recruitment into the system may have attracted adult spawners via conspecific pheromone cues. Although more research is needed to verify the migratory pheromone hypothesis, our study clearly demonstrates that small-stream dam removal in coastal river systems has the potential to enhance recovery of declining anadromous fish populations.

Branchial ionocyte organization and ion-transport protein expression in juvenile alewives acclimated to freshwater or seawater

USGS Publications Warehouse

Christensen, A.K.; Hiroi, J.; Schultz, E.T.; McCormick, S.D.

2012-01-01

The alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) is a clupeid that undergoes larval and juvenile development in freshwater preceding marine habitation. The purpose of this study was to investigate osmoregulatory mechanisms in alewives that permit homeostasis in different salinities. To this end, we measured physiological, branchial biochemical and cellular responses in juvenile alewives acclimated to freshwater (0.5p.p.t.) or seawater (35.0p.p.t.). Plasma chloride concentration was higher in seawater-acclimated than freshwater-acclimated individuals (141mmoll -1 vs 134mmoll -1), but the hematocrit remained unchanged. In seawateracclimated individuals, branchial Na +/K +-ATPase (NKA) activity was higher by 75%. Western blot analysis indicated that the abundance of the NKA subunit and a Na+/K+/2Cl- cotransporter (NKCC1) were greater in seawater-acclimated individuals by 40% and 200%, respectively. NKA and NKCC1 were localized on the basolateral surface and tubular network of ionocytes in both acclimation groups. Immunohistochemical labeling for the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) was restricted to the apical crypt of ionocytes in seawater-acclimated individuals, whereas sodium/hydrogen exchanger 3 (NHE3) labeling was present on the apical surface of ionocytes in both acclimation groups. Ionocytes were concentrated on the trailing edge of the gill filament, evenly distributed along the proximal 75% of the filamental axis and reduced distally. Ionocyte size and number on the gill filament were not affected by salinity; however, the number of lamellar ionocytes was significantly lower in seawater-acclimated fish. Confocal z-series reconstructions revealed that mature ionocytes in seawater-acclimated alewives occurred in multicellular complexes. These complexes might reduce paracellular Na + resistance, hence facilitating Na+ extrusion in hypo-osmoregulating juvenile alewives after seaward migration. ?? 2012. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

Species Profiles. Life Histories and Environmental Requirements of Coastal Fishes and Invertebrates (North Atlantic). Alewife/Blueback Herring.

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-07-01

The fish temporarily lost their (1973), designed to test the effects ability to osmoregulate when exposed of suspended sediments on the hatching to...moving through a efficient osmoregulators in either pool-and-weir fishway, indicated environment (Stanley and Colby 1971). moderate activity and...J. E., J. P. Miller, and J. electrolyte balance and Davis 1969. Distribution of osmoregulation in the alewife in juvenile river herring in thefresh

Permanent genetic resources added to Molecular Ecology Resources Database 1 August 2011-30 September 2011.

PubMed

A'Hara, S W; Amouroux, P; Argo, Emily E; Avand-Faghih, A; Barat, Ashoktaru; Barbieri, Luiz; Bert, Theresa M; Blatrix, R; Blin, Aurélie; Bouktila, D; Broome, A; Burban, C; Capdevielle-Dulac, C; Casse, N; Chandra, Suresh; Cho, Kyung Jin; Cottrell, J E; Crawford, Charles R; Davis, Michelle C; Delatte, H; Desneux, Nicolas; Djieto-Lordon, C; Dubois, M P; El-Mergawy, R A A M; Gallardo-Escárate, C; Garcia, M; Gardiner, Mary M; Guillemaud, Thomas; Haye, P A; Hellemans, B; Hinrichsen, P; Jeon, Ji Hyun; Kerdelhué, C; Kharrat, I; Kim, Ki Hwan; Kim, Yong Yul; Kwan, Ye-Seul; Labbe, Ellen M; LaHood, Eric; Lee, Kyung Mi; Lee, Wan-Ok; Lee, Yat-Hung; Legoff, Isabelle; Li, H; Lin, Chung-Ping; Liu, S S; Liu, Y G; Long, D; Maes, G E; Magnoux, E; Mahanta, Prabin Chandra; Makni, H; Makni, M; Malausa, Thibaut; Matura, Rakesh; McKey, D; McMillen-Jackson, Anne L; Méndez, M A; Mezghani-Khemakhem, M; Michel, Andy P; Paul, Moran; Muriel-Cunha, Janice; Nibouche, S; Normand, F; Palkovacs, Eric P; Pande, Veena; Parmentier, K; Peccoud, J; Piatscheck, F; Puchulutegui, Cecilia; Ramos, R; Ravest, G; Richner, Heinz; Robbens, J; Rochat, D; Rousselet, J; Saladin, Verena; Sauve, M; Schlei, Ora; Schultz, Thomas F; Scobie, A R; Segovia, N I; Seyoum, Seifu; Silvain, J-F; Tabone, Elisabeth; Van Houdt, J K J; Vandamme, S G; Volckaert, F A M; Wenburg, John; Willis, Theodore V; Won, Yong-Jin; Ye, N H; Zhang, W; Zhang, Y X

2012-01-01

This article documents the addition of 299 microsatellite marker loci and nine pairs of single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) EPIC primers to the Molecular Ecology Resources (MER) Database. Loci were developed for the following species: Alosa pseudoharengus, Alosa aestivalis, Aphis spiraecola, Argopecten purpuratus, Coreoleuciscus splendidus, Garra gotyla, Hippodamia convergens, Linnaea borealis, Menippe mercenaria, Menippe adina, Parus major, Pinus densiflora, Portunus trituberculatus, Procontarinia mangiferae, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus, Schizothorax richardsonii, Scophthalmus rhombus, Tetraponera aethiops, Thaumetopoea pityocampa, Tuta absoluta and Ugni molinae. These loci were cross-tested on the following species: Barilius bendelisis, Chiromantes haematocheir, Eriocheir sinensis, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Eucalyptus cladocalix, Eucalyptus globulus, Garra litaninsis vishwanath, Garra para lissorhynchus, Guindilla trinervis, Hemigrapsus sanguineus, Luma chequen. Guayaba, Myrceugenia colchagüensis, Myrceugenia correifolia, Myrceugenia exsucca, Parasesarma plicatum, Parus major, Portunus pelagicus, Psidium guayaba, Schizothorax richardsonii, Scophthalmus maximus, Tetraponera latifrons, Thaumetopoea bonjeani, Thaumetopoea ispartensis, Thaumetopoea libanotica, Thaumetopoea pinivora, Thaumetopoea pityocampa ena clade, Thaumetopoea solitaria, Thaumetopoea wilkinsoni and Tor putitora. This article also documents the addition of nine EPIC primer pairs for Euphaea decorata, Euphaea formosa, Euphaea ornata and Euphaea yayeyamana. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Environmental conditions of 2 river drainages into the Northern Gulf of Mexico during successful hatching of Alabama shad (Alosa alabamae)

Treesearch

Paul F. Mickle; Jacob F. Schaefer; Susan B. Adams; Brian R. Kreiser; Wiliam T. Slack

2016-01-01

In recent years, the Alabama shad (Alosa alabamae) has experienced dramatic declines and extirpations from portions of its native range. Habitat degradation and barriers to migration are considered contributing factors to contraction in the distributional range this species. To identify conditions during successful spawning, river temperatures and...

Species succession and fishery exploitation in the Great Lakes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Smith, Stanford H.

1968-01-01

The species composition of fish in the Great Lakes has undergone continual change since the earliest records. Some changes were caused by enrichment of the environment, but others primarily by an intensive and selective fishery for certain species. Major changes related to the fishery were less frequent before the late 1930's than in recent years and involved few species. Lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) were overexploited knowingly during the late 1800's because they interfered with fishing for preferred species; sturgeon were greatly reduced in all lakes by the early 1900's. Heavy exploitation accompanied sharp declines of lake herring (Leucichthys artedi) in Lake Erie during the 1920's and lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) in Lake Huron during the 1930's. A rapid succession of fish species in Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior that started about 1940 has been caused by selective predation by the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) on native predatory species, and the resultant shifting emphasis of the fishery and species interaction as various species declined. Lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) and burbot (Lota lota), the deepwater predators, were depleted first; this favored their prey, the chubs (Leucichthys spp.). The seven species of chubs were influenced differently according to differences in size. Fishing emphasis and predation by sea lampreys were selective for the largest species of chubs as lake trout and burbot declined. A single slow-growing chub, the bloater, was favored and increased, but as the large chubs declined the bloater was exploited by a new trawl fishery. The growth rate and size of the bloater increased, making it more vulnerable to conventional gillnet fishery and lamprey predation. This situation in Lakes Michigan and Huron favored the small alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) which had recently become established in the upper Great Lakes, and the alewife increased rapidly and dominated the fish stocks of the lakes. The successive

Effects of alewife predation on zooplankton populations in Lake Michigan

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wells, LaRue

1970-01-01

The zooplankton populations in southeastern Lake Michigan underwent striking, size-related changes between 1954 and 1966. Forms that decline sharply were the largest cladocerans (Leptodora kindtii, Daphnia galeata, and D. retrocurva), the largest calanoid copepods (Limnocalanus macrurus, Epischura lacustris, and Diaptomus sicilis), and the largest cyclopoid copepod (Mesocyclops edax). Two of these, D. galeata and M. edax (both abundant in 1954), became extremely rare. Certain medium-sized or small species increased in numbers: Daphnia longiremis, Holopedium gibberum, Polyphemus pediculus, Bosmina longirostris, Bosmina coregoni, Ceriodaphnia sp., Cyclops bicuspidatus, Cyclops vernalis, and Diaptomus ashlandi. Evidence is strong that the changes were due to selective predation by alewives. The alewife was uncommon in southeastern Lake Michigan in 1954 but had increased to enormous proportions by 1966; there was a massive dieoff in spring 1967, and abundance remained relatively low in 1968. The composition of zooplankton populations in 1968 generally had shifted back toward that of 1954, although D. galeata and M. edax remained rare. The average size, and size at onset of maturity, of D. retrocurva decreased noticeably between 1954 and 1966 but increased between 1966 and 1968.

Evaluation of nature-like and technical fishways for the passage of alewives at two coastal streams in New England

USGS Publications Warehouse

Franklin, Abigail E.; Haro, Alex; Castro-Santos, Theodore; Noreika, John

2012-01-01

Nature-like fishways have been designed with the intent to reconnect river corridors and provide passage for all species occurring in a system. The approach is gaining popularity both in Europe and North America, but performance of these designs has not been quantitatively evaluated in a field setting for any North American species. Two nature-like fishways and three technical fishways in New England were evaluated for passage of anadromous adult alewives Alosa pseudoharengus by using passive integrated transponder (PIT) telemetry. A perturbation boulder rock ramp (32 m long; 4.2% slope) constructed in Town Brook (Plymouth, Massachusetts) passed 94% of the fish that made passage attempts, with most fish ascending the ramp in less than 22 min. In the East River (Guilford, Connecticut), a step-pool bypass design (48 m long; 7.1% slope) passed only 40% of attempting fish, with a median transit time of 75 min. In Town Brook, a technical pool-and-weir fishway (14 m long; 14.3% slope) exhibited poor entry and poor passage for the fish. In contrast, in the East River, two technical steeppass fishways (3 m long; 29.6% and 9.6% slopes) passed the majority of available fish, although one of these steeppass fishways may have lacked sufficient flow to attract fish to the entrance. In both Town Brook and the East River, tagged fish passed rapidly downstream through all fishways after spawning. In the East River, the amount of time fish spent in the spawning habitat before migrating downstream ranged from 1 to 41 d. These studies demonstrate that some nature-like and technical fishway designs can effectively facilitate passage of alewives, but a fishway's location in relation to a spillway is important, and further evaluations are required to more precisely identify the influence of the vertical drop per pool and the specific local hydraulics on alewife behaviors and passage performance.

Lake trout status in the main basin of Lake Huron, 1973-2010

USGS Publications Warehouse

He, Ji X.; Ebener, Mark P.; Riley, Stephen C.; Cottrill, Adam; Kowalski, Adam; Koproski, Scott; Mohr, Lloyd; Johnson, James E.

2012-01-01

We developed indices of lake trout Salvelinus namaycush status in the main basin of Lake Huron (1973-2010) to understand increases in the relative abundance of wild year-classes during 1995-2010. Sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus wounds per 100 lake trout declined from 23.63 in 2000 to 5.86-10.64 in 2002-2010. The average age-7 lake trout catch per effort per recruitment (CPE/R; fish•305mof gill net-1•million stocked yearlings-1) increased from 0.56 for the 1973-1990 year-classes to 0.92 for the 1991-2001 year-classes. Total CPE (fish/305 m of gill net) declined from 16.4 fish in 1996 to 4.1 fish in 2010, but the percentage of age-5 and younger lake trout steadily decreased from more than 70% before 1996 to less than 10% by 2009. The modal age in gill-net catches increased from age 5 before 1996 to age 7 by 2005. The average adult CPE increased from 2.8 fish/305 m of gill net during 1978-1995 to 5.34 fish/305 m of gill net during 1996-2010. The 1995-2010 year-classes of wild fish weremore abundant than previous year-classes and were associated with the relatively high adult abundance during 1996-2010. Until the 2002 year-class, there was no decline in age-7 CPE/R; until 2008, there was no decline in adult CPE. Low survival of the 2002 and 2003 year-classes of stocked fish was related to the event of alewife Alosa pseudoharengus population collapse in 2003-2004. Lake trout in the main basin of Lake Huron are undergoing a transition from a hatchery stock to a wild stock, accompanied by an increased uncertainty in delayed recruitment. Future management should pay more attention to the protection of wild recruitment and the abundance of the spawning stock.

Regional variation in muscle metabolic enzymes in individual American shad (Alosa sapidissima)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Leonard, J.B.K.

1999-01-01

Evaluation of the activity of metabolic enzymes is often used to asses metabolic capacity at the tissue level, but the amount of regional variability within a tissue in an individual fish of a given species is frequently unknown. The activities of four enzymes (citrate synthase (CS), phosphofructokinase, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and ??-hydroxyacyl coenzyme A dehydrogenase (HOAD) were assayed in red and white muscle at 10 sites along the body of adult American shad (Alosa sapidissima). Red and white muscle HOAD and white muscle CS and LDH varied significantly, generally increasing posteriorly. Maximal variation occurs in red muscle HOAD (~450%) and white muscle LDH (~60%) activity. Differences between the sexes also vary with sampling location. This study suggests that the variability in enzyme activity may be linked to functional differences in the muscle at different locations, and also provides guidelines for sample collection in this species.

Linking landscapes and habitat suitability scores for diadromous fish restoration in the susquehanna river basin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kocovsky, P.M.; Ross, R.M.; Dropkin, D.S.; Campbell, J.M.

2008-01-01

Dams within the Susquehanna River drainage, Pennsylvania, are potential barriers to migration of diadromous fishes, and many are under consideration for removal to facilitate fish passage. To provide useful input for prioritizing dam removal, we examined relations between landscape-scale factors and habitat suitability indices (HSIs) for native diadromous species of the Susquehanna River. We used two different methods (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service method: Stier and Crance [1985], Ross et al. [1993a, 1993b, 1997], and Pardue [1983]; Pennsylvania State University method: Carline et al. [1994]) to calculate HSIs for several life stages of American shad Alosa sapidissima, alewives Alosa pseudoharengus, and blueback herring Alosa aestivalis and a single HSI for American eels Anguilla rostrata based on habitat variables measured at transects spaced every 5 km on six major Susquehanna River tributaries. Using geographical information systems, we calculated land use and geologic variables upstream from each transect and associated those data with HSIs calculated at each transect. We then performed canonical correlation analysis to determine how HSIs were linked to geologic and land use factors. Canonical correlation analysis identified the proportion of watershed underlain by carbonate rock as a positive correlate of HSIs for all species and life stages except American eels and juvenile blueback herring. We hypothesize that potential mechanisms linking carbonate rock to habitat suitability include increased productivity and buffering capacity. No other consistent patterns of positive or negative correlation between landscape-scale factors and HSIs were evident. This analysis will be useful for prioritizing removal of dams in the Susquehanna River drainage, because it provides a broad perspective on relationships between habitat suitability for diadromous fishes and easily measured landscape factors. This approach can be applied elsewhere to elucidate relationships

The bioenergetic consequences of invasive-induced food web disruption to Lake Ontario alewives

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stewart, Thomas J.; O'Gorman, Robert; Sprules, W. Gary; Lantry, B.F.

2010-01-01

Alewives Alosa pseudoharengus are the dominant prey fish in Lake Ontario, and their response to ecological change can alter the structure and function of the Lake Ontario food web. Using stochastic population-based bioenergetic models of Lake Ontario alewives for 1987–1991 and 2001–2005, we evaluated changes to alewife production, consumption, and associated bioenergetic ratios after invasive-induced food web disruption. After the disruption, mean biomass of alewives declined from 28.0 to 14.6 g/m2, production declined from 40.8 to 13.6 g·m−2·year−1, and consumption declined from 342.1 to 137.2 g·m−2·year−1, but bootstrapping of error sources suggested that the changes were not statistically significant. Population-based bioenergetic ratios of production to biomass (P/B ratio), total consumption to biomass (Q/B ratio), and production efficiency did not change. Pathways of energy flow measured as prey-group-specific Q/B ratios changed significantly between the two time periods for invasive predatory cladocerans (from 0.6 to 1.3), Mysis diluviana (from 0.4 to 2.5), and other prey (from 0.8 to 0.1), but the observed decline in the zooplankton Q/B ratio (from 10.6 to 5.5) was not significant. Gross production efficiency did not change; values ranged from 8% to 15%. Age-group mean gross conversion efficiency (GCE) declined with age; GCE ranged from 7.5% to 11.0% for yearlings, was approximately 5% for age-2 alewives, and was less than 2% for age-3 and older alewives. The GCE increased significantly between the time periods for yearling alewives. Our analyses support the hypothesis that after 2003, alewives could not sustain their growth while feeding on zooplankton closer to shore. Modeling of observed spatial variation in diet and alternative occupied temperatures demonstrates the potential for reducing consumption by alewives. Our results suggest that Lake Ontario alewives can exploit spatial heterogeneity in resource patches and thermal habitat to

Prevalence of Cryptosporidium species in wildlife populations within a watershed landscape in southeastern New York State.

PubMed

Ziegler, Peter E; Wade, Susan E; Schaaf, Stephanie L; Stern, David A; Nadareski, Christopher A; Mohammed, Hussni O

2007-06-20

A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence of Cryptosporidium in wildlife in the New York City (NYC) Watershed in southeastern New York State. A total of 6227 fecal samples were collected and evaluated from 5892 mammals (38 species), 263 birds (14 species), 2 reptiles (2 species), 8 amphibians (4 species), and 62 fish (15 species). Cryptosporidium was detected in 30 species. Of the species found positive for Cryptosporidium, 16 represented new records for this parasite-Alosa pseudoharengus, Larus delawarensis, Blarina brevicauda, Sorex cinereus, Parascalops breweri, Myotis lucifugus, Peromyscus maniculatus, Microtus pennsylvanicus, Clethrionomys gapperi, Tamiasciurus hudsonicus, Marmota monax, Erethizon dorsatum, Canis latrans, Mustela erminea, Mustela vison, and Lynx rufus. Factors such as age, sex, season, and land use were evaluated to determine if there was any association with infection by this parasite. Animals were more likely to be positive for Cryptosporidium during spring and in agricultural land use.

Status of rainbow smelt in the U.S. waters of Lake Ontario, 2013

USGS Publications Warehouse

Weidel, Brian C.; Connerton, Michael J.

2014-01-01

Rainbow Smelt Osmerus mordax are the second most abundant pelagic prey fish in Lake Ontario after Alewife Alosa psuedoharengus. The 2013, USGS/NYSDEC bottom trawl assessment indicated the abundance of Lake Ontario age-1 and older Rainbow Smelt decreased by 69% relative to 2012. Length frequency-based age analysis indicated that age-1 Rainbow Smelt constituted approximately 50% of the population, which is similar to recent trends where the proportion of age-1 has ranged from 95% to 42% of the population. While they constituted approximately half of the catch, the overall abundance index for age 1 was one of the lowest observed in the time series, potentially a result of cannibalism from the previous year class. Combined data from all bottom trawl assessments along the southern shore and eastern basin indicate the proportion of the fish community that is Rainbow Smelt has declined over the past 30 years. In 2013 the proportion of the pelagic fish catch (only pelagic species) that was Rainbow Smelt was the second lowest in the time series at 3.1%. Community diversity indices, based on bottom trawl catches, indicate that Lake Ontario fish community diversity, as assessed by bottom trawls, has sharply declined over the past 36 years and in 2013 the index was the lowest value in the time series. Much of this community diversity decline is driven by changes in the pelagic fish community and dominance of Alewife.

A method for measuring total thiaminase activity in fish tissues

USGS Publications Warehouse

Zajicek, James L.; Tillitt, Donald E.; Honeyfield, Dale C.; Brown, Scott B.; Fitzsimons, John D.

2005-01-01

An accurate, quantitative, and rapid method for the measurement of thiaminase activity in fish samples is required to provide sufficient information to characterize the role of dietary thiaminase in the onset of thiamine deficiency in Great Lakes salmonines. A radiometric method that uses 14C-thiamine was optimized for substrate and co-substrate (nicotinic acid) concentrations, incubation time, and sample dilution. Total thiaminase activity was successfully determined in extracts of selected Great Lakes fishes and invertebrates. Samples included whole-body and selected tissues of forage fishes. Positive control material prepared from frozen alewives Alosa pseudoharengus collected in Lake Michigan enhanced the development and application of the method. The method allowed improved discrimination of thiaminolytic activity among forage fish species and their tissues. The temperature dependence of the thiaminase activity observed in crude extracts of Lake Michigan alewives followed a Q10 = 2 relationship for the 1-37??C temperature range, which is consistent with the bacterial-derived thiaminase I protein. ?? Copyright by the American Fisheries Society 2005.

Population characteristics and physical condition of alewives, Alosa pseudoharengus, in a massive die-off in Lake Michigan, 1967

USGS Publications Warehouse

Brown, Edward H.

1968-01-01

Despite the presence of Saprolegnia and hemorrhages on some fish, alewives in the dieoff appeared robust. Spawning attrition could not have been a major cause of the dieoff because many immature yearlings died and 80 percent of the dead adults were unspawned. The presence of rapidly digestible zooplankton in the stomachs of dead alewives indicated that many fish were feeding just before death. About 20 percent of the alewives in the selected samples of fish from the dieoff were infected by Saprolegnia; twice as many females were infected as males. The fungus was randomly distributed among the size groups. Hemorrhages may have been a symptom or physiological response to the cause of the dieoff because they affected a much higher percentage of the dying alewives (47 percent) than did fungus. Occurrence of the hemorrhages did not differ significantly between the sexes or among the size groups.

Metabolic rates in an anadromous clupeid, the American shad (Alosa sapidissima)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Leonard, J.B.K.; Norieka, J.F.; Kynard, B.; McCormick, S.D.

1999-01-01

To assess the energetics of migration in an anadromous fish, adult American shad (Alosa sapidissima) were swum in a large respirometer at a range of speeds (1.0–2.3 body lengths (BL) s−1, 13–24 °C). Metabolic rate (MO2) was logarithmically related to swimming speed (Bl s−1; r2 = 0.41, slope = 0.23 ± 0.037) and tailbeat frequency (beats × min−1; r2 = 0.52, slope = 0.003 ± 0.0003). Temperature had a significant effect on metabolic rate (r2 = 0.41) with a Q10of 2.2. Standard metabolic rate (SMR), determined directly after immobilization with the neuroblocker gallamine triethiodide, ranged from 2.2–6.2 mmolO2 kg−1 h−1 and scaled with mass (W) such that SMR = 4.0 (±0.03)W0.695(±0.15). Comparison of directly determined and extrapolated SMR suggests that swimming respirometry provides a good estimate of SMR in this species, given the differences in basal activity monitored by the two methods. Overall, American shad metabolic rates (MO2 and SMR) were intermediate between salmonids and fast-swimming perciforms, including tunas, and may be a result of evolutionary adaptation to their active pelagic, schooling life history. This study demonstrates variability in metabolic strategy among anadromous fishes that may be important to understanding the relative success of different migratory species under varying environmental conditions.

Factors of ecologic succession in oligotrophic fish communities of the Laurentian Great Lakes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Smith, Stanford H.

1972-01-01

Oligotrophic fish communities of the Great Lakes have undergone successive disruptions since the mid-1800s. Major contributing factors have been intensive selective fisheries, extreme modification of the drainage, invasion of marine species, and progressive physical–chemical changes of the lake environments. Lake Ontario was the first to be affected as its basin was settled and industrialized earliest, and it was the first to be connected by canals to the mid-Atlantic where the alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) and sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) which ultimately became established in the Great Lakes were abundant. Oligotrophic fish communities were successively disrupted in Lakes Erie, Huron, Michigan, and Superior as the affects of population growth, industrialization, and marine invaders spread upward in the Laurentian drainage.The degree and sequence of response of families offish and species within families differed for each factor, but the sequence of change among families and species has been the same in response to each factor as it affected various lakes at different times. The ultimate result of the disruption of fish communities has been a reduction of productivity of oligotrophic species that ranges from extreme in Lake Ontario to moderate in Lake Superior, and which has reached a state of instability and rapid change in the upper three Great Lakes by the rnid-1900s similar to the situation in Lake Ontario in the mid-1800s. Since oligotrophic species (primarily salmonines, coregonines, and deepwater cottids) are the only kinds of fish that fully occupied the entire volume of the deepwater Great Lakes (Ontario, Huron, Michigan, and Superior), the fish biomass of these lakes has been reduced as various species declined or disappeared. In Lake Erie, which is shallow, and in the shallow bays of the deep lakes, oligotrophic species were replaced by mesotrophic species, primarily percids, which have successively increased and declined. All oligotrophic

Great Lakes prey fish populations: A cross-basin overview of status and trends in 2008

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gorman, Owen T.; Bunnell, David B.

2009-01-01

Assessments of prey fishes in the Great Lakes have been conducted annually since the 1970s by the Great Lakes Science Center, sometimes assisted by partner agencies. Prey fish assessments differ among lakes in the proportion of a lake covered, seasonal timing, bottom trawl gear used, sampling design, and the manner in which the trawl is towed (across or along bottom contours). Because each assessment is unique in one or more important aspects, a direct comparison of prey fish catches among lakes is problematic. All of the assessments, however, produce indices of abundance or biomass that can be standardized to facilitate comparisons of trends among lakes and to illustrate present status of the populations. We present indices of abundance for important prey fishes in the Great Lakes standardized to the highest value for a time series within each lake: cisco (Coregonus artedi), bloater (C. hoyi), rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax), and alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus). We also provide indices for round goby (Neogobius melanostomus), an invasive fish presently spreading throughout the basin. Our intent is to provide a short, informal report emphasizing data presentation rather than synthesis; for this reason we intentionally avoid use of tables and cited references.For each lake, standardized relative indices for annual biomass and density estimates of important prey fishes were calculated as the fraction relative to the largest value observed in the times series. To determine whether basin-wide trends were apparent for each species, we first ranked standardized index values within each lake. When comparing ranked index values from three or more lakes, we calculated the Kendall coefficient of concordance (W), which can range from 0 (complete discordance or disagreement among trends) to 1 (complete concordance or agreement among trends). The P-value for W provides the probability of agreement across the lakes. When comparing ranked index values from two lakes, we calculated

Biology, population structure, and estimated forage requirements of lake trout in Lake Michigan

USGS Publications Warehouse

Eck, Gary W.; Wells, LaRue

1983-01-01

Data collected during successive years (1971-79) of sampling lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) in Lake Michigan were used to develop statistics on lake trout growth, maturity, and mortality, and to quantify seasonal lake trout food and food availability. These statistics were then combined with data on lake trout year-class strengths and age-specific food conversion efficiencies to compute production and forage fish consumption by lake trout in Lake Michigan during the 1979 growing season (i.e., 15 May-1 December). An estimated standing stock of 1,486 metric tons (t) at the beginning of the growing season produced an estimated 1,129 t of fish flesh during the period. The lake trout consumed an estimated 3,037 t of forage fish, to which alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus) contributed about 71%, rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) 18%, and slimy sculpins (Cottus cognatus) 11%. Seasonal changes in bathymetric distributions of lake trout with respect to those of forage fish of a suitable size for prey were major determinants of the size and species compositions of fish in the seasonal diet of lake trout.

Developmental changes in digestive enzyme activity in American shad, Alosa sapidissima, during early ontogeny.

PubMed

Gao, Xiao-Qiang; Liu, Zhi-Feng; Guan, Chang-Tao; Huang, Bin; Lei, Ji-Lin; Li, Juan; Guo, Zheng-Long; Wang, Yao-Hui; Hong, Lei

2017-04-01

In order to assess the digestive physiological capacity of the American shad Alosa sapidissima and to establish feeding protocols that match larval nutritional requirements, we investigated the ontogenesis of digestive enzymes (trypsin, amylase, lipase, pepsin, alkaline phosphatase, and leucine aminopeptidase) in larvae, from hatching to 45 days after hatching (DAH). We found that all of the target enzymes were present at hatching, except pepsin, which indicated an initial ability to digest nutrients and precocious digestive system development. Trypsin rapidly increased to a maximum at 14 DAH. Amylase sharply increased until 10 DAH and exhibited a second increase at 33 DAH, which coincided with the introduction of microdiet at 30 DAH, thereby suggesting that the increase was associated with the microdiet carbohydrate content. Lipase increased until 14 DAH, decreased until 27 DAH, and then increased until 45 DAH. Pepsin was first detected at 27 DAH and then sharply increased until 45 DAH, which suggested the formation of a functional stomach. Both alkaline phosphatase and leucine aminopeptidase markedly increased until 18 DAH, which indicated intestinal maturation. According to our results, we conclude that American shad larvae possess the functional digestive system before mouth opening, and the significant increases in lipase, amylase, pepsin, and intestinal enzyme activities between 27 and 33 DAH suggest that larvae can be successfully weaned onto microdiets around this age.

Factors influencing impingement of fish by Lake Ontario power plants

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wyman, R.L.; Dischel, R.S.

1984-01-01

Fish impinged by two Lake Ontario power plants were examined to determine the causal factors. Fish were near shore because they resided there, migrated there to spawn or forage, or because the water mass in which they resided moved near shore. Once near shore, fish abundance in impingement collections was correlated with demersal or pelagic behavior. Periodic increases in diversity and abundance of impinged fish corresponded with times of upwelling and thermocline oscillations. These data suggest that some species were segregated along temperature gradients and were impinged when the thermocline passed near the intake. Comparisons of impingement catch between twomore » power plants, one withdrawing a constant volume of water and the other a varying volume, showed that responses of fish to an intake were of three kinds. Alosa pseudoharengus and Osmerus mordax were apparently attracted to water currents entering the intake. Morone americana, Morone chrysops, Dorosoma cepedianum, and Perca flavescens were not influenced by changes in flow rate, suggesting that their impingement was proportional to their density in nearshore water. Micropterus dolomieui avoided the intake at higher flow rates in part due to rheotactic behavior. 25 references, 4 figures, 3 table.« less

An integrative study of larval organogenesis of American shad Alosa sapidissima in histological aspects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Xiaoqiang; Hong, Lei; Liu, Zhifeng; Guo, Zhenglong; Wang, Yaohui; Lei, Jilin

2016-01-01

We describe organogenesis at a histological level in American shad ( Alosa sapidissima) larvae from 0 until 45 days after hatching (DAH). Larval development was divided into four stages based on the feeding mode, external morphological features, and structural changes in the organs: stage 1 (0-2 DAH), stage 2 (3-5 DAH), stage 3 (6-26 DAH) and stage 4 (27-45 DAH). At early stage 2 (3 DAH), American shad larvae developed the initial digestive and absorptive tissues, including the mouth and anal opening, buccopharyngeal cavity, oesophagus, incipient stomach, anterior and posterior intestine, differentiated hepatocytes, and exocrine pancreas. The digestive and absorptive capacity developed further in stages 2 to 3, at which time the pharyngeal teeth, taste buds, gut mucosa folds, differentiated stomach, and gastric glands could be observed. Four defined compartments were discernible in the heart at 4 DAH. From 3 to 13 DAH, the excretory systems started to develop, accompanied by urinary bladder opening, the appearance and development of primordial pronephros, and the proliferation and convolution of renal tubules. Primordial gills were detected at 2 DAH, the pseudobranch was visible at 6 DAH, and the filaments and lamellae proliferated rapidly during stage 3. The primordial swim bladder was first observed at 2 DAH and started to inflate at 9 DAH; from then on, it expanded constantly. The spleen was first observed at 8 DAH and the thymus was evident at 12 DAH. From stage 4 onwards, most organs essentially manifested an increase in size, number, and complexity of tissue structure.

Application of theory and research in fishery management of the Laurentian Great Lakes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Smith, Stanford H.

1973-01-01

Three examples are used to illustrate these problems: (1) Sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) research was not initiated until 50 years after the destructiveness of the sea lamprey was recognized, and control measures were not developed or applied until species most vulnerable to the lamprey had been greatly reduced or eliminated. (2) Most research on the alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) has been directed toward determining why large numbers of alewives die during the spring and summer, but has not provided the information most urgently needed by management to use alewives to best advantage, or to reduce the biological or human problems that alewives cause. (3) After a study during 1926-30 to determine if pollution was affecting fish in Lake Erie, it was concluded that the detrimental effects of pollution in certain regions were offset by the benefits of enrichment in other areas, but managers were not warned that areas of pollution might expand, and eventually influence the entire lake. The Great Lakes ecosystem is complex and in a state of rapid change. Thus, the outcome from the application of theory is uncertain at best and there can be no assurance that the desired results will be attained. The programs for sea lamprey control and salmonid restoration are a current example of difficulty in application of theory in management. Superficially the sea lamprey appears to be under control and salmonids have been restored. The postcontrol abundance of sea lampreys, however, is equal to the abundance that caused the initial collapse of the lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush), and there is evidence that the damage lampreys are inflicting on lake trout is as heavy as it was in the precontrol period. Also, in the presence of an abundance of hatchery-reared salmonids, the lamprey is reproducing and thriving as well as or better than it did during its initial population explosion, and indications are that it will increase rather than decrease under the present method and level of

Modeling migratory energetics of Connecticut River American shad (Alosa sapidissima): implications for the conservation of an iteroparous anadromous fish

USGS Publications Warehouse

Castro-Santos, Theodore; Letcher, Benjamin H.

2010-01-01

We present a simulation model in which individual adult migrant American shad (Alosa sapidissima) ascend the Connecticut River and spawn, and survivors return to the marine environment. Our approach synthesizes bioenergetics, reproductive biology, and behavior to estimate the effects of migratory distance and delays incurred at dams on spawning success and survival. We quantified both the magnitude of effects and the consequences of uncertainty in the estimates of input variables. Behavior, physiology, and energetics strongly affected both the distribution of spawning effort and survival to the marine environment. Delays to both upstream and downstream movements had dramatic effects on spawning success, determining total fecundity and spatial extent of spawning. Delays, combined with cues for migratory reversal, also determined the likelihood of survival. Spawning was concentrated in the immediate vicinity of dams and increased with greater migratory distance and delays to downstream migration. More research is needed on reproductive biology, behavior, energetics, and barrier effects to adequately understand the interplay of the various components of this model; it does provide a framework, however, that suggests that provision of upstream passage at dams in the absence of expeditious downstream passage may increase spawning success — but at the expense of reduced iteroparity. 

Yield and dynamics of destabilized chub (Coregonus spp.) populations in Lakes Michigan and Huron, 1950-84

USGS Publications Warehouse

Brown, Edward H.; Argyle, Ray L.; Payne, N. Robert; Holey, Mark E.

1987-01-01

Deepwater ciscoes (Coregonus spp.) or 'chubs' of Lake Michigan far surpassed those of Lake Huron in yield, population density, and resilience following severe depletion in the 1960s and 1970s, when the bloater (C. hoyi) composed more than 90% of the stocks. The population decline of bloaters in recent decades was mainly attributed to exploitation, to the depression of chub recruitment (e.g. from inferred predation on early life stage) by nonendemic alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus) and rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax), and to complications arising from extreme female predominance that was best documented for Lake Michigan. The various interactions between bloaters and the nonendemic species, which were intensified after the loss of large predators to sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus), would help to explain why a stock-recruitment relation was not shown for the Lake Michigan bloater. We hypothesize that reproductive inefficiency caused by a shift to strong female predominance in the bloater depresses recruitment and thus helps to regulate abundance. However, the low resilience that sex imbalance seems to impart makes the stock unstable when exploited. It should therefore be exploited conservatively during such periods. Also, the sex ratio and its direction of change appear to be important qualifiers when surplus production is estimated from stock size.

What is "fallback"?: metrics needed to assess telemetry tag effects on anadromous fish behavior

USGS Publications Warehouse

Frank, Holly J.; Mather, Martha E.; Smith, Joseph M.; Muth, Robert M.; Finn, John T.; McCormick, Stephen D.

2009-01-01

Telemetry has allowed researchers to document the upstream migrations of anadromous fish in freshwater. In many anadromous alosine telemetry studies, researchers use downstream movements (“fallback”) as a behavioral field bioassay for adverse tag effects. However, these downstream movements have not been uniformly reported or interpreted. We quantified movement trajectories of radio-tagged anadromous alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus) in the Ipswich River, Massachusetts (USA) and tested blood chemistry of tagged and untagged fish held 24 h. A diverse repertoire of movements was observed, which could be quantified using (a) direction of initial movements, (b) timing, and (c) characteristics of bouts of coupled upstream and downstream movements (e.g., direction, distance, duration, and speed). Because downstream movements of individual fish were almost always made in combination with upstream movements, these should be examined together. Several of the movement patterns described here could fall under the traditional definition of “fallback” but were not necessarily aberrant. Because superficially similar movements could have quite different interpretations, post-tagging trajectories need more precise definitions. The set of metrics we propose here will help quantify tag effects in the field, and provide the basis for a conceptual framework that helps define the complicated behaviors seen in telemetry studies on alewives and other fish in the field.

Distribution and abundance of larval fish in the nearshore waters of western Lake Huron

USGS Publications Warehouse

O'Gorman, Robert

1983-01-01

Ichthyoplankton was collected at 17 nearshore (bottom depth ≥5 m but ≤10 m) sites in western Lake Huron during 1973–75 with a 0.5-m net of 351-micron mesh towed at 99 m/min. Larvae of rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) dominated late spring and early summer catches and larvae of alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus) the midsummer catches. Larval yellow perch (Perca flavescens) were caught in early summer but were rarely the dominant species. The time of spawning and hatching, and thus occurrence of larvae, differed between areas but was less variable for alewives than for yellow perch. The appearance of larvae in Saginaw Bay was followed successively by their appearance in southern, central, and northern Lake Huron. Rainbow smelt were most abundant in northern Lake Huron and yellow perch and alewives in inner Saginaw Bay. Densities of either rainbow smelt or alewives occasionally exceeded 1/m3, whereas those of yellow perch never exceeded 0.1/m3. Abundance of alewives was usually highest 1 to 3 m beneath the surface and that of rainbow smelt 2 to at least 6 m beneath the surface. Important nursery areas of rainbow smelt were in bays and off irregular coastlines and those of yellow perch were in bays. All nearshore waters seemed equally important as nursery areas of alewives.

Seasonal food of juvenile lake trout in U.S. waters of Lake Ontario

USGS Publications Warehouse

Elrod, Joseph H.

1983-01-01

Stomach contents of 3,554 lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush), 100 to 449 mm in total length, captured with bottom trawls during April through October 1978–81 along the south shore of Lake Ontario were examined. Invertebrates appeared to be an important food of lake trout less than 200 mm long but were only occasionally eaten by larger fish. For all seasons and size groups of juvenile lake trout combined, the slimy sculpin (Cottus cognatus) was the principal forage fish, making up 42% (by weight) of identifiable fish remains. Young-of-the-year slimy sculpins were a major food of recently stocked yearling lake trout during July through October. Alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus) were the principal forage during April and May, and made up 28% (by weight) of the identifiable fish remains. They were rarely eaten during July and August, however, when lake trout remained in the hypolimnion and alewives were above it. Over 99% of the alewives eaten from April through August were yearlings and over 99% eaten during October were young-of-the-year. Rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) were the primary forage during July and August, but contributed only a small part of the diet during other seasons; overall, they made up 25% of identifiable fish remains. Johnny darters (Etheostoma nigrum) made up 4% of identifiable fish remains and were most common in stomachs of small lake trout during October.

Climate change and the green energy paradox: the consequences for twaite shad Alosa fallax from the River Severn, U.K.

PubMed

Aprahamian, M W; Aprahamian, C D; Knights, A M

2010-11-01

A stock-recruitment model with a temperature component was used to estimate the effect of an increase in temperature predicted by climate change projections on population persistence and distribution of twaite shad Alosa fallax. An increase of 1 and 2° C above the current mean summer (June to August) water temperature of 17·8° C was estimated to result in a three and six-fold increase in the population, respectively. Climate change is also predicted to result in an earlier commencement to their spawning migration into fresh water. The model was expanded to investigate the effect of any additional mortality that might arise from a tidal power barrage across the Severn Estuary. Turbine mortality was separated into two components: (1) juvenile (pre-maturation) on their out migration during their first year and on their first return to the river to spawn and (2) post-maturation mortality on adults on the repeat spawning component of the population. Under current conditions, decreasing pre-maturation and post-maturation survival by 8% is estimated to result in the stock becoming extinct. It is estimated that an increase in mean summer water temperature of 1° C would mean that survival pre and post-maturation would need to be reduced by c. 10% before the stock becomes extinct. Therefore, climate change is likely to be beneficial to populations of A. fallax within U.K. rivers, increasing survival and thus, population persistence. © 2010 The Authors. Journal of Fish Biology © 2010 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

Thiamine and fatty acid content of walleye tissue from three southern U.S. reservoirs

USGS Publications Warehouse

Honeyfield, D.C.; Vandergoot, C.S.; Bettoli, P.W.; Hinterkopf, J.P.; Zajicek, J.L.

2007-01-01

We determined the thiamine concentration in egg, muscle, and liver tissues of walleyes Sander vitreus and the fatty acid content of walleye eggs from three southern U.S. reservoirs. In two Tennessee reservoirs (Dale Hollow and Center Hill), in which there were alewives Alosa pseudoharengus in the forage base, natural recruitment of walleyes was not occurring; by contrast in Lake James Reservoir, North Carolina, where there were no alewives, the walleye population was sustained via natural recruitment. Female walleye tissues were collected and assayed for thiamine (vitamin B1) and fatty acid content. Thiamine pyrophosphate was found to be the predominant form of thiamine in walleye eggs. In 2000, mean total egg thiamine concentrations were similar among Center Hill, Dale Hollow, and Lake James reservoirs (2.13, 3.14, and 2.77 nmol thiamine/g, respectively). Egg thiamine concentration increased as maternal muscle (r 2 = 0.73) and liver (r2 = 0.68) thiamine concentration increased. Walleye egg thiamine does not appear to be connected to poor natural reproduction in Tennessee walleyes. Threadfin shad Dorosoma petenense, which are found in all three reservoirs, had higher thiaminase activity than alewives. Six fatty acids differed among the walleye eggs for the three reservoirs. Two were physiologically important fatty acids, arachidonic acid (20:4[n-6]) and docosahexaenoic acid (22:6[n-3]), which are important eicosanoid precursors involved in the regulation of biological functions, such as immune response and reproduction. ?? Copyright by the American Fisheries Society 2007.

The effect of temperature and ration size on the growth, body composition, and energy content of juvenile coho salmon

USGS Publications Warehouse

Edsall, Thomas A.; Frank, Anthony M.; Rottiers, Donald V.; Adams, Jean V.

1999-01-01

Juvenile (postsmolt) coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kitsuch) were held in fresh water in the laboratory at 5, 10, 15, and 18A?C for 8 weeks and fed freshly thawed, juvenile alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus) at rates equal to 1 and 2 % of their wet body weight/day, and also at the ad libitum or unrestricted ration rate. Most rapid growth in weight (1.2% wet body weight/day) occurred among fish fed the ad libitum ration at 15A?C; growth was most rapid at about 10A?C for fish fed the 2% ration (0.7%/day), and the 1% ration (0.1%/day). Gross conversion efficiency was highest at 10A?C for all three ration levels. Gross body constituents and energy content of the test fish changed with temperature and ration during the study. Growth rate was positively related to lipid, energy content, and ration; lipid and energy content were positively related to water temperature; lipid, energy content, growth rate, ration, and water temperature were negatively related to water content; and protein was not related to any of the test variables. At the end of the study, water (68.7 to 76.4%) and lipid (3.5 to 10.4%) content were more variable than ash (1.8 to 3.1%), carbohydrate (0.1 to 1.9%), and protein (16.9 to 19.4%) content. Energy content of the fish increased with ration and was highest for each ration level at 15A?C.

Diet of lake trout and burbot in northern Lake Michigan during spring: Evidence of ecological interaction

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jacobs, Gregory R.; Madenjian, Charles P.; Bunnell, David B.; Holuszko, Jeffrey D.

2010-01-01

We used analyses of burbot (Lota lota) and lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) diets taken during spring gill-net surveys in northern Lake Michigan in 2006-2008 to investigate the potential for competition and predator-prey interactions between these two species. We also compared our results to historical data from 1932. During 2006-2008, lake trout diet consisted mainly of alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus) and rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax), whereas burbot utilized a much wider prey base including round goby (Neogobius melanostomus), rainbow smelt, alewives, and sculpins. Using the Schoener's diet overlap index, we found a higher potential for interspecific competition in 1932 than in 2006-2008, though diet overlap was not significant in either time period. No evidence of cannibalism by lake trout or lake trout predation on burbot was found in either time period. In 2006-2008, however, lake trout composed 5.4% (by weight) of burbot diet. To determine whether this predation could be having an impact on lake trout rehabilitation efforts in northern Lake Michigan, we developed a bioenergetic-based consumption estimate for burbot on Boulder Reef (a representative reef within the Northern Refuge) and found that burbot alone can consume a considerable proportion of the yearling lake trout stocked annually, depending on burbot density. Overall, we conclude that predation, rather than competition, is the more important ecological interaction between burbot and lake trout, and burbot predation may be contributing to the failed lake trout rehabilitation efforts in Lake Michigan.

Selective food preferences of walleyes of the 1959 year class in Lake Erie

USGS Publications Warehouse

Parsons, John W.

1971-01-01

Stomachs were examined from 1,473 walleyes (Stizostedion vitreum vitreum) of the 1959 year class collected in western Lake Erie from June 1959 to October 1960. In the same period, the relative abundance and lengths of potential forage species were determined from trawl catches. The walleye fed almost entirely on fish. In 1959 the food was dominated first (in June and July) by yellow perch (Perca flavescens) and then, in sequence, by spottail shiners (Notropis hudsonius) and emerald shiners (Notropis atherinoides). In 1960, the walleyes fed mostly on yearling spottail shiners and emerald shiners in the spring and summer but young alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus) became the dominant food in the fall. The length of forage fish increased with the length of walleyes and walleyes of a given length usually ate forage fish within a restricted range of lengths. This size preference was shown by walleyes of the same length in the same and different months. The increased in length of forage fish with length of walleye was not proportionate. Walleyes 2.5 inches long ate forage fish 0.44 times their length whereas walleyes 15.5 inches long ate forage fish only 0.28 times their length. The diet of the walleyes changed according to species and lengths of forage fish available. Since young of several species hatched in different months and grew at different rates, abundance and suitability as forage sometimes changed rapidly.

Bottom trawl assessment of Lake Ontario prey fishes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Weidel, Brian C.; Connerton, Michael J.; Holden, Jeremy

2018-01-01

Managing Lake Ontario fisheries in an ecosystem-context requires prey fish community and population data. Since 1978, multiple annual bottom trawl surveys have quantified prey fish dynamics to inform management relative to published Fish Community Objectives. In 2017, two whole-lake surveys collected 341 bottom trawls (spring: 204, fall: 137), at depths from 8-225m, and captured 751,350 fish from 29 species. Alewife were 90% of the total fish catch while Deepwater Sculpin, Round Goby, and Rainbow Smelt comprised the majority of the remaining total catch (3.8, 3.1, and 1.1% respectively). The adult Alewife abundance index for US waters increased in 2017 relative to 2016, however the index for Canadian waters declined. Adult Alewife condition, assessed by the predicted weight of a 165 mm fish (6.5 inches), declined in 2017 from record high values observed in spring 2016. Spring 2017 Alewife condition was slightly less than the 10-year average, but the fall value was well below the 10-year average, likely due to increased Age-1 Alewife abundance. The Age-1 Alewife abundance index was the highest observed in 40 years, and 8-times higher than the previous year. The Age-1 index estimates Alewife reproductive success the preceding year. The warm summer and winter of 2016 likely contributed to the large year class. In contrast the relatively cool 2017 spring and cold winter may result in a lower than average 2017 year class. Abundance indices for Rainbow Smelt, Cisco, and Emerald Shiner either declined or remained at low levels in 2017. Pelagic prey fish diversity continues to be low since a single species, Alewife, dominates the catch. Deepwater Sculpin were the most abundant benthic prey fish in 2017 because Round Goby abundance declined sharply from 2016. Slimy Sculpin density continued to decline and the 2017 biomass index for US waters was the lowest ever observed. Prior to Round Goby proliferation, juvenile Slimy Sculpin comprised ~10% of the Slimy Sculpin catch, but

Benthic prey fish assessment, Lake Ontario 2013

USGS Publications Warehouse

Weidel, Brian C.; Walsh, Maureen; Connerton, Michael J.

2014-01-01

The 2013 benthic fish assessment was delayed and shortened as a result of the U.S. Government shutdown, however the assessment collected 51 of the 62 planned bottom trawls. Over the past 34 years, Slimy Sculpin abundance in Lake Ontario has fluctuated, but ultimately decreased by two orders of magnitude, with a substantial decline occurring in the past 10 years. The 2013 Slimy Sculpin mean bottom trawl catch density (0.001 ind.·m-2, s.d.= 0.0017, n = 52) and mean biomass density (0.015 g·m-2 , s.d.= 0.038, n = 52) were the lowest recorded in the 27 years of sampling using the original bottom trawl design. From 2011-2013, the Slimy Sculpin density and biomass density has decreased by approximately 50% each year. Spring bottom trawl catches illustrate Slimy Sculpin and Round Goby Neogobius melanostoma winter habitat overlaps for as much as 7 months out of a year, providing opportunities for competition and predation. Invasive species, salmonid piscivory, and declines in native benthic invertebrates are likely all important drivers of Slimy Sculpin population dynamics in Lake Ontario. Deepwater Sculpin Myoxocephalus thompsonii, considered rare or absent from Lake Ontario for 30 years, have generally increased over the past eight years. For the first time since they were caught in this assessment, Deepwater Sculpin density and biomass density estimates declined from the previous year. The 2013 abundance and density estimates for trawls covering the standard depths from 60m to 150m was 0.0001 fish per square meter and 0.0028 grams per square meter. In 2013, very few small (< 80 mm) Deepwater Sculpin were caught and most sculpin were at sites of 150 meters or greater, which is in contrast to previous years when juvenile fish were caught around 80-100 meters. The reduced effort and late seasonal timing of the 2013 assessment make it difficult to have high confidence in declines observed in 2013, however observed Alewife Alosa psuedoharengus abundance increases and

Changes of Protein and Lipid Contents, Amino Acid and Fatty Acid Compositions in Eggs and Yolk-Sac Larvae of American Shad ( Alosa sapidissima)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Zhifeng; Gao, Xiaoqiang; Yu, Jiuxiang; Wang, Yaohui; Guo, Zhenglong; Huang, Bin; Liu, Baoliang; Hong, Lei

2018-04-01

To investigate the changes of the biochemical composition of American shad ( Alosa sapidissima) eggs and larvae at embryonic and early larval stages, samples were collected at different development stages from artificial fertilization to the end of yolk absorption including 2 h, 12 h and 30 h after fertilization and newly hatched larvae including 1 and 3 days after hatching. The composition of lipid, fatty acids, protein and amino acids were analyzed. The content of total protein exhibited a decreasing trend during embryogenesis and larval development, and a significant reduction was detected after hatching ( P < 0.05). The total lipid content remained relative stable. A significant reduction was detected in almost all amino acids after hatching except for glycine ( P < 0.05), while a significant decrease was found in the content of cysteine, proline, tyrosine, valine, isoleucine, leucine and phenylalanine during the yolk-sac phase ( P < 0.05). On the other hand, all the groups of fatty acids remained stable during the period of embryogenesis. But after hatching, a significant decrease was found in the content of C18:2n-6, C18:3n-6, SFA and ratio of EPA/ARA ( P < 0.05), while a significant increase was found in the content of C18:3n-3, C20:4n-6, C22:6n-3 and ratio of n-3/n-6 ( P < 0.05). In conclusion, the combined data suggested that American shad utilizes the protein content as preferential energy substrates during embryonic and early larval developments with some specificity in the consumption of different amino acids.

Status of pelagic prey fishes in Lake Michigan, 2012

USGS Publications Warehouse

Warner, David M.; O'Brien, Timothy P.; Farha, Steve A.; Claramunt, Randall M.; Hanson, Dale

2012-01-01

Acoustic surveys were conducted in late summer/early fall during the years 1992-1996 and 2001-2012 to estimate pelagic prey fish biomass in Lake Michigan. Midwater trawling during the surveys as well as target strength provided a measure of species and size composition of the fish community for use in scaling acoustic data and providing species-specific abundance estimates. The 2012 survey consisted of 26 acoustic transects (576 km total) and 31 midwater tows. Mean total prey fish biomass was 6.4 kg/ha (relative standard error, RSE = 15%) or 31 kilotonnes (kt = 1,000 metric tons), which was 1.5 times the estimate for 2011 and 22% of the long-term mean. The increase from 2011 resulted from increased biomass of age-0 alewife, age-1 or older alewife, and large bloater. The abundance of the 2012 alewife year class was similar to the average, and this year-class contributed 35% of total alewife biomass (4.9 kg/ha, RSE = 17%), while the 2010 alewife year-class contributed 58%. The 2010 year class made up 89% of age-1 or older alewife biomass. In 2012, alewife comprised 77% of total prey fish biomass, while rainbow smelt and bloater were 4 and 19% of total biomass, respectively. Rainbow smelt biomass in 2012 (0.25 kg/ha, RSE = 17%) was 40% of the rainbow smelt biomass in 2011 and 5% of the long term mean. Bloater biomass was much lower (1.2 kg/ha, RSE = 12%) than in the 1990s, and mean density of small bloater in 2012 (191 fish/ha, RSE = 24%) was lower than peak values observed in 2007-2009. In 2012, pelagic prey fish biomass in Lake Michigan was similar to Lake Superior and Lake Huron. Prey fish biomass remained well below the Fish Community Objectives target of 500-800 kt, and key native species remain absent or rare.

A comparison of hematology, plasma chemistry, and injuries in Hickory shad (Alosa mediocris) captured by electrofishing or angling during a spawning run.

PubMed

Matsche, Mark A; Rosemary, Kevin; Stence, Charles P

2017-09-01

Declines in Hickory shad (Alosa mediocris) populations in Chesapeake Bay have prompted efforts at captive propagation of wild broodfish for stock enhancement and research. The objectives of this study were to evaluate injuries sustained, and immediate and delayed (24 hours) effects on blood variables related to 2 fish capturing methods (electrofishing [EF] and angling). Blood specimens were collected from fish immediately following capture by EF and angling (n = 40 per sex and capture method) from the Susquehanna River (MD, USA). Additional fish (n = 25 per sex and capture method) were collected on the same day, placed in holding tanks and bled 24 hours following capture. Blood data that were non-Gaussian in distribution were transformed (Box-Cox), and effects of sex, method of capture, and holding time were tested using ANOVA with general linear models. Fish were evaluated for injuries by necropsy and radiography. Sex-specific differences were observed for RBC, HGB, PCV, MCH, MCHC, total proteins (TP), globulins, glucose, calcium, AST, CK, and lactate, while RBC, HGB, PCV, MCV, MCH, MCHC, TP, albumin, globulins, glucose, potassium, sodium, AST, CK, and lactate differed significantly by fish capturing method. Electrofishing may have induced greater disruption in blood variables, but mortality (4%) was not significantly different compared to angling. Electrofishing for Hickory shad using a constant DC voltage resulted in numerous hematologic and biochemical changes, with no additional injuries or deaths compared to angling. Capture method must be considered when evaluating fish condition, and blood variables should be partitioned by sex during spawning season. © 2017 American Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology.

TROPHIC DYNAMICS OF STRIPED BASS IN SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE, VIRGINIA

EPA Science Inventory

We examined the adequacy of the forage base to meet demand of striped bass in Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia. In regards to prey supply, mean alewife biomass from 1993-1998 was 37 kg/ha and mean gizzard shad biomass from 1990-1997 was 112 kg/ha. Mean annual alewife surplus produ...

Diet of juvenile lake trout in southern Lake Ontario in relation to abundance and size of prey fishes, 1979-1987

USGS Publications Warehouse

Elrod, Joseph H.; O'Gorman, Robert

1991-01-01

We examined the diet of juvenile lake trout Salvelinus namaycush (<450 mm, total length) in Lake Ontario during four sampling periods (April–May, June, July–August, and October 1979–1987) in relation to changes in prey fish abundance in the depth zone where we caught the lake trout. Over all years combined, slimy sculpins Cottus cognatus contributed the most (39–52%) by wet weight to the diet, followed by alewives Alosa pseudoharengus(3–38%), rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax (17–43%), and johnny darters Etheostoma nigrum(2–10%). Over 90% of alewives eaten during April–May and June were age 1, and 98% of those eaten during October were age 0 (few alewives were eaten in July–August). Mean lengths of rainbow smelt and slimy sculpins in stomachs increased with size of lake trout. Juvenile lake trout generally fed opportunistically—seasonal and annual changes in diet usually reflected seasonal and annual changes in abundance of prey fishes near bottom where we captured the lake trout. Furthermore, diet within a given season varied with depth of capture of lake trout, and changes with depth in proportions of prey species in lake trout stomachs mirrored changes in proportions of the prey species in trawl catches at the same depth. Alewives (ages 0 and 1) were the only prey fish eaten in substantial quantities by both juvenile lake trout and other salmonines, and thus are a potential focus of competition between these predators.

Ninespine Stickleback Abundance in Lake Michigan Increases After Dreissenid Mussel Invasion

USGS Publications Warehouse

Madenjian, Charles P.; Bunnell, David B.; Gorman, Owen T.

2010-01-01

Based on data from our annual lakewide bottom trawl survey of Lake Michigan, we determined that density of ninespine sticklebacks Pungitius pungitius increased from an average of 0.234 kg/ha during 1973–1995 to an average of 1.318 kg/ha during 1996–2007. This greater-than-fivefold increase in density coincided with the dreissenid mussel invasion of Lake Michigan. Intervention analysis revealed that ninespine stickleback density in Lake Michigan significantly increased between the two time periods. In contrast, based on data from our annual bottom trawl survey of U.S. waters of Lake Superior, ninespine stickleback density decreased from an average of 0.133 kg/ha during 1978–1999 to an average of only 0.026 kg/ha during 2000–2007. This greater-than-fivefold density decrease, which was found to be significant via intervention analysis, coincided with population recovery for both lean and fat morphotypes of lake trout Salvelinus namaycush in Lake Superior. In contrast to Lake Michigan, dreissenid mussels have not invaded Lake Superior on a lakewide basis. Thus, a comparison of these two lakes indicated that the increase in ninespine stickleback abundance in Lake Michigan was most likely attributable to the dreissenid mussel invasion. In addition, based on our correlation analysis, alewives Alosa pseudoharengus did not have an adverse effect on ninespine stickleback abundance in Lake Michigan. Perhaps the recent increase in biomass of green algae Cladophora spp. associated with the dreissenid mussel invasion improved spawning habitat quality for ninespine sticklebacks and led to their stepwise abundance increase in Lake Michigan beginning in 1996

Coupling age-structured stock assessment and fish bioenergetics models: a system of time-varying models for quantifying piscivory patterns during the rapid trophic shift in the main basin of Lake Huron

USGS Publications Warehouse

He, Ji X.; Bence, James R.; Madenjian, Charles P.; Pothoven, Steven A.; Dobiesz, Norine E.; Fielder, David G.; Johnson, James E.; Ebener, Mark P.; Cottrill, Adam R.; Mohr, Lloyd C.; Koproski, Scott R.

2015-01-01

We quantified piscivory patterns in the main basin of Lake Huron during 1984–2010 and found that the biomass transfer from prey fish to piscivores remained consistently high despite the rapid major trophic shift in the food webs. We coupled age-structured stock assessment models and fish bioenergetics models for lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush), Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), walleye (Sander vitreus), and lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis). The model system also included time-varying parameters or variables of growth, length–mass relations, maturity schedules, energy density, and diets. These time-varying models reflected the dynamic connections that a fish cohort responded to year-to-year ecosystem changes at different ages and body sizes. We found that the ratio of annual predation by lake trout, Chinook salmon, and walleye combined with the biomass indices of age-1 and older alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus) and rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) increased more than tenfold during 1987–2010, and such increases in predation pressure were structured by relatively stable biomass of the three piscivores and stepwise declines in the biomass of alewives and rainbow smelt. The piscivore stability was supported by the use of alternative energy pathways and changes in relative composition of the three piscivores. In addition, lake whitefish became a new piscivore by feeding on round goby (Neogobius melanostomus). Their total fish consumption rivaled that of the other piscivores combined, although fish were still a modest proportion of their diet. Overall, the use of alternative energy pathways by piscivores allowed the increases in predation pressure on dominant diet species.

Assessing freshwater habitat of adult anadromous alewives using multiple approaches

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mather, Martha E.; Frank, Holly J.; Smith, Joseph M.; Cormier, Roxann D.; Muth, Robert M.; Finn, John T.

2012-01-01

After centuries of disturbance, environmental professionals now recognize the need to restore coastal watersheds for native fish and protect the larger ecosystems on which fish and other aquatic biota depend. Anadromous fish species are an important component of coastal ecosystems that are often adversely affected by human activities. Restoring native anadromous fish species is a common focus of both fish and coastal watershed restoration. Yet restoration efforts have met with uneven success, often due to lack of knowledge about habitat availability and use. Using habitat surveys and radio tracking of adult anadromous alewives Alosa pseudoharengus during their spring spawning migration, we illustrate a method for quantifying habitat using multiple approaches and for relating mobile fish distribution to habitat. In the Ipswich River, Massachusetts, measuring habitat units and physical conditions at transects (width, depth, and velocity) provided an ecological basis for the interpretation of landscape patterns of fish distribution. Mapping habitat units allowed us to efficiently census habitat relevant to alewives for the entire 20.6 river kilometers of interest. Our transect data reinforced the results of the habitat unit survey and provided useful, high‐resolution ecological data for restoration efforts. Tagged alewives spent little time in riffle–run habitats and substantial time in pools, although the locations of pool occupancy varied. The insights we provide here can be used to (1) identify preferred habitats into which anadromous fish can be reintroduced in order to maximize fish survival and reproduction and (2) pinpoint habitat types in urgent need of protection or restoration.

Food of alewives, yellow perch, spottail shiners, trout-perch, and slimy and fourhorn sculpins in southeastern Lake Michigan

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wells, LaRue

1980-01-01

Stomachs of 1,064 alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus), 1,103 yellow perch (Perca flavescens), 246 spottail shiners (Notropis hudsonius), 288 trout-perch (Percopsis omiscomaycus), 454 slimy sculpins (Cottus cognatus), and 562 fourhorn sculpins (Myoxocephalus quadricornis) from Lake Michigan were examined for food contents. Fish were sampled primarily from March to November and nearly all were caught at the bottom in the southeastern part of the lake near Saugatuck, Michigan. Depths of capture (m) were: alewives, 5 to 110; yellow perch, 5 to 26; spottail shiners, 5 to 31; trout-perch, 9 to 46; slimy sculpins, 31 to 91; and fourhorn sculpins, 73 to 110. Alewives, particularly those less than 140 mm long, fed chiefly on zooplankton; Pontoporeia usually constituted most of the rest of the food, although Mysis and immature midges were occasionally eaten in considerable quantity. Yellow perch ate primarily Pontoporeia, fish eggs, Mysis, and crayfish; Pontoporeia was consumed most heavily by perch less than 250 mm long and those in relatively deep water, fish (mainly slimy sculpins) by those 200 mm long or longer, Mysis by those in deep water, and crayfish by those on rocky bottom. Spottail shiners fed most commonly on immature midges, Pontoporeia, zooplankton, fingernail clams, and (in July only) fish eggs; immature midges were eaten mainly by shiners in shallow water; and Pontoporeia by those in deeper areas. The diet of trout-perch was strongly dominated by Pontoporeia and immature midges. Slimy sculpins ate Pontoporeia almost exclusively. Fourhorn sculpins fed almost entirely on Mysis and Pontoporeia; Pontoporeia was particularly important in the diet of the larger fish.

76 FR 67652 - Listing Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 90-Day Finding on a Petition To List...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-11-02

... as specified in the petition. If we find that listing at the species level is not warranted, we will... River, Florida; and alewife found in a more northerly distribution, from Labrador and Newfoundland to as... that is located at eye level on both sides behind the margin of the gill cover. The colors of alewife...

Status of Pelagic Prey Fishes in Lake Michigan, 2014

USGS Publications Warehouse

Warner, David M.; Farha, Steven A.; Claramunt, Randall M.; Hanson, Dale; O'Brien, Timothy P.

2015-01-01

Acoustic surveys were conducted in late summer/early fall during the years 1992-1996 and 2001-2014 to estimate pelagic prey fish biomass in Lake Michigan. Midwater trawling during the surveys as well as target strength provided a measure of species and size composition of the fish community for use in scaling acoustic data and providing species-specific abundance estimates. The 2014 survey consisted of 27 acoustic transects (603 km total) and 31 midwater trawl tows. Four additional transects were sampled in Green Bay but were not included in lakewide estimates. Mean prey fish biomass was 6.5 kg/ha [31.7 kilotonnes (kt = 1,000 metric tons)], equivalent to 69.9 million pounds, which was similar to the estimate in 2013 (29.6 kt) and 25% of the long-term (19 years) mean. The numeric density of the 2014 alewife year-class was 3% of the time series average and was the lowest observed in the 19 years of sampling. This year-class contributed <1% of total alewife biomass (4.6 kg/ha). Alewife ≥age-1 comprised 99.5% of alewife biomass. Numeric density of alewife in Green Bay was more than three times that of the main lake. In 2014, alewife comprised 71% of total prey fish biomass, while rainbow smelt and bloater were 1% and 28% of total biomass, respectively. Rainbow smelt biomass in 2014 (0.08 kg/ha) was 66% lower than in 2013, 2% of the long-term mean, and lower than in any previous year. Bloater biomass in 2014 was 1.8 kg/ha, nearly three times more than the 2013 biomass, and 20% of the long-term mean. Mean density of small bloater in 2014 (122 fish/ha) was lower than peak values observed in 2007-2009 but was similar to the time series mean (124 fish/ha). In 2014, pelagic prey fish biomass in Lake Michigan was 71% of that in Lake Huron (all basins), where the community is dominated by bloater.

Status of pelagic prey fishes and pelagic macroinvertebrates in Lake Michigan, 2008

USGS Publications Warehouse

Warner, David M.; Claramunt, Randall M.; Holuszko, Jeffrey D.; Desorcie, Timothy J.

2009-01-01

Acoustic surveys were conducted in late summer/early fall during the years 1992-1996 and 2001-2008 to estimate pelagic prey fish biomass in Lake Michigan. Midwater trawling during the surveys provided a measure of species and size composition of the fish community for use in scaling acoustic data and providing species-specific abundance estimates. In 2005, we began sampling Mysis diluviana during the survey. The 2008 survey provided data from 24 acoustic transects (734 km), 33 midwater tows, and 39 mysid tows. Mean total prey fish biomass was 15.3 kg/ha (relative standard error, RSE = 7.6%) or ~82 kilotonnes (kt, 1,000 metric tons), which was 1.9 times higher than the estimate for 2007 but 78% lower than the long-term mean. The increase from 2007 was because of increased biomass of age-1 and age-3 alewife. The 2008 alewife year-class contributed ~12% of total alewife biomass (11.0 kg/ha, RSE = 9.0%), while the 2007 and 2005 alewife year-classes contributed ~33% and 35%, respectively. In 2008, alewife comprised 72% of total biomass, while rainbow smelt and bloater were 11 and 17% of total biomass, respectively. Rainbow smelt biomass in 2008 (1.6 kg/ha, RSE = 10.6%) was identical to the biomass in 2007 (1.6 kg/ha). Bloater biomass was again much lower (2.6 kg/ha, RSE = 15.2%) than in the 1990s, but mean density of small bloater in 2008 (534 fish/ha, RSE = 10.9) was the highest observed in any acoustic survey on record. Prey fish biomass remained well below the Fish Community Objectives target of 500-800 kt and only alewife and small bloater are above or near long-term mean biomass levels. Mysis diluviana remains relatively abundant. Mean density ranged from 185 ind./m2 (RSE = 6.8%) in 2005 to 112 ind./m2 (RSE = 5.1%) in 2007, but there was not a statistically significant difference among years.

Dynamics of storage of organochlorine pollutants in herring gulls

USGS Publications Warehouse

Anderson, D.W.; Hickey, J.J.

1976-01-01

Several organochlorine pollutants were studied over the period of one annual cycle in caged juvenile and wild-collected adult herring gulls (Lagus argentatus) from Lake Michigan. Fish, mostly alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus), comprised the major year-round food items in the wild; alewives were also fed to the caged juveniles. Fish residues averaged around 3 mg/kg of p,p'-DDE, 2 mg/kg p,p'DDT + p,p'-TDE, and 2 mg/kg apparent PCBs. Juvenile body-burdens of DDE and PCBs showed a continual buildup after fledging, then a temporary dynamic equilibrium, related only in part to annual lipid deposition. Maximum body-burdens were reached in both juveniles and adults when winter fat deposits were declining prior to the breeding season?followed by a return to dynamic equilibrium. Residues of DDT and TDE followed closely the annual pattern of lipid deposition in both juveniles and adults. Total body-burdens in both age classes were similar after the buildups to equilibrium in juveniles in their eighth month after fledging. Seasonal variations of residues of DDE and PCBs were characterised by two phases in adults and three in juveniles, which gradually assumed the adult cyclic pattern. The maximum body-burdens attained by caged juveniles fed a diet of Lake Michigan alewives were 290 mg/kg DDE, 19 mg/kg DDT + TDE, and 200 mg/kg apparent PCBs. Residues in wild adults at the same time were 300, 4, and 200 mg/kg of the same residues. Apparent PCBs and DDE were highly accumulative, although DDE levels resulted from dietary DDE, as well as conversion from DDT.

Potential impacts of water diversion on fishery resources in the Great Lakes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Manny, Bruce A.

1984-01-01

Uses of Great Lakes water within the Great Lakes basin are steadily increasing, and critical water shortages elsewhere may add to the demands for diversions of water out of the basin in the near future. The impacts of such diversions on fish in the Great Lakes must be considered in the context of in-basin uses of the water, because in-basin uses already adversely affect the fishery resources. Temporary in-basin water withdrawals from Lake Michigan by industry in 1980 equaled 260% of the total volume of water between the shoreline and the 10-meter depth - the littoral waters most heavily used by fish as spawning and nursery grounds. Nearly 100% of the fish removed by these water withdrawals were killed. Enough young alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus) and rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) in Lake Michigan and young yellow perch (Perca flavescens) in western Lake Erie have been removed at water intakes in recent years to reduce the productivity and biomass of adult fish stocks. Out-of-basin diversions of water at Chicago and at the Welland Canal, channel modifications in the St. Clair River, and in-basin consumptive water withdrawals have lowered the annual mean water level of Lakes Michigan and Huron by about 27 cm and that of Lake Erie by about 10 cm, dewatering wetlands that historically served as spawning and nursery habitat for many valuable fish species. The dollar value of fish lost to water diversions and withdrawals has not yet been estimated, but water withdrawals alone have already reduced the annual economic impact of the Great Lakes fisheries, which has been estimated to be 1.16 billion dollars.

Can diet-dependent factors help explain fish-to-fish variation in thiamine-dependent early mortality syndrome?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Brown, S.B.; Arts, M.T.; Brown, L.R.; Brown, M.; Moore, K.; Villella, M.; Fitzsimons, J.D.; Honeyfield, D.C.; Tillitt, D.E.; Zajicek, J.L.; Wolgamood, M.; Hnath, J.G.

2005-01-01

To provide insight into the reasons why offspring of certain salmonine females exhibit early mortality syndrome (EMS) in the Great Lakes whereas others do not, we measured the egg concentrations of potential biochemical markers (stable isotopes of nitrogen and carbon, fatty acid signatures, and lipid-soluble carotenoids and vitamins) that are indicative of differing food web and trophic structure. To corroborate the presence of EMS, we also measured the egg content of thiamine vitamers. For all the stocks of coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch and Chinook salmon O. tshawytscha we studied, there was a very high correspondence between EMS and low concentrations of unphosphorylated thiamine in unfertilized eggs. For salmonine stocks in the Platte River, Thompson Creek, and the Swan River, Michigan, small but significant shifts occurred in measures of egg carotenoids, retinoids, ??15N depletion, and fatty acid profiles of fish producing normal offspring relative to those exhibiting EMS. Egg thiamine concentrations in Chinook salmon from the Little Manistee River, Michigan, in the low-EMS group were only marginally above the threshold for EMS induction. Along with this small thiamine differential, there was no evidence of differing food web or dietary factors between EMS-positive and normal Chinook salmon from the Little Manistee River. Further investigations are required to determine the potential dietary sources for the observed differences in biochemical markers between EMS-positive and normal fish. These findings are generally consistent with the hypothesis that a more diverse forage base may help to limit overall dietary content of species that contain thiaminase, such as alewives Alosa pseudoharengus, and may lead to improved embryonic survival for feral salmonids. ?? Copyright by the American Fisheries Society 2005.

Optimum temperature for growth and preferred temperatures of age-0 lake trout

USGS Publications Warehouse

Edsall, Thomas A.; Cleland, Joshua

2000-01-01

This study was performed to determine the thermal preferences and optimum temperature for growth of age-0 lake trout Salvelinus namaycush to help predict the thermal habitat they select when they leave the spawning grounds and to assess the risk posed to them in the Great Lakes by piscivorus, nonnative fishes whose thermal habitat preferences are known. The test fish were hatched in the laboratory from eggs taken from wild fish, acclimated to 5, 10, 15, and 18°C, and fed to excess with commercial trout food for 47 d. The test fish grew at all of the temperatures, and the specific growth rate was highest at about 12.5°C (3.8% wet body weight/d). Fish used in the growth study were also tested in a vertical thermal gradient tank and had a final thermal preferendum between 10.1°C and 10.2°C. These results, which generally agreed with those of an earlier laboratory study of the temperature preference of age-1 lake trout and the limited information on thermal habitat use by age-0 lake trout in the Great Lakes, indicated age-0 lake trout would tend to seek temperatures near 10°C, or as high as 12.5°C, during summer if food was abundant. Published information on thermal habitat use of age-1 and adult alewives Alosa pseudoharengus and rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax indicated they would be expected to co-occur with age-0 lake trout during much of the time when the lake trout were small enough to be eaten by these two introduced piscivores.

Effectiveness and retention of thiamine and its analogs administered to steelhead and landlocked Atlantic salmon

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ketola, H.G.; Isaacs, G.R.; Robins, J.S.; Lloyd, R.C.

2008-01-01

We investigated the feasibility of enhancing the reproduction of steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss and landlocked Atlantic salmon Salmo salar in lakes where the consumption of alewives Alosa pseudoharengus and other forage fishes containing thiaminase can cause them to become thiamine deficient and thereby reduce the survival of their fry. We evaluated feeding fingerling steelhead excess thiamine hydrochloride (THCl) for 1 or 2 weeks or equimolar amounts of thiamine mononitrate, thiamine-tetrahydrofurfuryl-disulfide, benfotiamine, or dibenzoyl thiamine (DBT). We found minimal internal reserves of thiamine after 6 months. We also compared the ability of injections of thiamine and its analogs to prevent mortality in thiamine-deficient steelhead and Atlantic salmon sac fry and found all forms to be effective, although benfotiamine was the least effective on an equimolar basis. Further, we injected yearling steelhead and found that DBT was tolerated at approximately 11,200 nmol/g of body weight, about 10 times more than thiamine in any other form. When yearling steelhead were injected with near-maximal doses of thiamine hydrochloride and several analogs and then fed a thiamine-deficient diet, DBT was retained for approximately 2 years - in contrast to other forms, which were retained for less than about 6 months. Therefore, these results suggest that neither feeding nor injecting young hatchery salmonids with DBT is likely to enhance their reproduction for more than 2 years after stocking. However, injecting DBT in nearly mature fish (either cultured fish from hatcheries or wild fish captured in lakes) may provide them with enough thiamine to successfully spawn within 2 years even though they consume mainly thiaminase-containing forage fishes. ?? Copyright by the American Fisheries Society 2008.

Status of pelagic prey fishes in Lake Michigan, 2013

USGS Publications Warehouse

Warner, David M.; Farha, Steven A.; O'Brien, Timothy P.; Ogilvie, Lynn; Claramunt, Randall M.; Hanson, Dale

2014-01-01

Acoustic surveys were conducted in late summer/early fall during the years 1992-1996 and 2001-2013 to estimate pelagic prey fish biomass in Lake Michigan. Midwater trawling during the surveys as well as target strength provided a measure of species and size composition of the fish community for use in scaling acoustic data and providing species-specific abundance estimates. The 2013 survey consisted of 27 acoustic transects (546 km total) and 31 midwater trawl tows. Mean prey fish biomass was 6.1 kg/ha (relative standard error, RSE = 11%) or 29.6 kilotonnes (kt = 1,000 metric tons), which was similar to the estimate in 2012 (31.1 kt) and 23.5% of the long-term (18 years) mean. The numeric density of the 2013 alewife year class was 6% of the time series average and this year-class contributed 4% of total alewife biomass (5.2 kg/ha, RSE = 12%). Alewife ≥age-1 comprised 96% of alewife biomass. In 2013, alewife comprised 86% of total prey fish biomass, while rainbow smelt and bloater were 4 and 10% of total biomass, respectively. Rainbow smelt biomass in 2013 (0.24 kg/ha, RSE = 17%) was essentially identical to the rainbow smelt biomass in 2012 and was 6% of the long term mean. Bloater biomass in 2013 was 0.6 kg/ha, only half the 2012 biomass, and 6% of the long term mean. Mean density of small bloater in 2013 (29 fish/ha, RSE = 29%) was lower than peak values observed in 2007-2009 and was 23% of the time series mean. In 2013, pelagic prey fish biomass in Lake Michigan was similar to Lake Huron, but pelagic community composition differs in the two lakes, with Lake Huron dominated by bloater.

Comparative bioenergetics modeling of two Lake Trout morphotypes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kepler, Megan V.; Wagner, Tyler; Sweka, John A.

2014-01-01

Efforts to restore Lake Trout Salvelinus namaycush in the Laurentian Great Lakes have been hampered for decades by several factors, including overfishing and invasive species (e.g., parasitism by Sea Lampreys Petromyzon marinus and reproductive deficiencies associated with consumption of Alewives Alosa pseudoharengus). Restoration efforts are complicated by the presence of multiple body forms (i.e., morphotypes) of Lake Trout that differ in habitat utilization, prey consumption, lipid storage, and spawning preferences. Bioenergetics models constitute one tool that is used to help inform management and restoration decisions; however, bioenergetic differences among morphotypes have not been evaluated. The goal of this research was to investigate bioenergetic differences between two actively stocked morphotypes: lean and humper Lake Trout. We measured consumption and respiration rates across a wide range of temperatures (4–22°C) and size-classes (5–100 g) to develop bioenergetics models for juvenile Lake Trout. Bayesian estimation was used so that uncertainty could be propagated through final growth predictions. Differences between morphotypes were minimal, but when present, the differences were temperature and weight dependent. Basal respiration did not differ between morphotypes at any temperature or size-class. When growth and consumption differed between morphotypes, the differences were not consistent across the size ranges tested. Management scenarios utilizing the temperatures presently found in the Great Lakes (e.g., predicted growth at an average temperature of 11.7°C and 14.4°C during a 30-d period) demonstrated no difference in growth between the two morphotypes. Due to a lack of consistent differences between lean and humper Lake Trout, we developed a model that combined data from both morphotypes. The combined model yielded results similar to those of the morphotype-specific models, suggesting that accounting for morphotype differences may

Effects of thiamine on reproduction of Atlantic salmon and a new hypothesis for their extirpation in Lake Ontario

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ketola, H. George; Bowser, Paul R.; Wooster, Gregory A.; Wedge, Leslie R.; Hurst, Steven S.

2000-01-01

Previous researchers demonstrated that a mortality in fry (called Cayuga syndrome) of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar from Cayuga Lake (New York) was associated with low levels of thiamine. They reduced the mortality of fry by bathing or injecting fry with thiamine. We injected four to six gravid female Atlantic salmon with either physiological saline (PS) or PS plus thiamine (7 mg/kg weight) 14–23 d before eggs were stripped, fertilized, and incubated in individual lots. Chemical analyses showed that eggs from control and treated salmon contained 1.1 and 1.6 nmol thiamine/g, respectively. Thiamine injections had no significant effect on the percentage of eggs that hatched. Between 700 and 800 Celius degree-days postfertilization, control fry (saline) showed signs of Cayuga syndrome and a 45% incidence of mortality; in contrast, mortality was only 1.9% for fry that received thiamine. By 1,078 degree-days postfertilization, mean mortality of control fry was 98.6%, whereas that for thiamine-injected salmon was 2.1%. This study showed that thiamine injections of prespawning female salmon from Cayuga Lake increased thiamine content of their eggs and prevented the Cayuga syndrome and subsequent mortality of fry. Historically, overfishing, pollution, and building of dams and barriers to spawning migration were suggested as possible causes of the decline of the Atlantic salmon in Lake Ontario and Cayuga Lake. Based on our findings and other reports, we suggest another possible contributing cause of the extirpation of landlocked Atlantic salmon in Lake Ontario and some other inland waters of New York: The entrance of alewives Alosa pseudoharengus containing thiaminase, which induced thiamine deficiency in eggs and increased mortality in fry of the predatory salmon.

Gut content analysis of Lake Michigan waterbirds in years with avian botulism type E mortality, 2010–2012

USGS Publications Warehouse

Essian, David A.; Chipault, Jennifer G.; Lafrancois, Brenda M.; Leonard, Jill B.K.

2016-01-01

Waterbird die-offs caused by Clostridium botulinum neurotoxin type E (BoNT/E) have occurred sporadically in the Great Lakes since the late 1960s, with a recent pulse starting in the late 1990s. In recent die-offs, round gobies (Neogobius melanostomus) have been implicated as vectors for the transfer of BoNT/E to fish-eating birds due to the round goby invasion history and their importance as prey. Dreissenid mussels (Dreissena spp.) are also potentially involved in BoNT/E transmission to birds and round gobies. We examined gut contents of waterbirds collected in Lake Michigan during die-offs in 2010–2012, and the gut contents of culled, presumably BoNT/E-free double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus). Round gobies were found in 86% of the BoNT/E-positive individuals, 84% of the BoNT/E-negative birds, and 94% of the BoNT/E-free cormorants examined. Double-crested cormorants, ring-billed gulls (Larus delewarensis), and common loons (Gavia immer) consumed larger-sized round gobies than horned and red-necked grebes (Podiceps auritus and Podiceps grisegena), white-winged scoters (Melanitta deglandi), and long-tailed ducks (Clangula hymealis). Other common prey included dreissenid mussels, terrestrial insects, and alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus). Our data emphasize the importance of round gobies and mussels in diets of Lake Michigan waterbirds and suggest they may play a role in the transfer of BoNT/E to waterbirds; however, round gobies and mussels were found in BoNT/E-positive, -negative, and -free individuals, suggesting that other factors, such as alternative trophic pathways for toxin transfer, bird migratory timing and feeding locations, prey behavior, and individual physiological differences across birds may affect the likelihood that a bird will succumb to BoNT/E intoxication.

Fall diets of red-breasted merganser (Mergus serrator) and walleye (Sander vitreus) in Sandusky Bay and adjacent waters of western Lake Erie

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bur, M.T.; Stapanian, M.A.; Bernhardt, G.; Turner, M.W.

2008-01-01

Although published studies indicate the contrary, there is concern among many sport anglers that migrating red-breasted mergansers (Mergus serrator) and other waterbirds pose a competitive threat to sport fish species such as walleye (Sander vitreus) in Lake Erie. We quantified the diet of autumn-migrant mergansers and walleye during 1998-2000 in Sandusky Bay and adjacent waters of western Lake Erie. We hypothesized that the diets of both predators would be similar in species composition, but because of different foraging ecologies their diets would differ markedly in size of prey consumed. In addition to predator samples, we used trawl data from the same general area as an index of prey availability. We found that mergansers fed almost exclusively on fish (nine species). Gizzard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum), emerald shiner (Notropis atherinoides) and round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) were consumed in the greatest numbers, most frequently and comprised the greatest biomass. Walleye fed exclusively on fish: gizzard shad, alewife (Alosa psuedoharengus) and emerald shiner were consumed in the greatest numbers, most frequently and comprised the greatest biomass. Diet overlap between mergansers and walleye was 67% by weight and 66% by species frequency. Mean total lengths of gizzard shad, emerald shiner and round goby found in walleye stomachs exceeded those captured in trawls by 47%, on average. Mean total lengths of gizzard shad, emerald shiner and round goby were greater in walleye stomachs than in merganser stomachs. Mean total lengths of emerald shiner and round goby were less in merganser stomachs than in trawls. Our results suggest that although the diets of walleye and mergansers overlapped considerably, mergansers generally consumed smaller fish than walleye. Given the abundance and diversity of prey species available, and the transient nature of mergansers on Lake Erie during migration, we conclude that competition for food between these species is minimal.

Potential strategies for recovery of lake whitefish and lake herring stocks in eastern Lake Erie

USGS Publications Warehouse

Oldenburg, K.; Stapanian, M.A.; Ryan, P.A.; Holm, E.

2007-01-01

Lake Erie sustained large populations of ciscoes (Salmonidae: Coregoninae) 120 years ago. By the end of the 19th century, abundance of lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) had declined drastically. By 1925, the lake herring (a cisco) population (Coregonus artedii) had collapsed, although a limited lake herring fishery persisted in the eastern basin until the 1950s. In the latter part of the 20th century, the composition of the fish community changed as oligotrophication proceeded. Since 1984, a limited recovery of lake whitefish has occurred, however no recovery was evident for lake herring. Current ecological conditions in Lake Erie probably will not inhibit recovery of the coregonine species. Recovery of walleye (Sander vitreus) and efforts to rehabilitate the native lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) in Lake Erie will probably assist recovery because these piscivores reduce populations of alewife (Alosa psuedoharengus) and rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax), which inhibit reproductive success of coregonines. Although there are considerable spawning substrates available to coregonine species in eastern Lake Erie, eggs and fry would probably be displaced by storm surge from most shoals. Site selection for stocking or seeding of eggs should consider the reproductive life cycle of the stocked fish and suitable protection from storm events. Two potential sites in the eastern basin have been identified. Recommended management procedures, including commercial fisheries, are suggested to assist in recovery. Stocking in the eastern basin of Lake Erie is recommended for both species, as conditions are adequate and the native spawning population in the eastern basin is low. For lake herring, consideration should be given to match ecophenotypes as much as possible. Egg seeding is recommended. Egg seeding of lake whitefish should be considered initially, with fingerling or yearling stocking suggested if unsuccessful. Spawning stocks of whitefish in the western basin of Lake

Assessing diet compositions of Lake Ontario predators using fatty acid profiles of prey fishes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Happell, Austin; Pattridge, Robert; Rinchard, Jacques; Walsh, Maureen

2017-01-01

Fatty acid profiles are used in food web studies to assess trophic interactions between predator and prey. The present study provides the first comprehensive fatty acid dataset for important prey and predator species in Lake Ontario. Three major prey fish (alewife, rainbow smelt, and round goby) were collected at three sites along the southern shore of Lake Ontario during the spring and fall of 2013, and predator species were collected in similar locations during the summer of 2013. Fatty acid compositions were compared among all prey species, all predator species, and information from both predator and prey was used to infer foraging differences among predators. Seasonal differences in fatty acids were found within each prey species studied. Differences among prey species were greater than any spatio-temporal differences detected within species. Fatty acids of predators revealed species-specific differences that matched known foraging habits. Chinook and Coho salmon, which are known to select alewife as their dominant prey item, had relatively little variation in fatty acid profiles. Conversely, brown trout, lake trout, yellow perch and esocids had highly variable fatty acid profiles and likely highly variable diet compositions. In general, our data suggested three dominant foraging patterns: 1) diet composed of nearly exclusively alewife for Chinook and Coho Salmon; 2) a mixed diet of alewife and round goby for brown and lake trout, and both rock and smallmouth bass; 3) a diet that is likely comprised of forage fishes other than those included in our study for northern pike and chain pickerel.

The effect of thiamine injection on upstream migration, survival, and thiamine status of putative thiamine-deficient coho salmon

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fitzsimons, J.D.; Williston, B.; Amcoff, P.; Balk, L.; Pecor, C.; Ketola, H.G.; Hinterkopf, J.P.; Honeyfield, D.C.

2005-01-01

A diet containing a high proportion of alewives Alosa pseudoharengus results in a thiamine deficiency that has been associated with high larval salmonid mortality, known as early mortality syndrome (EMS), but relatively little is known about the effects of the deficiency on adults. Using thiamine injection (50 mg thiamine/kg body weight) of ascending adult female coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch on the Platte River, Michigan, we investigated the effects of thiamine supplementation on migration, adult survival, and thiamine status. The thiamine concentrations of eggs, muscle (red and white), spleen, kidney (head and trunk), and liver and the transketolase activity of the liver, head kidney, and trunk kidney of fish injected with thiamine dissolved in physiological saline (PST) or physiological saline only (PS) were compared with those of uninjected fish. The injection did not affect the number of fish making the 15-km upstream migration to a collection weir but did affect survival once fish reached the upstream weir, where survival of PST-injected fish was almost twice that of controls. The egg and liver thiamine concentrations in PS fish sampled after their upstream migration were significantly lower than those of uninjected fish collected at the downstream weir, but the white muscle thiamine concentration did not differ between the two groups. At the upper weir, thiamine levels in the liver, spleen, head kidney, and trunk kidney of PS fish were indistinguishable from those of uninjected fish (called "wigglers") suffering from a severe deficiency and exhibiting reduced equilibrium, a stage that precedes total loss of equilibrium and death. For PST fish collected at the upstream weir, total thiamine levels in all tissues were significantly elevated over those of PS fish. Based on the limited number of tissues examined, thiamine status was indicated better by tissue thiamine concentration than by transketolase activity. The adult injection method we used appears to

Large-scale changes in bloater growth and condition in Lake Huron

USGS Publications Warehouse

Prichard, Carson G.; Roseman, Edward F.; Keeler, Kevin M.; O'Brien, Timothy P.; Riley, Stephen C.

2016-01-01

Native Bloaters Coregonus hoyi have exhibited multiple strong year-classes since 2005 and now are the most abundant benthopelagic offshore prey fish in Lake Huron, following the crash of nonnative AlewivesAlosa pseudoharengus and substantial declines in nonnative Rainbow Smelt Osmerus mordax. Despite recent recoveries in Bloater abundance, marketable-size (>229 mm) Bloaters remain scarce. We used annual survey data to assess temporal and spatial dynamics of Bloater body condition and lengths at age in the main basin of Lake Huron from 1973 to 2014. Basinwide lengths at age were modeled by cohort for the 1973–2003 year-classes using a von Bertalanffy growth model with time-varying Brody growth coefficient (k) and asymptotic length () parameters. Median Bloater weights at selected lengths were estimated to assess changes in condition by modeling weight–length relations with an allometric growth model that allowed growth parameters to vary spatially and temporally. Estimated Bloater lengths at age declined 14–24% among ages 4–8 for all year-classes between 1973 and 2004. Estimates of  declined from a peak of 394 mm (1973 year-class) to a minimum of 238 mm (1998 year-class). Observed mean lengths at age in 2014 were at all-time lows, suggesting that year-classes comprising the current Bloater population would have to follow growth trajectories unlike those characterizing the 1973–2003 year-classes to attain marketable size. Furthermore, estimated weights of 250-mm Bloaters (i.e., a large, commercially valuable size-class) declined 17% among all regions from 1976 to 2007. Decreases in body condition of large Bloaters are associated with lower lipid content and may be linked to marked declines in abundance of the amphipodsDiporeia spp. in Lake Huron. We hypothesize that since at least 1976, large Bloaters have become more negatively buoyant and may have incurred an increasingly greater metabolic cost performing diel vertical migrations to prey upon the opossum

Effect of stock size, climate, predation, and trophic status on recruitment of alewives in Lake Ontario, 1978-2000

USGS Publications Warehouse

O'Gorman, Robert; Lantry, Brian F.; Schneider, Clifford P.

2004-01-01

The population of alewives Alosa pseudoharengus in Lake Ontario is of great concern to fishery managers because alewives are the principal prey of introduced salmonines and because alewives negatively influence many endemic fishes. We used spring bottom trawl catches of alewives to investigate the roles of stock size, climate, predation, and lake trophic status on recruitment of alewives to age 2 in Lake Ontario during 1978–2000. Climate was indexed from the temperature of water entering a south-shore municipal treatment plant, lake trophic status was indexed by the mean concentration of total phosphorus (TP) in surface water in spring, and predation was indexed by the product of the number of salmonines stocked and relative, first-year survival of Chinook salmonOncorhynchus tshawytscha. A Ricker-type parent–progeny model suggested that peak production of age-1 alewives could occur over a broad range of spawning stock sizes, and the fit of the model was improved most by the addition of terms for spring water temperature and winter duration. With the addition of the two climate terms, the Ricker model indicated that when water was relatively warm in spring and the winter was relatively short, peak potential production of young was nine times higher than when water temperature and winters were average, and 73 times higher than when water was cold in spring and winters were long. Relative survival from age 1 to recruitment at age 2 was best described by a multiple linear regression with terms for adult abundance, TP, and predation. Mean recruitment of age-2 fish in the 1978–1998 year-classes predicted by using the two models in sequence was only about 20% greater than the observed mean recruitment. Model estimates fit the measured data exceptionally well for all but the largest four year-classes, which suggests that the models will facilitate improvement in estimates of trophic transfer due to alewives.

Neuronal encoding of ultrasonic sound by a fish.

PubMed

Plachta, Dennis T T; Song, Jiakun; Halvorsen, Michele B; Popper, Arthur N

2004-06-01

Many species of odontocete cetaceans (toothed whales) use high-frequency clicks (60-170 kHz) to identify objects in their environment, including potential prey. Behavioral studies have shown that American shad, Alosa sapidissima, can detect ultrasonic signals similar to those of odontocetes that are potentially their predators. American shad also show strong escape behavior in response to ultrasonic pulses between 70 and 110 kHz and can determine the location of the sound source at least in the horizontal plane. The present study examines physiological aspects of ultrasound detection by American shad and provides the first insights into the neural encoding of ultrasound signals in any nonmammalian vertebrate. The recordings were obtained by penetration through the cerebellar surface. All but two units responded exclusively to ultrasound. Ultrasound-sensitive units did not phase-couple to any stimulus frequency. Some units resembled the response of constant latency neurons found in the ventral nucleus of the lateral lemniscus of bats. We suggest that ultrasonic and sonic signals are processed along different pathways in Alosa. The ultrasonic pathway in Alosa appears to be a feature detector that is likely to be adapted (e.g., frequency, intensity) to odontocete echolocation signals.

Age and growth of alewives in the changing pelagia of Lake Ontario, 1978-1992

USGS Publications Warehouse

O'Gorman, Robert; Johannsson, Ora E.; Schneider, Clifford P.

1997-01-01

We documented the age and growth of alewives Alosa pseudoharenqus in Lake Ontario during 1978-1992 and determined if growth was affected by intraspecific competition for epilimnetic zooplankton, lake temperature, or demand of salmonine piscivores for prey. Ages of juvenile alewives were determined from scales during 1978-1983, and ages of juvenile and adult alewives were determined from otoliths during 1984-1992. Indices of abundance for alewives were calculated from spring bottom trawl catches in 1978-1992; zooplankton density and epilimnetic temperature were monitored at two stations during 1981-1991; and salmonine demand each year during 1978-1992 was calculated with a simulation model. Although we encountered 11-year-old alewives, few fish lived longer than 7 years, and most fish in the population were younger than 6 years. Mean sizes at ages 1, 2, and 3 in spring averaged 93 mm (5.1 g), 133 mm (17 g), and 149 mm (22 g), but from age 3 to age 8, mean size increased by only 5-7 mm and 2-3 g per year. Female alewives lived longer than male alewives and were always longer than male alewives at age 4 and older. Epilimnetic temperatures were suitable for rapid growth of juvenile alewives each year. Lake temperature had the potential to affect growth of adults but adult growth was not correlated with temperature suitability indices perhaps because temperature regimes differed among lake regions and alewives were mobile. Growth of alewives was not correlated with salmonine demand for prey. Competition for zooplankton among the two youngest alewife cohorts affected growth of age-1 alewives. Zooplankton density declined sharply in 1986, and should it decline again, growth of age-1 alewives will slow, unless numbers of age-0 alewives fall. Whether growth of age-1 fish declines or numbers of age-0 fish fall, the result of another decline in zooplankton density will be a reduction in the production of alewives needed to support piscivores.

Use of Virginia's tributaries of the Potomac River by anadromous fishes : final report for phase four of an analysis of the impediments to spawning migrations of anadromous fish in Virginia rivers.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1988-10-01

The use of Virginia's tributaries of the lower Potomac River (downstream of Great Falls) : by striped bass, American shad, hickory shad, and river herring (a collective term for alewife : and blueback herring) was determined by reviewing literature, ...

Tracking Estuary Habitat use by Young American Shad Using Stable Isotopes

EPA Science Inventory

We developed and evaluated a stable isotope turnover model to estimate the probable risidence time of young-of-year (YOY) American shad (Alosa sapidissima), an anadromous clupeid, in various estuarine habitats.

Marine nutrient contributions to tidal creeks in Virginia: spawning marine fish as nutrient vectors to freshwater ecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Macavoy, S. E.; Garman, G. C.

2006-12-01

Coastal freshwater streams are typically viewed as conduits for the transport of sediment and nutrients to the coasts. Some coastal streams however experience seasonal migrations of anadromous fish returning to the freshwater to spawn. The fish may be vectors for the delivery of marine nutrients to nutrient poor freshwater in the form of excreted waste and post-spawning carcasses. Nutrients derived from marine sources are 13C, 15N and 34S enriched relative to nutrients in freshwater. Here we examine sediment, particulate organic matter (POM), invertebrates and fish in two tidal freshwater tributaries of the James River USA. The d15N of POM became elevated (from 3.8 to 6.5%), coincident with the arrival of anadromous river herring (Alosa sp), indicating a pulse of marine nitrogen. However, the elevated 15N was not observed in sediment samples or among invertebrates, which did not experience a seasonal isotopic shift (there were significant differences however among the guilds of invertebrate). Anadromous Alosa aestivalis captured within the tidal freshwater were 13C and 34S enriched (-19.3 and 17.2%, respectively) relative to resident freshwater fishes (-26.4 and 3.6% respectively) captured within 2 weeks of the Alosa. Although it is likely that marine derived nitrogen was detected in the tidal freshwater, it was not in sufficient abundance to change the isotope signature of most ecosystem components.

Impacts of changing food webs in Lake Ontario: Implications of dietary fatty acids on growth of alewives

USGS Publications Warehouse

Snyder, R.J.; Demarche, C.J.; Honeyfield, D.C.

2011-01-01

Declines in the abundance and condition of Great Lakes Alewives have been reported periodically during the last two decades, and the reasons for these declines remain unclear. To better understand how food web changes may influence Alewife growth and Wisconsin growth model predictions, we fed Alewives isocaloric diets high in omega-6 fatty acids (corn oil) or high in omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil). Alewives were fed the experimental diets at either 1% (“low ration”) or 3% (“high ration”) of their wet body weight per day. After six weeks, Alewives maintained on the high ration diets were significantly larger than those fed the low ration diets. Moreover, Alewives given the high ration fish oil diet were significantly larger than those maintained on the high ration corn oil diet after six weeks of growth. Body lipid, energy density and total body energy of Alewives on the high ration diets were significantly higher than those fed the low ration diets, and total body energy was significantly higher in Alewives given the high ration fish oil diet compared to those on the high ration corn oil diet. The current Wisconsin bioenergetics model underestimated growth and overestimated food consumption by Alewives in our study. Alewife thiaminase activity was similar among treatment groups. Overall, our results suggest that future food web changes in Lake Ontario, particularly if they involve decreases in the abundance of lipid rich prey items such as Mysis, may reduce Alewife growth rates and total body energy due to reductions in the availability of dietary omega-3 fatty acids.

Status and trends of the Lake Huron offshore demersal fish community, 1976-2015

USGS Publications Warehouse

Roseman, Edward; Chriscinske, Margret Ann; Castle, Dana Kristina; Prichard, Carson G.

2016-01-01

The USGS Great Lakes Science Center has conducted trawl surveys to assess annual changes in the offshore demersal fish community of Lake Huron since 1973. Sample sites include five ports in U.S. waters with less frequent sampling near Goderich, Ontario. The 2015 fall bottom trawl survey was carried out between 14 and 28 October and included all U.S. ports, as well as Goderich, ON. The 2015 main basin prey fish biomass estimate for Lake Huron was 19.4 kilotonnes, a decline of about 50 percent from 2014. This estimate is the second lowest in the time series, and is approximately 5 percent of the maximum estimate in the time series observed in 1987. No adult alewife were collected in 2015 and YOY alewife was the second lowest in the time series, up slightly from the record low in 2014. The estimated biomass of yearling and older rainbow smelt also decreased and was the lowest observed in the time series. Estimated adult bloater biomass in Lake Huron declined to about half of the 2014 estimate. YOY alewife, rainbow smelt, and bloater abundance and biomass decreased over 2014. Biomass estimates for deepwater sculpins declined while trout-perch and ninespine stickleback increased over 2014 values, but all remained low compared to historic estimates. The 2014 biomass estimate for round goby increased from 2014 but remains at only 7 percent of the maximum observed in 2003. Wild juvenile lake trout were captured again in 2015, suggesting that natural reproduction by lake trout continues to occur.

77 FR 34024 - New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-08

... Street, Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul J. Howard, Executive... Genovese, Ph.D. Northeast University; (5) Ecological Role of Adult and Juvenile Anadromous Forage fish in Downeast Maine Estuaries: Sea-run Alewife and Groundfish Prey-- NEC Report, Karen Wilson, University of...

Status of pelagic prey fishes in Lake Michigan, 2015

USGS Publications Warehouse

Warner, David M.; Claramunt, Randall M.; Farha, Steve A.; Hanson, Dale; Desorcie, Timothy J.; O'Brien, Timothy P.

2016-01-01

Acoustic surveys were conducted in late summer/early fall during the years 1992-1996 and 2001-2015 to estimate pelagic prey fish biomass in Lake Michigan. Midwater trawling during the surveys as well as target strength provided a measure of species and size composition of the fish community for use in scaling acoustic data and providing species-specific abundance estimates. The 2015 survey consisted of 27 acoustic transects (580 km total) and 31 midwater trawl tows. Four additional transects were sampled in Green Bay but were not included in lakewide estimates. Mean prey fish biomass was 4.2 kg/ha [20.3 kilotonnes (kt = 1,000 metric tons)], equivalent to 44.8 million pounds, which was 36% lower than in 2014 (31.7 kt) and 17% of the long-term (20 years) mean. The numeric density of the 2015 alewife yearclass was 25% of the time series average and nearly 9 times the 2014 density. This year-class contributed 8% of total alewife biomass (3.4 kg/ha). In 2015, alewife comprised 82.5% of total prey fish biomass, while rainbow smelt and bloater were <1% and 16.9% of total biomass, respectively. Rainbow smelt biomass in 2015 (0.02 kg/ha) was 74% lower than in 2014, <1% of the long-term mean, and lower than in any previous year. Bloater biomass in 2015 was 0.7 kg/ha and 8% of the long-term mean. Mean density of small bloater in 2015 (489 fish/ha) was slightly lower than peak values observed in 2008-2009 but was more than three times the time series mean (142 fish/ha).

Seasonal changes of the pelagic fish assemblage in a temperate estuary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hagan, S. M.; Able, K. W.

2003-01-01

The pelagic (i.e. fishes that spend most of their time swimming and feeding in the water column) fish assemblage was examined within a temperate estuary to determine the seasonal patterns of abundance, biomass, richness, and species composition. These measures were related to abiotic measures including temperature, salinity, water transparency, and depth. Pelagic fish (n<350 000) were sampled weekly from August 1995 through December 1996 in Great Bay in New Jersey, USA, with a pop net (5 m diameter, 5 m length, 3 mm cod end). The most frequently occurring and abundant species included Clupea harengus (frequency of occurrence, 27.4%; abundance, 80.5% of total catch), Menidia menidia (frequency of occurrence, 83.5%; abundance, 10.6% of total catch), Anchoa mitchilli (frequency of occurrence, 66.5%; abundance, 6.0% of total catch), and Anchoa hepsetus (frequency of occurrence, 23.1%; abundance, 1.9% of total catch). There were strong seasonal trends in species richness, total abundance, and total biomass with peaks in spring, summer, and autumn, and very low values for these parameters in winter. In addition, there were five seasonal groupings within this pelagic fish assemblage that were primarily, but not exclusively, represented by young-of-the-year (age 0+). Winter (December-March) was represented by adult Gasterosteus aculeatus and age 1+ by M. menidia. Spring (April-early June) was overwhelmingly dominated by age 0+ C. harengus. Early summer (late June-early July) was relatively species rich and characterized by age 0+ of Brevoortia tyrannus, Pomatomus saltatrix, Alosa pseudoharengus, and age 1+ of A. mitchilli. Late summer (late July-August) remained relatively species rich and included mostly age 0+ of A. mitchilli, A. hepsetus, and M. menidia. Autumn (September-November) continued to have high catches of age 0+ of M. menidia and A. mitchilli. As expected for temperate estuaries, the best of the measured abiotic predictors of these groupings included

Nutrients, phytoplankton, zooplankton, and macrobenthos

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rudstam, Lars G.; Holeck, Kristen T.; Watkins, James M.; Hotaling, Christopher; Lantry, Jana R.; Bowen, Kelly L.; Munawar, Mohi; Weidel, Brian C.; Barbiero, Richard; Luckey, Frederick J.; Dove, Alice; Johnson, Timothy B.; Biesinger, Zy

2017-01-01

Lower trophic levels support the prey fish on which most sport fish depend. Therefore, understanding the production potential of lower trophic levels is integral to the management of Lake Ontario’s fishery resources. Lower trophic-level productivity differs among offshore and nearshore waters. In the offshore, there is concern about the ability of the lake to support Alewife (Table 1) production due to a perceived decline in productivity of phytoplankton and zooplankton whereas, in the nearshore, there is a concern about excessive attached algal production (e.g., Cladophora) associated with higher nutrient concentrations—the oligotrophication of the offshore and the eutrophication of the nearshore (Mills et al. 2003; Holeck et al. 2008; Dove 2009; Koops et al. 2015; Stewart et al. 2016). Even though the collapse of the Alewife population in Lake Huron in 2003 (and the associated decline in the Chinook Salmon fishery) may have been precipitated by a cold winter (Dunlop and Riley 2013), Alewife had not returned to high abundances in Lake Huron as of 2014 (Roseman et al. 2015). Failure of the Alewife population to recover from collapse has been attributed to declines in lower trophic-level production (Barbiero et al. 2011; Bunnell et al. 2014; but see He et al. 2015). In Lake Michigan, concerns of a similar Alewife collapse led to a decrease in the number of Chinook Salmon stocked. If lower trophic-level production declines in Lake Ontario, a similar management action could be considered. On the other hand, in Lake Erie, which supplies most of the water in Lake Ontario, eutrophication is increasing and so are harmful algal blooms. Thus, there is also a concern that nutrient levels and algal blooms could increase in Lake Ontario, especially in the nearshore. Solutions to the two processes of concern—eutrophication in the nearshore and oligotrophication in the offshore—may be mutually exclusive. In either circumstance, fisheries management needs information on

DARPA/ISTO Rapid VLSI Implementation

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-12-01

temperature tigation. Motorola MCI00E111, very fast 1:9 clock buffers. were procured to drive high - speed waveforrms onto the substrate clock distribution...The hot image is normalized to a rootn- temperature image, which removes all optical anomalies and leaves a high -resolution thermal image. 69 j APT...9 High -density DRAM ..................... 9 Aquarius MI Packaging Study ........................ ....... 10 NUT Alewife

Habitat use of age 0 Alabama shad in the Pascagoula River drainage, USA

Treesearch

P. F. Mickle; J.F. Schaefer; S.B. Adams; B.R. Kreiser

2010-01-01

Alabama shad (Alosa alabamae) is an anadromous species that spawns in Gulf of Mexico drainages and is a NOAA Fisheries Species of Concern. Habitat degradation and barriers to migration are considered contributing factors to range contraction that has left just the Pascagoula River drainage population in Mississippi. We studied juvenile life history and autecology in...

Long-term trends of bloater (Coregonus hoyi) recruitment in Lake Michigan: evidence for the effect of sex ratio

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bunnell, David B.; Madenjian, Charles P.; Croley, Thomas E.

2006-01-01

Long-term population trends are generally explained by factors extrinsic (e.g., climate, predation) rather than intrinsic (e.g., genetics, maternal effects) to the population. We sought to understand the long-term population dynamics of an important native Lake Michigan prey fish, the bloaterCoregonus hoyi. Over a 38-year time series, three 10- to 15-year phases occurred (poor, excellent, and then poor recruitment) without high interannual variability within a particular phase. We used dynamic linear models to determine whether extrinsic (winter and spring temperature, alewife predator densities) or intrinsic factors (population egg production, adult condition, adult sex ratio) explained variation in recruitment. Models that included population egg production, sex ratio, winter and spring temperature, and adult bloater condition explained the most variation. Of these variables, sex ratio, which ranged from 47% to 97% female across the time series, consistently had the greatest effect: recruitment declined with female predominance. Including biomass of adult alewife predators in the models did not explain additional variation. Overall our results indicated that bloater recruitment is linked to its sex ratio, but understanding the underlying mechanisms will require additional efforts.

Lake Michigan: Man's effects on native fish stocks and other biota

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wells, LaRue; McLain, Alberton L.

1973-01-01

Exploitation was largely responsible for the changes in Lake Michigan fish stocks before the invasion of the smelt, and probably before the invasion of the sea lamprey. The lamprey and alewife, however, have exerted a greater impact than the fishery on native fish populations in recent decades. Accelerated eutrophication and other pollution, although important, have not equalled the other factors in causing changes in native fish populations.

Long Island Sound Thamesville Tidal-Flood Management Water Resources Study, Norwich, Connecticut.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-02-01

waters are used for feeding and as spawning and nursery grounds for a variety of species, such as bluefish , Atlantic tomcod, striped bass, winter...fisheries for bluefish , ’ Atlantic tomcod, striped bass, winter flounder, American eel and alewife. r The Thames supports a heavily utilized sport fishery...for winter flounder, striped bass, white perch, American smelt, bluefish and Atlantic tomcod. Mummichog and Atlantic menhaden are the most common

Evolutionary history of Daphnia drives divergence in grazing selectivity and alters temporal community dynamics of producers.

PubMed

Park, John S; Post, David M

2018-01-01

Consumers with different seasonal life histories encounter different communities of producers during specific seasonal phases. If consumers evolve to prefer the producers that they encounter, then consumers may reciprocally influence the temporal composition of producer communities. Here, we study the keystone consumer Daphnia ambigua, whose seasonal life history has diverged due to intraspecific predator divergence across lakes of New England. We ask whether grazing preferences of Daphnia have diverged also and test whether any grazing differences influence temporal composition patterns of producers. We reared clonal populations of Daphnia from natural populations representing the two diverged life history types for multiple generations. We conducted short-term (24 hr) and long-term (27 days) grazing experiments in equal polycultures consisting of three diatom and two green algae species, treated with no consumer, Daphnia from lakes with anadromous alewife, or from lakes with landlocked alewife. After 24 hr, life history and grazing preference divergence in Daphnia ambigua drove significant differences in producer composition. However, those differences disappeared at the end of the 27-day experiment. Our results illustrate that, despite potentially more complex long-term dynamics, a multitrophic cascade of evolutionary divergence from a predator can influence temporal community dynamics at the producer level.

The Effects of Block Size on the Performance of Coherent Caches in Shared-Memory Multiprocessors

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-05-01

increase with the bandwidth and latency. For those applications with poor spatial locality, the best choice of cache line size is determined by the...observation was used in the design of two schemes: LimitLESS di- rectories and Tag caches. LimitLESS directories [15] were designed for the ALEWIFE...small packets may be used to avoid network congestion. The most important factor influencing the choice of cache line size for a multipro- cessor is the

The MIT Alewife Machine: A Large-Scale Distributed-Memory Multiprocessor

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-06-01

Symposium on Compiler Construction, June 1986. [14] Daniel Gajski , David Kuck, Duncan Lawrie, and Ahmed Saleh. Cedar - A Large Scale Multiprocessor. In...Directory Methods. In Proceedings 17th Annual International Symposium on Computer Architecture, June 1990. [31] G . M. Papadopoulos and D.E. Culler...Monsoon: An Explicit Token-Store Ar- chitecture. In Proceedings 17th Annual International Symposium on Computer Architecture, June 1990. [32] G . F

Ocean Acoustic Waveguide Remote Sensing (OAWRS) of Marine Ecosystems

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-12-03

Am 124:EL91–EL96 Thompson D, Buck CD, McConnell BJ, Garrett J (1998) For- aging behavior and diet of lactating female southern sea lions in the...surface ( Thorne & Thomas 1990, our Fig. S1). Thorne & Thomas (1990) measured neutral buoyancy depths of up to ~60 m for herring, a physostome, and...scup, hake, black sea bass and alewife (NEFSC Resource Survey Report 2003, Makris et al. 2006b). While dogfish and mackerel are also found in the area

Can fisheries management make substantial progress towards further reductions in sport fish PCB concentrations?

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jackson, L.J.

1995-12-31

Great Lakes managers continue to be concerned by PCB concentrations in Great Lakes sport fish. A reduction in sport fish consumption advisory levels would heighten public concern and increase pressure on managers to reduce contaminant levels in sport fish. PCB concentrations in Great Lakes sediments remain high and exchange with the water column is significant. Atmospheric inputs help maintain PCB availability in the Great Lakes. However, it is not technically feasible to control sediment and atmospheric inputs. Here the author uses a detailed age-structured simulation model of chinook salmon, alewife and rainbow smelt to examine the potential for fish managementmore » actions to make progress towards reducing PCB concentrations of sport fish consumed by humans. Chinook salmon PCB concentrations were found to be more affected by prey PCB concentrations than chinook salmon growth rates. Salmonid predators selectively attack the largest prey, but these prey are likely the oldest and most contaminated. The interaction between size selective predation by chinook salmon and their growth rates suggests that there is an ideal stocking level of sport fish that should keep the average prey fish small, and therefore have relatively low PCE concentrations, but not reduce the age structure of the alewife population to include few reproductive individuals. These results are applicable to other stocked salmonids too, (e.g., lake trout, brown trout, coho salmon, steelhead) because they also exhibit size selective predation and their recruitment is primarily by stocking.« less

A decade of predatory control of zooplankton species composition of Lake Michigan

USGS Publications Warehouse

Makarewicz, Joseph C.; Bertram, Paul; Lewis, Theodore; Brown, Edward H.

1995-01-01

From 1983 to 1992, 71 species representing 38 genera from the Calanoida, Cladocera, Cyclopoida, Mysidacea, Rotifera, Mollusca and Harpacticoida comprised the offshore zooplankton community of Lake Michigan. Our data demonstrate that the composition and abundance of the calanoid community after 1983 is not unlike that of 1960s and that species diversity of the calanoid community is more diverse than the cladoceran community in the 1990s as compared to the early 1980s. Even though the relative biomass of the cladocerans has remained similar over the 1983-1993 period, the species diversity and evenness of the Cladocera community in the early 1990s is unlike anything that has been previously reported for Lake Michigan. Cladocera dominance is centered in one species, Daphnia galeata mendotae, and only three species of Cladocera were observed in the pelagic region of the lake in 1991 and 1992. Nutrient levels, phytoplankton biomass, and the abundance of planktivorous alewife and bloater chub and Bythotrephes are examined as possible causes of these changes in zooplankton species composition. The increase in Rotifera biomass, but not Crustacea, was correlated with an increase in relative biomass of unicellular algae. Food web models suggest Bythotrephes will cause Lake Michigan's plankton to return to a community similar to that of the 1970s; that is Diaptomus dominated. Such a change has occurred. However, correlational analysis suggest that alewife and bloater chubs (especially juveniles) are affecting size and biomass of larger species of zooplankton as well as Bythotrephes.

Lake Ontario zooplankton in 2003 and 2008: Community changes and vertical redistribution

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rudstam, Lars G.; Holeck, Kristen T.; Bowen, Kelly L.; Watkins, James M.; Weidel, Brian C.; Luckey, Frederick J.

2014-01-01

Lake-wide zooplankton surveys are critical for documenting and understanding food web responses to ecosystem change. Surveys in 2003 and 2008 during the binational intensive field year in Lake Ontario found that offshore epilimnetic crustacean zooplankton declined by a factor of 12 (density) and factor of 5 (biomass) in the summer with smaller declines in the fall. These declines coincided with an increase in abundance of Bythotrephes and are likely the result of direct predation by, or behavioral responses to this invasive invertebrate predator. Whole water column zooplankton density also declined from 2003 to 2008 in the summer and fall (factor of 4), but biomass only declined in the fall (factor of 2). The decline in biomass was less than the decline in density because the average size of individual zooplankton increased. This was due to changes in the zooplankton community composition from a cyclopoid/bosminid dominated community in 2003 to a calanoid dominated community in 2008. The increase in calanoid copepods was primarily due to the larger species Limnocalanus macrurus and Leptodiaptomus sicilis. These cold water species were found in and below the thermocline associated with a deep chlorophyll layer. In 2008, most of the zooplankton biomass resided in or below the thermocline during the day. Increased importance of copepods in deeper, colder water may favor Cisco and Rainbow Smelt over Alewife because these species are better adapted to cold temperatures than Alewife.

Threatened fishes of the world: Alosa alabamae (Jordan and Evermann, 1896) (Clupeidae)

Treesearch

Dwayne W. Meadows; Susan B. Adams; Jacob F. Schaefer

2007-01-01

River drainage to the Suwannee River, Florida (Mettee and O'Neil 2003); extirpated from at least 8 of the 14 native states (Mettee and O'Neil 2003). Abundance: Once commercially harvested, now rare (Mettee and O'Neil 2003); largest remaining population occurs in the Apalachicola River, Florida (Barku-100 et a!. 1993). Habitat...

Sub-indicator: Prey fish

USGS Publications Warehouse

Weidel, Brian C.; Dunlop, Erin

2017-01-01

Prey fish communities across the Great Lakes continue to change, although the direction and magnitude of those changes are not consistent across the lakes. The metrics used to categorize prey fish status in this and previous periods are based on elements that are common among each of the lake’s Fish Community Objectives and include diversity and the relative role of native species in the prey fish communities. The diversity index categorized three of lakes as ‘fair’, while Superior and Erie were ‘good’ (Table 1). The short term trend, from the previous period (2008-2010) to the current period (2011-2014) found diversity in Erie and Superior to be unchanging, but the other three lakes to be ‘deteriorating’, resulting in an overall trend categorization of ‘undetermined’ (Table 1). The long term diversity trend suggested Lakes Superior and Erie have the most diverse prey communities although the index for those prey fish have been quite variable over time (Figure 1). In Lake Huron, where non-native alewife have substantially declined, the diversity index has also declined. The continued dominance of alewife in Lake Ontario (96% of the prey fish biomass) resulted in the lowest diversity index value (Figure 1). The proportion of native species within the community was judged as ‘good’ in Lakes Superior and Huron, ‘fair’ in Michigan and Erie and ‘poor’ in Ontario (Table 2). The short term trend was improving in in all lakes except Michigan (‘deteriorating’) and Ontario (‘unchanging’), resulting in an overall short term trend of ‘undetermined’ (Table 2). Over the current period, Lake Superior consistently had the highest proportion native prey fish (87%) while Lake Ontario had the lowest (1%) (Figure 2). Lake Michigan’s percent native has declined as round goby increase and comprises a greater proportion of the community. Native prey fish make up 51% of Lake Erie, although basin-specific values differed (Figure 2). Most notably

Proximate and fatty acid composition of some commercially important fish species from the Sinop region of the Black Sea.

PubMed

Kocatepe, Demet; Turan, Hülya

2012-06-01

The proximate and fatty acid compositions of the commercially important fish species (Engraulis encrasicolus, Alosa alosa, Belone belone, Scorpaena porcus, Pomatomus saltatrix, Mullus barbatus) from the Sinop region of the Black Sea were examined. The fat contents ranged from 1.26% (for scorpion fish) to 18.12% (for shad). The protein contents were min 14.54% (for red mullet) and maximum 20.26% (for belone). The fatty acid compositions of the fish ranged from 27.83 to 35.91% for saturated fatty acids, 19.50-33.80% for monounsaturated fatty acids and 15.25-40.02% for polyunsaturated fatty acids. Among the saturated fatty acids, palmitic acid (16:0) (17.75-22.20%) was the dominant fatty acid for all the fish species. As a second saturated fatty acid, myristic acid (14:0) was observed in four of the fish species and its content ranged from 4.72 to 7.31%. Whereas, for the other two fish species, the second saturated fatty acid was stearic acid (18:0) ranging between 4.54 and 10.64%. Among the monounsaturated fatty acids, those occurring in the highest proportions were oleic acid (18:1n-9c) (11.67-22.45%) and palmitoleic acid (16:1) (4.50-9.40%). Docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3) (5.41-28.52%), eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5n-3) (4.68-11.06) and linoleic acid (18:2n-6) (1.38-3.49%) were dominant polyunsaturated fatty acids, respectively. All the species, in particular the belone, the anchovy and the shad had high levels of the n-3 series.

Status of Alabama shad and skipjack herring in Gulf of Mexico drainages

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mettee, M.F.; O'Neil, P. E.

2003-01-01

Gulf of Mexico drainages are inhabited by two alosine species, the anadromous Alabama shad Alosa alabamae and the skipjack herring A. chrysochloris. Although their distributions are reasonably well documented, the life history and ecology of both species has been incompletely investigated. Infrequent literature references suggest populations of both species have been adversely affected by river management activities throughout parts of their ranges. This purpose of this paper is to summarize available information concerning past and present distributions, population characteristics, spawning and fecundity, age and growth, and population trends of both species as well as threats to the species. Areas of research are suggested to maintain and possibly recover existing populations. ?? 2003 by the American Fisheries Society.

Migratory Patterns of American Shad (Alosa Sapidissima) Revealed by Natural Geochemical Tags in Otoliths

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-02-01

cyanoacrylic glue. Mounted otoliths were ground to the midplane using fine-grained lapping film. Ground otoliths were examined for oxytetracycline marks...were mounted and ground to the midplane with fine-grained lapping film. Ground otoliths were examined for oxytetracycline marks under a UV light source

The Combined Use of Correlative and Mechanistic Species Distribution Models Benefits Low Conservation Status Species.

PubMed

Rougier, Thibaud; Lassalle, Géraldine; Drouineau, Hilaire; Dumoulin, Nicolas; Faure, Thierry; Deffuant, Guillaume; Rochard, Eric; Lambert, Patrick

2015-01-01

Species can respond to climate change by tracking appropriate environmental conditions in space, resulting in a range shift. Species Distribution Models (SDMs) can help forecast such range shift responses. For few species, both correlative and mechanistic SDMs were built, but allis shad (Alosa alosa), an endangered anadromous fish species, is one of them. The main purpose of this study was to provide a framework for joint analyses of correlative and mechanistic SDMs projections in order to strengthen conservation measures for species of conservation concern. Guidelines for joint representation and subsequent interpretation of models outputs were defined and applied. The present joint analysis was based on the novel mechanistic model GR3D (Global Repositioning Dynamics of Diadromous fish Distribution) which was parameterized on allis shad and then used to predict its future distribution along the European Atlantic coast under different climate change scenarios (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5). We then used a correlative SDM for this species to forecast its distribution across the same geographic area and under the same climate change scenarios. First, projections from correlative and mechanistic models provided congruent trends in probability of habitat suitability and population dynamics. This agreement was preferentially interpreted as referring to the species vulnerability to climate change. Climate change could not be accordingly listed as a major threat for allis shad. The congruence in predicted range limits between SDMs projections was the next point of interest. The difference, when noticed, required to deepen our understanding of the niche modelled by each approach. In this respect, the relative position of the northern range limit between the two methods strongly suggested here that a key biological process related to intraspecific variability was potentially lacking in the mechanistic SDM. Based on our knowledge, we hypothesized that local adaptations to cold

The Combined Use of Correlative and Mechanistic Species Distribution Models Benefits Low Conservation Status Species

PubMed Central

Rougier, Thibaud; Lassalle, Géraldine; Drouineau, Hilaire; Dumoulin, Nicolas; Faure, Thierry; Deffuant, Guillaume; Rochard, Eric; Lambert, Patrick

2015-01-01

Species can respond to climate change by tracking appropriate environmental conditions in space, resulting in a range shift. Species Distribution Models (SDMs) can help forecast such range shift responses. For few species, both correlative and mechanistic SDMs were built, but allis shad (Alosa alosa), an endangered anadromous fish species, is one of them. The main purpose of this study was to provide a framework for joint analyses of correlative and mechanistic SDMs projections in order to strengthen conservation measures for species of conservation concern. Guidelines for joint representation and subsequent interpretation of models outputs were defined and applied. The present joint analysis was based on the novel mechanistic model GR3D (Global Repositioning Dynamics of Diadromous fish Distribution) which was parameterized on allis shad and then used to predict its future distribution along the European Atlantic coast under different climate change scenarios (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5). We then used a correlative SDM for this species to forecast its distribution across the same geographic area and under the same climate change scenarios. First, projections from correlative and mechanistic models provided congruent trends in probability of habitat suitability and population dynamics. This agreement was preferentially interpreted as referring to the species vulnerability to climate change. Climate change could not be accordingly listed as a major threat for allis shad. The congruence in predicted range limits between SDMs projections was the next point of interest. The difference, when noticed, required to deepen our understanding of the niche modelled by each approach. In this respect, the relative position of the northern range limit between the two methods strongly suggested here that a key biological process related to intraspecific variability was potentially lacking in the mechanistic SDM. Based on our knowledge, we hypothesized that local adaptations to cold

Thiaminase activity and life history investigations in American Shad in the Columbia river

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wetzel, Lisa A.; Parsley, Michael J; van der Leeuw, Bjorn K.; Larsen, Kimberly A.

2011-01-01

American shad Alosa sapidissima fry were successfully transplanted from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast in 1871 and have subsequently proliferated. The Columbia River population is in the millions, yet few investigations have been conducted to better understand their life history, population dynamics, or potential impacts on other species. In 2007 and 2008 we captured American shad from the Columbia River to assess levels of thiaminase activity and to characterize some aspects of American shad life history. Thiaminase levels in age-0 and adult fish were high and ranged from 4,113-20,874 pmol/g/min. Ages of spawning American shad ranged from 3-7 years and iteroparity was approximately 33-36% in the spawning population. Males were typically younger and smaller and had a higher degree of iteroparity than females

Status and trends of prey fish populations in Lake Michigan, 2012

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bunnell, David B.; Madenjian, Charles P.; Desorcie, Timothy J.; Kostich, Melissa Jean; Smith, Kelley R.; Adams, Jean V.

2012-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey Great Lakes Science Center has conducted lake-wide surveys of the fish community in Lake Michigan each fall since 1973 using standard 12-m bottom trawls towed along contour at depths of 9 to 110 m at each of seven index transects. The resulting data on relative abundance, size and age structure, and condition of individual fishes are used to estimate various population parameters that are in turn used by state and tribal agencies in managing Lake Michigan fish stocks. All seven established index transects of the survey were completed in 2012. The survey provides relative abundance and biomass estimates between the 5-m and 114-m depth contours of the lake (herein, lake-wide) for prey fish populations, as well as burbot, yellow perch, and the introduced dreissenid mussels. Lake-wide biomass of alewives in 2012 was estimated at 9 kilotonnes (kt, 1 kt = 1000 metric tonnes), which continues the trend of unusually low alewife biomass since 2004 but represented a 20% increase from the 2011 estimate. The age distribution of alewives larger than 100 mm was dominated (i.e., 84%) by age-2. Record low biomass was observed for several species, including bloater (0.4 kt), rainbow smelt (0.1 kt), deepwater sculpin (1.5 kt), and ninespine stickleback (0.01 kt). Slimy sculpin lake-wide biomass was 0.73 kt in 2012, which was the third consecutive year revealing a decline. Estimated biomass of round goby increased by 79% to 3 kt. Burbot lake-wide biomass (0.5 kt in 2012) has remained below 3 kt since 2001. Numeric density of age-0 yellow perch (i.e., < 100 mm) was only 2 fish per ha, which is indicative of a relatively poor year-class. Lake-wide biomass estimates of dreissenid mussels have continued to increase from 2010, from 12 to 95 kt in 2012. Overall, the total lake-wide prey fish biomass estimate (sum of alewife, bloater, rainbow smelt, deepwater sculpin, slimy sculpin, round goby, and ninespine stickleback) in 2012 was 15 kt, which represented the

Aquatic Nuisance Species Locator

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Data in this map has been collected by the United States Geological Survey's Nonindigenous Aquatic Species program located in Gainesville, Florida (http://nas.er.usgs.gov/default.aspx). This dataset may have some inaccuracies and is only current to June 15, 2012. The species identified in this dataset are not inclusive of all aquatic nuisance species, but rather a subset identified to be at risk for transport by recreational activities such as boating and angling. Additionally, the locations where organisims have been identified are also not inclusive and should be treated as a guide. Organisms are limited to the following: American bullfrog, Asian clam, Asian shore crab, Asian tunicate, Australian spotted jellyfish, Chinese mitten crab, New Zealand mudsnail, Colonial sea squirt, Alewife, Bighead carp, Black carp, Flathead catfish, Grass carp, Green crab, Lionfish, Northern snakehead, Quagga mussel, Round Goby, Ruffe, Rusty crayfish, Sea lamprey, Silver carp, Spiny water flea, Veined rapa whelk, Zebra mussel

Status and trends of the Lake Huron deepwater demersal fish ommunity, 2008

USGS Publications Warehouse

Roseman, Edward F.; O'Brien, Timothy P.; Riley, Stephen C.; Farha, Steve A.; French, John R.

2009-01-01

The U.S.Geological Survey Great Lakes Science Center has conducted trawl surveys to assess annual changes in the deepwater demersal fish community of Lake Huron since 1973. Since 1992, surveys have been carried out using a 21 m wing trawl towed on-contour at depths ranging from 9 to 110 m on fixed transects. Sample sites include five ports in U.S. waters with less frequent sampling near Goderich, Ontario. The 2008 fall bottom trawl survey was carried out between October 24 and November 20, 2008 and sampled only the three northern U.S. ports at DeTour, Hammond Bay, and Alpena due to mechanical problems with the research vessel and prolonged periods of bad weather. Therefore, all data presented for 2008 are based on samples collected from these ports. Compared to previous years, alewife populations in Lake Huron remain at low levels after collapsing in 2004. Age-0 alewife density and biomass appears to have increased slightly but overall levels remain near the nadir observed in 2004. Density and biomass of adult and juvenile rainbow smelt showed a decrease from 2007 despite record-high abundance of juveniles observed in 2005, suggesting recruitment was low. Numbers of adult and juvenile bloater were low despite recent high year-classes. Abundances for most other prey species were similar to the low levels observed in 2005 - 2007. We captured one wild juvenile lake trout in 2008 representing the fifth consecutive year that wild lake trout were captured in the survey. Based on pairwise graphical comparisons and nonparametric correlation analyses, dynamics of prey abundance at the three northern ports followed lakewide trends since 1992. Density of benthic macroinvertebrates was at an all-time low in 2008 since sampling began in 2001. The decline in abundance was due to decreases in all taxonomic groups and a large reduction in recruitment of quagga mussels. Density of Diporeia at northern ports in 2008 was the lowest observed. Diporeia were found only at 73-m sites of

Status and trends of prey fish populations in Lake Michigan, 2013

USGS Publications Warehouse

Madenjian, Charles P.; Bunnell, David B.; Desorcie, Timothy J.; Kostich, Melissa Jean; Armenio, Patricia M.; Adams, Jean V.

2015-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey Great Lakes Science Center has conducted lake-wide surveys of the fish community in Lake Michigan each fall since 1973 using standard 12-m bottom trawls towed along contour at depths of 9 to 110 m at each of seven index transects. The resulting data on relative abundance, size and age structure, and condition of individual fishes are used to estimate various population parameters that are in turn used by state and tribal agencies in managing Lake Michigan fish stocks. All seven established index transects of the survey were completed in 2013. The survey provides relative abundance and biomass estimates between the 5-m and 114-m depth contours of the lake (herein, lake-wide) for prey fish populations, as well as burbot, yellow perch, and the introduced dreissenid mussels. Lake-wide biomass of alewives in 2013 was estimated at 29 kilotonnes (kt, 1 kt = 1000 metric tonnes), which was more than three times the 2012 estimate. However, the unusually high standard error associated with the 2013 estimate indicated no significant increase in lake-wide biomass between 2012 and 2013. Moreover, the age distribution of alewives remained truncated with no alewife exceeding an age of 5. The population of age-1 and older alewives was dominated (i.e., 88%) by the 2010 and 2012 year-classes. Record low biomass was observed for deepwater sculpin (1.3 kt) and ninespine stickleback (0.004 kt) in 2013, while bloater (1.6 kt) and rainbow smelt (0.2 kt) biomasses remained at low levels. Slimy sculpin lake-wide biomass was 0.32 kt in 2013, marking the fourth consecutive year of a decline. The 2013 biomass of round goby was estimated at 10.9 kt, which represented the peak estimate to date. Burbot lake-wide biomass (0.4 kt in 2013) has remained below 3 kt since 2001. Numeric density of age-0 yellow perch (i.e., < 100 mm) was only 1 fish per ha, which is indicative of a relatively poor year-class. Lake-wide biomass estimate of dreissenid mussels in 2013 was 23.2 kt

Development of a bioenergetics model for age-0 American Shad

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sauter, Sally T.

2011-01-01

Bioenergetics modeling can be used as a tool to investigate the impact of non-native age-0 American shad (Alosa sapidissima) on reservoir and estuary food webs. The model can increase our understanding of how these fish influence lower trophic levels as well as predatory fish populations that feed on juvenile salmonids. Bioenergetics modeling can be used to investigate ecological processes, evaluate alternative research hypotheses, provide decision support, and quantitative prediction. Bioenergetics modeling has proven to be extremely useful in fisheries research (Ney et al. 1993,Chips and Wahl 2008, Petersen et al. 2008). If growth and diet parameters are known, the bioenergetics model can be used to quantify the relative amount of zooplankton or insects consumed by age-0 American shad. When linked with spatial and temporal information on fish abundance, model output can guide inferential hypothesis development to demonstrate where the greatest impacts of age-0 American shad might occur.

Evidence of widespread natural reproduction by lake trout Salvelinus namaycush in the Michigan waters of Lake Huron

USGS Publications Warehouse

Riley, S.C.; He, J.X.; Johnson, J.E.; O'Brien, T. P.; Schaeffer, J.S.

2007-01-01

Localized natural reproduction of lake trout Salvelinus namaycush in Lake Huron has occurred since the 1980s near Thunder Bay, Michigan. During 2004–2006, USGS spring and fall bottom trawl surveys captured 63 wild juvenile lake trout at depths ranging from 37–73 m at four of five ports in the Michigan waters of the main basin of Lake Huron, more than five times the total number captured in the previous 30-year history of the surveys. Relatively high catches of wild juvenile lake trout in bottom trawls during 2004–2006 suggest that natural reproduction by lake trout has increased and occurred throughout the Michigan waters of the main basin. Increased catches of wild juvenile lake trout in the USGS fall bottom trawl survey were coincident with a drastic decline in alewife abundance, but data were insufficient to determine what mechanism may be responsible for increased natural reproduction by lake trout. We recommend further monitoring of juvenile lake trout abundance and research into early life history of lake trout in Lake Huron.

Links between type E botulism outbreaks, lake levels, and surface water temperatures in Lake Michigan, 1963-2008

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lafrancois, Brenda Moraska; Riley, Stephen C.; Blehert, David S.; Ballmann, Anne E.

2011-01-01

Relationships between large-scale environmental factors and the incidence of type E avian botulism outbreaks in Lake Michigan were examined from 1963 to 2008. Avian botulism outbreaks most frequently occurred in years with low mean annual water levels, and lake levels were significantly lower in outbreak years than in non-outbreak years. Mean surface water temperatures in northern Lake Michigan during the period when type E outbreaks tend to occur (July through September) were significantly higher in outbreak years than in non-outbreak years. Trends in fish populations did not strongly correlate with botulism outbreaks, although botulism outbreaks in the 1960s coincided with high alewife abundance, and recent botulism outbreaks coincided with rapidly increasing round goby abundance. Botulism outbreaks occurred cyclically, and the frequency of outbreaks did not increase over the period of record. Climate change scenarios for the Great Lakes predict lower water levels and warmer water temperatures. As a consequence, the frequency and magnitude of type E botulism outbreaks in the Great Lakes may increase.

A review of the current status of the American shad '(Alosa sapidissima)' in the Susquehanna River. Special report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sidell, B.D.

1979-02-01

During the last two hundred years there has been a dramatic and sustained decline in the American shad fishery of the Susquehanna River. Among the explanations most often advanced for this decline are overfishing, both in the Chesapeake Bay and in the river itself; construction of dams (canal-feeder and hydro-electric) or other obstructions to passage of anadromous fishes; and deleterious effects on water quality caused by mining wastes, sawmill pulp wastes, municipal sewages and increased agricultural activity in the watershed leading to fluctuations in flow characteristis of the river. This report attempts to answer these questions.

Genetic diversity and differentiation in a wide ranging anadromous fish, American shad (Alosa sapidissima), is correlated with latitude.

PubMed

Hasselman, Daniel J; Ricard, Daniel; Bentzen, Paul

2013-03-01

Studies that span entire species ranges can provide insight into the relative roles of historical contingency and contemporary factors that influence population structure and can reveal patterns of genetic variation that might otherwise go undetected. American shad is a wide ranging anadromous clupeid fish that exhibits variation in demographic histories and reproductive strategies (both semelparity and iteroparity) and provides a unique perspective on the evolutionary processes that govern the genetic architecture of anadromous fishes. Using 13 microsatellite loci, we examined the magnitude and spatial distribution of genetic variation among 33 populations across the species' range to (i) determine whether signals of historical demography persist among contemporary populations and (ii) assess the effect of different reproductive strategies on population structure. Patterns of genetic diversity and differentiation among populations varied widely and reflect the differential influences of historical demography, microevolutionary processes and anthropogenic factors across the species' range. Sequential reductions of diversity with latitude among formerly glaciated rivers are consistent with stepwise postglacial colonization and successive population founder events. Weak differentiation among U.S. iteroparous populations may be a consequence of human-mediated gene flow, while weak differentiation among semelparous populations probably reflects natural gene flow. Evidence for an effect of reproductive strategy on population structure suggests an important role for environmental variation and suggests that the factors that are responsible for shaping American shad life history patterns may also influence population genetic structure. © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Bridging the energy gap: Anadromous blueback herring feeding in the Hudson and Mohawk rivers, New York

USGS Publications Warehouse

Simonin, P.W.; Limburg, K.E.; Machut, L.S.

2007-01-01

Adult blueback herring Alosa aestivalis (N = 116) were collected during the 1999, 2000, and 2002-2004 spawning runs from sites on the Hudson and Mohawk rivers, and gut contents were analyzed. Thirty-four fish (33% of those examined) were found to contain food material. Food items were present in 41% of Mohawk River samples and 11% of Hudson River samples; all Hudson River fish containing food were captured in small tributaries above the head of tide. Hudson River fish predominantly consumed zooplankton, while Mohawk River fish consumed benthic aquatic insects in large quantities, including Baetidae, Ephemeridae, and Chironomidae. Using stable isotope analysis and a mixing model, we found that fish collected later in the season had significantly decreased marine-derived C. Condition indices of later-season fish were equal to or greater than those of fish collected earlier in the season. Blueback herring in this system may face increased energy requirements as they migrate farther upstream during spawning runs, and feeding may provide energy subsidies needed to maintain fitness over their expanded migratory range. ?? Copyright by the American Fisheries Society 2007.

Video evaluation of passage efficiency of American shad and sea lamprey in a modified Ice Harbor fishway

USGS Publications Warehouse

Haro, A.; Kynard, B.

1997-01-01

Movement and behavior of adult American shad Alosa sapidissima and sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus were monitored by closed-circuit video at several locations within a modified Ice Harbor fishway. American shad ascended and descended the fishway exclusively by surface weirs, while sea lampreys used both surface weirs and submerged orifices. Upstream movement of American shad during the day was higher than at night at both lower and middle fishway observation sites. Peak downstream movement of American shad at both locations was associated with decreasing light levels in the evening. Sea lampreys moved primarily at night at the lower and middle fishway sites. Mean daily passage efficiency was low (1% for American shad, -2% for sea lamprey) at the lower fishway surface weir, but passage efficiency at the middle fishway surface weir was moderate (70% for American shad, 35% for sea lamprey). High water velocity, air entrainment, and turbulence of the modified Ice Harbor fishway design appeared to inhibit American shad and sea lamprey passage by disrupting upstream migratory motivation and visual and rheotactic orientation.

A spatial capture-recapture model to estimate fish survival and location from linear continuous monitoring arrays

USGS Publications Warehouse

Raabe, Joshua K.; Gardner, Beth; Hightower, Joseph E.

2013-01-01

We developed a spatial capture–recapture model to evaluate survival and activity centres (i.e., mean locations) of tagged individuals detected along a linear array. Our spatially explicit version of the Cormack–Jolly–Seber model, analyzed using a Bayesian framework, correlates movement between periods and can incorporate environmental or other covariates. We demonstrate the model using 2010 data for anadromous American shad (Alosa sapidissima) tagged with passive integrated transponders (PIT) at a weir near the mouth of a North Carolina river and passively monitored with an upstream array of PIT antennas. The river channel constrained migrations, resulting in linear, one-dimensional encounter histories that included both weir captures and antenna detections. Individual activity centres in a given time period were a function of the individual’s previous estimated location and the river conditions (i.e., gage height). Model results indicate high within-river spawning mortality (mean weekly survival = 0.80) and more extensive movements during elevated river conditions. This model is applicable for any linear array (e.g., rivers, shorelines, and corridors), opening new opportunities to study demographic parameters, movement or migration, and habitat use.

Trophic interactions and consumption rates of subyearling Chinook Salmon and nonnative juvenile American Shad in Columbia River reservoirs

USGS Publications Warehouse

Haskell, Craig A.; Beauchamp, David A.; Bollins, Stephen M

2017-01-01

We used a large lampara seine coupled with nonlethal gastric lavage to examine the diets and estimate consumption rates of subyearling Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha during July and August 2013. During August we also examined the diet and consumption rates of juvenile American Shad Alosa sapidissima, a potential competitor of subyearling Chinook Salmon. Subyearling Chinook Salmon consumed Daphnia in July but switched to feeding on smaller juvenile American Shad in August. We captured no juvenile American Shad in July, but in August juvenile American Shad consumed cyclopoid and calanoid copepods. Stomach evacuation rates for subyearling Chinook Salmon were high during both sample periods (0.58 h−1 in July, 0.51 h−1 in August), and daily ration estimates were slightly higher than values reported in the literature for other subyearlings. By switching from planktivory to piscivory, subyearling Chinook Salmon gained greater growth opportunity. While past studies have shown that juvenile American Shad reduce zooplankton availability for Chinook Salmon subyearlings, our work indicates that they also become important prey after Daphnia abundance declines. The diet and consumption data here can be used in future bioenergetics modeling to estimate the growth of subyearling Chinook Salmon in lower Columbia River reservoirs.

Trophic transfer of persistent organic pollutants through a pelagic food web: The case of Lake Como (Northern Italy).

PubMed

Mazzoni, Michela; Boggio, Emanuela; Manca, Marina; Piscia, Roberta; Quadroni, Silvia; Bellasi, Arianna; Bettinetti, Roberta

2018-05-30

Despite DDT and PCB having been banned for about 40 years, they are still detectable in the environment. In the present research we specifically investigated the trophic transfer of these organochlorine contaminants (OC) through a pelagic food web of a deep lake in Northern Italy (Lake Como) over time. Zooplankton and fish were sampled each season of a year and OC concentrations and the carbon and nitrogen isotopic ratios were measured. By using stable isotopes, the direct trophic relationship between pelagic zooplankton and zooplanktivorous fish was confirmed for Alosa agone only in summer. Based on this result, the biomagnification factor normalized on the trophic level (BMF TL ) for organic contaminants was calculated. BMF TL values were within the range 0.9-1.9 for DDT isomers and 1.6-4.9 for some PCB congeners (PCB 95, PCB 101, PCB 149, PCB 153, PCB 138 - present both in zooplankton and in fish and representing >60% of the PCB contamination), confirming the biomagnification of these compounds in one of the two zooplanktivorous fish species of the lake. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Freshwater mussel salvage and relocation at the Pond Eddy Bridge, Delaware River, New York and Pennsylvania

USGS Publications Warehouse

Galbraith, Heather S.; Blakeslee, Carrie J.; Cole, Jeffrey C.

2018-03-01

In a study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, freshwater mussels were salvaged and relocated from the anticipated zone of impact for the Pond Eddy Bridge construction project in New York and Pennsylvania. Five 25-meter (m) by 25-m cells along the Pennsylvania bank of the Delaware River were sampled in three generally straight-line passes by four surveyors wearing snorkel gear for a total of 180 survey minutes per cell. All mussels encountered were collected and identified to species. A subset of individuals was marked with shellfish tags, weighed, and measured prior to relocation upstream from the zone of impact. A total of 3,434 mussels, including 3,393 Elliptio complanata (eastern elliptio mussels), 39 Anodonta implicata (alewife floaters), 1 Strophitus undulatus (creeper), and 1 Pyganodon cataracta (eastern floater), were salvaged and relocated. All non-eastern elliptio species were georeferenced using a high-resolution global positioning system unit; a subset of tagged eastern elliptio was placed in transects between georeferenced points. These mussels will be monitored to assess the effects of translocation on mortality and body condition at 1 month, 1 year, and 2 years.

A comparison of diets of blueback herring (Alosa aestivalis) and threadfin shad (Dorosoma petenense) in a large southeastern U.S. Reservoir

USGS Publications Warehouse

Winkelman, D.L.; Van Den Avyle, M.J.

2002-01-01

The objective of this study was to determine dietary overlap between blueback herring and threadfin shad in J. Strom Thrumond Reservoir, South Carolina/Georgia. We also evaluated prey selectivity for each speices and diet differences between two size categories of blueback herring. Diet and zooplankton samples were collected every other month from April 1992 to February 1994. We examined stomachs containing prey from 170 large blueback herring (>140mm), 96 small blueback herring (<140mm), and 109 threadfin shad, and we also examined 45 zooplankton samples. Large blueback herring diets differed significantly from threadfin shad diets on 11 of 12 sampling dates, and small blueback herring diets differed from threadfin shad diets on all sampling dates. In general, blueback herring consumed proportionally more copepods and fewer Bosmina sp. and rotifers than threadfin shad. Large and small blueback herring diets were significantly different on five of eight sampling dates, primarily due to the tendency of small blueback herring to eat proportionally more Bosmina sp. than large blueback herring. Both blueback herring and threadfin shad fed selectively during some periods of the year. Diet differences between the species may contribute to their coexistence; however, both blueback herring and threadfin shad showed a strong preference for Bosmina sp., increasing the chance that they may negatively influence one another.

Predator response to releases of American shad larvae in the Susquehanna River basin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Johnson, James H.; Ringler, N.H.

1998-01-01

Predation on American shad (Alosa sapidissima) larvae within the first two hours of release was examined from 1989 to 1992 on 31 occasions at stocking sites in the Susquehanna River basin. Twenty-two fish species consumed shad larvae; the dominant predators were spotfin shiner (Cyprinella spiloptera), mimic shiner (Notropis volucellus) and juvenile smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu). The number of shad larvae found in predator stomachs ranged from 0 to 900. Mortality of shad larvae at the stocking site was usually less than 2%. The greatest mortality (9.6%) occurred at the highest stocking level (1.5 million larvae). Highly variable predation rates and release levels of shad insufficient to achieve predator satiation hindered the ability to determine a specific type of functional response of predators. Predator numbers increased with stocking density, indicating short-term aggregation at the release site. Because of practical problems associated with releasing the large numbers of larvae that would be required to satiate predators, routine stocking at these levels is probably unreasonable. Releases of 400,000 to 700,000 larvae may reduce predation by offsetting depensatory mechanisms that operate on small releases and the effects of increased predation due to predator aggregation on large releases. Night stocking may reduce predation on larval shad at the release site.

Diet of juvenile and adult American Shad in the Columbia River

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sauter, Sally T.; Blubaugh, J; Parsley, Michael J.

2011-01-01

The diet of juvenile and adult American shad Alosa sapidissima captured from various locations in the Columbia River was investigated during 2007 and 2008. Collection efforts in 2007 were restricted to fish collected from existing adult and juvenile fish collection facilities located at Bonneville Dam and to adult shad captured by angling downstream from Bonneville Dam. In 2008, we used gillnets, electrofishing, beach seining, or cast nets to collect juvenile and adult shad from the saline estuary near Astoria (approximately river km 24) to just upstream from McNary Dam (approximately river km 472). We examined the stomach contents of 436 American shad captured in 2007 and 1,272 captured in 2008. Fish caught within the river were much more likely to contain food items than fish removed from fish collection facilities.

The diet of age-0 American shad varied spatially and temporally, but was comprised primarily of crustaceans and insects. Prey diversity of age-0 American shad, as assessed by the Shannon Diversity Index, increased with decreasing distance to the estuary. Pre- and partial-spawn American shad primarily consumed Corophium spp. throughout the Columbia River; however, post-spawn adults primarily consumed gastropods upstream of McNary Dam

Population size and relative abundance of adult Alabama shad reaching jim woodruff lock and dam, Apalachicola River, Florida

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ely, Patrick C.; Young, S.P.; Isely, J.J.

2008-01-01

We estimated the population size of migrating Alabama shad Alosa alabamae below Jim Woodruff Lock and Dam in the Apalachicola River (located in the central panhandle of northwestern Florida) using mark-recapture and relative abundance techniques. After adjustment for tag loss, emigration, and mortality, the population size was estimated as 25,935 (95% confidence interval, 17,715-39,535) in 2005, 2,767 (838-5,031) in 2006, and 8,511 (5,211-14,674) in 2007. The cumulative catch rate from boat electrofishing averaged 20.47 Alabama shad per hour in 2005, 6.10 per hour in 2006, and 13.17 per hour in 2007. The relationship between population size (N) and electrofishing catch per unit effort (CPUE) was modeled by the equation N = -9008.2 + (electrofishing CPUE X 1616.4). Additionally, in 2007 the hook-and-line catch rate averaged 1.94 Alabama shad per rod hour. A predictive model relating the population size and hook-and-line CPUE of spawning American shad A. sapidissima was applied to Alabama shad hook-and-line CPUE and produced satisfactory results. Recent spawning populations of Alabama shad in the Apalachicola River are low relative to American shad populations in other southeastern U.S. rivers. ?? Copyright by the American Fisheries Society 2008.

The Adopt-a-Herring program as a fisheries conservation tool

USGS Publications Warehouse

Frank, Holly J.; Mather, Martha E.; Muth, Robert M.; Pautzke, Sarah M.; Smith, Joseph M.; Finn, John T.

2009-01-01

Successful conservation depends on a scientifically literate public. We developed the adopt-a-Herring program to educate nonscientists about fisheries and watershed restoration. this interactive educational and outreach project encouraged coastal residents to be involved in local watershed restoration. In the northeastern United States, river herring (Alosa spp.) are an important component of many coastal watersheds and often are the object of conservation efforts. In order to understand river herring spawning behavior and to improve the effectiveness of restoration efforts, our research tracked these fish via radiotelemetry in the Ipswich River, Massachusetts. In our adopt-a-Herring Program, participating stakeholder organizations adopted and named individual tagged river herring and followed their movements online. We also made information available to our adopters on our larger research goals, the mission and activities of other research and management agencies, examples of human actions that adversely affect watersheds, and opportunities for proactive conservation. Research results were communicated to adopters through our project web page and end-of-the-season summary presentations. Both tools cultivated a personal interest in river herring, stimulated discussion about fisheries and watershed restoration, educated participants about the goals and methods of scientists in general, and initiated critical thinking about human activities that advance or impede sustainability.

Distribution of spawning activity by anadromous fishes in an atlantic slope drainage after removal of a low-head dam

USGS Publications Warehouse

Burdick, S.M.; Hightower, J.E.

2006-01-01

In 1998, the Quaker Neck Dam was removed from the Neuse River near Goldsboro, North Carolina, restoring access to more than 120 km of potential main-stem spawning habitat and 1,488 km of potential tributary spawning habitat to anadromous fishes. We used plankton sampling and standardized electrofishing to examine the extent to which anadromous fishes utilized this restored spawning habitat in 2003 and 2004. Evidence of spawning activity was detected upstream of the former dam site for three anadromous species: American shad Alosa sapidissima, hickory shad A. mediocris, and striped bass Morone saxatilis. The percentages of eggs and larvae collected in the restored upstream habitat were greater in 2003, when spring flows were high, than in 2004. River reaches where spawning occurred were estimated from egg stage and water velocity data. Spawning of American shad and striped bass occurred primarily in main-stem river reaches that were further upstream during the year of higher spring flows. Hickory shad generally spawned in downstream reaches and in tributaries above and below the former dam site. These results demonstrate that anadromous fishes will take advantage of upper basin spawning habitat restored through dam removal as long as instream flows are adequate to facilitate upstream migration.

Ecology of an estuarine mysid shrimp in the Columbia River (USA)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Haskell, C.A.; Stanford, J.A.

2006-01-01

The estuarine mysid, Neomysis mercedis, has colonized John Day and other run-of-the-river Reservoirs of the Columbia River, over 400 km from the estuary. In John Day Reservoir N. mercedis numbers peaked (2 m-3) in August in areas near the dam in association with lower water velocity and softer bottom than at the upstream sampling sites. Neomysis broods were primarily released in late spring and early fall. Gut content analysis showed that Neomysis feeds mostly on cladoceran zooplankton and rotifers in John Day Reservoir. Diel vertical migration was documented, with daytime distribution restricted to the bottom and preferentially to the soft-textured sediments in the deepest areas. Common pelagic fishes in the reservoir, especially juvenile American shad (Alosa sapidissima) and chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), are daytime zooplankton feeders that cannot prey on Neomysis owing to mysid diel vertical migration. Thus, Neomysis has become an important food web component in John Day Reservoir. We also collected N. mercedis further upstream in Lower Granite Reservoir, where another estuarine crustacean, Corophium salmonis, also is reported, underscoring the need to better understand the role of these estuarine invertebrates in the trophic ecology of the Columbia River. Copyright ?? 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Mysis diluviana population and cohort dynamics in Lake Ontario before and after the establishment of Dreissena spp., Cercopagis pengoi, and Bythotrephes longimanus

USGS Publications Warehouse

Johannsson, Ora E.; Bowen, Kelly L.; Holeck, Kristen T.; Walsh, Maureen G.

2011-01-01

We investigated population responses of Mysis to ecosystem changes induced by invasion of dreissenids and predatory cladocerans, Cercopagis and Bythotrephes. Lake productivity declined as dreissenids invaded the offshore region. Whole-lake mysid biomass was compared before (early 1990s) and after (2002–2007) the invasion period; it declined 40%–45%. Abundance of young mysids and presence of a summer cohort increased with summer, epilmnetic, nighttime zooplankton biomass (i.e., food biomass index). Cercopagis + Bythotrephes biomass was negatively correlated with this index, implicating them in the mysid decline. Eggs per gravid female increased with autumn, total-water-column zooplankton biomass, reflecting the greater use of hypolimnetic waters by adults. Reproductive success was below replacement during the period 2002–2005. First-year mysid growth rate was maintained while population abundance declined, suggesting selection for individuals that feed effectively at low food concentrations. Mortality rates in the first and second years were dependent on cohort density, indicating that competition for food limited abundance in the first 2 years. Fish predation indices (smelt and alewife combined) were correlated positively with mortality rates and negatively with abundance in the third year. Thus, mysids cannot support as many fish in invaded compared with non-invaded lakes. They may also not be a stable food resource; unusual cohort losses occurred in some years.

Estimating mortality rates of adult fish from entrainment through the propellers of river towboats

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gutreuter, S.; Dettmers, J.M.; Wahl, David H.

2003-01-01

We developed a method to estimate mortality rates of adult fish caused by entrainment through the propellers of commercial towboats operating in river channels. The method combines trawling while following towboats (to recover a fraction of the kills) and application of a hydrodynamic model of diffusion (to estimate the fraction of the total kills collected in the trawls). The sampling problem is unusual and required quantifying relatively rare events. We first examined key statistical properties of the entrainment mortality rate estimators using Monte Carlo simulation, which demonstrated that a design-based estimator and a new ad hoc estimator are both unbiased and converge to the true value as the sample size becomes large. Next, we estimated the entrainment mortality rates of adult fishes in Pool 26 of the Mississippi River and the Alton Pool of the Illinois River, where we observed kills that we attributed to entrainment. Our estimates of entrainment mortality rates were 2.52 fish/km of towboat travel (80% confidence interval, 1.00-6.09 fish/km) for gizzard shad Dorosoma cepedianum, 0.13 fish/km (0.00-0.41) for skipjack herring Alosa chrysochloris, and 0.53 fish/km (0.00-1.33) for both shovelnose sturgeon Scaphirhynchus platorynchus and smallmouth buffalo Ictiobus bubalus. Our approach applies more broadly to commercial vessels operating in confined channels, including other large rivers and intracoastal waterways.

Passage of American shad: paradigms and realities

USGS Publications Warehouse

Haro, Alex; Castro-Santos, Theodore

2012-01-01

Despite more than 250 years of development, the passage of American shad Alosa sapidissima at dams and other barriers frequently remains problematic. Few improvements in design based on knowledge of the swimming, schooling, and migratory behaviors of American shad have been incorporated into passage structures. Large-scale technical fishways designed for the passage of adult salmonids on the Columbia River have been presumed to have good performance for American shad but have never been rigorously evaluated for this species. Similar but smaller fishway designs on the East Coast frequently have poor performance. Provision of effective downstream passage for both juvenile and postspawning adult American shad has been given little consideration in most passage projects. Ways to attract and guide American shad to both fishway entrances and downstream bypasses remain marginally understood. The historical development of passage structures for American shad has resulted in assumptions and paradigms about American shad behavior and passage that are frequently unsubstantiated by supporting data or appropriate experimentation. We propose that many of these assumptions and paradigms are either unfounded or invalid and that significant improvements to American shad upstream and downstream passage can be made via a sequential program of behavioral experimentation, application of experimental results to the physical and hydraulic design of new structures, and controlled tests of large-scale prototype structures in the laboratory and field.

Food of blueback herring and threadfin shad in Jocassee Reservoir, South Carolina

USGS Publications Warehouse

Davis, Bruce M.; Foltz, Jeffrey W.

1991-01-01

Threadfin shad Dorosoma petenense and blueback herring Alosa aestivalis were introduced into Jocassee Reservoir, South Carolina, in the early 1970s as prey for large piscivores. To assess the potential for trophic competition between these clupeids, we examined their diets and the extent of diet overlap in May, August, and December 1982 and February 1983. The diet of blueback herring consisted mainly of large species of cladocerans and copepods supplemented in August with Chaoborus punctipennis and young fish. Mean length of the organisms eaten by blueback herring was 1.4 mm. Threadfin shad fed on smaller species of cladocerans and copepods, as well as on rotifers and copepod nauplii. The mean length of the organisms eaten by threadfin shad was 0.4 mm, which differed significantly from the mean length of the zooplankton population in Jocassee Reservoir (0.6 mm). Phytoplankton contributed 24 and 32% of the stomach contents of threadfin shad in August and December. Bosmina longirostris was important in the diet of both species, although blueback herring showed negative selection for it. Diet overlap between the two clupeids was low on all four dates. Although we found no evidence of trophic competition between the two species in Jocassee Reservoir, we do not recommend stocking them together, because both species are voracious planktivores and blueback herring are piscivorous.

Atlantic coast feeding habits of striped bass: A synthesis supporting a coast-wide understanding of trophic biology

USGS Publications Warehouse

Walter, J. F.; Overton, A.S.; Ferry, K.H.; Mather, M. E.

2003-01-01

The recent increase in the Atlantic coast population of striped bass, Morone saxatilis (Walbaum), prompted managers to re-evaluate their predatory impact. Published and unpublished diet data for striped bass on the Atlantic Coast of North America were examined for geographical, ontogenetic and seasonal patterns in the diet and to assess diet for this species. Diets of young-of-the-year (YOY) striped bass were similar across the Upper Atlantic (UPATL), Chesapeake and Delaware Bays (CBDEL) and North Carolina (NCARO) areas of the Atlantic coast where either fish or mysid shrimp dominate the diet. For age one and older striped bass, cluster analysis partitioned diets based on predominance of either Atlantic menhaden, Brevoortia tyrannus (Latrobe), characteristic of striped bass from the CBDEL and NCARO regions, or non-menhaden fishes or invertebrates, characteristic of fish from the UPATL, in the diet. The predominance of invertebrates in the diets of striped bass in the UPATL region can be attributed to the absence of several important species groups in Northern waters, particularly sciaenid fishes, and to the sporadic occurrences of Atlantic menhaden to UPATL waters. In all regions, across most seasons and in most size classes of striped bass, the clupeiod fishes; menhaden, anchovies (Anchoa spp.) and river herrings (Alosa spp,) and Atlantic herring, Clupea harengus L., dominated the diets of striped bass above the first year of life.

Hair cell heterogeneity and ultrasonic hearing: recent advances in understanding fish hearing.

PubMed Central

Popper, A N

2000-01-01

The past decade has seen a wealth of new data on the auditory capabilities and mechanisms of fishes. We now have a significantly better appreciation of the structure and function of the auditory system in fishes with regard to their peripheral and central anatomy, physiology, behaviour, sound source localization and hearing capabilities. This paper deals with two of the newest of these findings, hair cell heterogeneity and the detection of ultrasound. As a result of this recent work, we now know that fishes have several different types of sensory hair cells in both the ear and lateral line and there is a growing body of evidence to suggest that these hair cell types arose very early in the evolution of the octavolateralis system. There is also some evidence to suggest that the differences in the hair cell types have functional implications for the way the ear and lateral line of fishes detect and process stimuli. Behavioural studies have shown that, whereas most fishes can only detect sound to 1-3 kHz, several species of the genus Alosa (Clupeiformes, i.e. herrings and their relatives) can detect sounds up to 180 kHz (or even higher). It is suggested that this capability evolved so that these fishes can detect one of their major predators, echolocating dolphins. The mechanism for ultrasound detection remains obscure, though it is hypothesized that the highly derived utricle of the inner ear in these species is involved. PMID:11079414

Effects of pressure reductions in a proposed siphon water lift system at St. Stephen Dam, South Carolina, on mortality rates of juvenile American shad and blueback herring. Technical report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nestler, J.M.; Schilt, C.R.; Jones, D.P.

1998-09-01

This report presents results of studies to predict the mortality rate of juvenile blueback herring (Alosa aestivalis) and American shad (A. sapidissima) associated with reduced pressure as they pass downstream through a proposed siphon water lift system at St. Stephen Dam, South Carolina. The primary function of the siphon is to increase attracting flow to better guide upstream migrating adult herring of both species into the existing fish lift for upstream passage. The US Army Engineer District, Charleston, wishes to consider the siphon as an alternative bypass route through the dam for downstream migrating juvenile and adult herring. A pressure-reductionmore » testing system that emulates some of the pressure characteristics of the siphon was used to determine the approximate percentage of juvenile fishes that could be reasonably expected to be killed passing through the reduced pressures anticipated for the siphon water lift system. The testing system could duplicate the range of pressure change anticipated for the siphon lift system but could not obtain pressures lower than 4.1 psi, whereas pressures for some design alternatives may approach the theoretical minimum pressure of 0.0 psi. Study results indicate that the mortality rate is probably about 20 percent. Power analysis indicates that mortality rate above 30 percent is unlikely. Conducting additional mortality studies is recommended to refine predicted mortality rates. Measures should be taken to prevent juvenile fish from entering the siphon lift system if excessive mortality rates are observed.« less

American shad migratory behavior, weight loss, survival, and abundance in a North Carolina River following dam removals

USGS Publications Warehouse

Raabe, Joshua K.; Hightower, Joseph E.

2014-01-01

Despite extensive management and research, populations of American Shad Alosa sapidissima have experienced prolonged declines, and uncertainty about the underlying mechanisms causing these declines remains. In the springs of 2007 through 2010, we used a resistance board weir and PIT technology to capture, tag, and track American Shad in the Little River, North Carolina, a tributary to the Neuse River with complete and partial removals of low-head dams. Our objectives were to examine migratory behaviors and estimate weight loss, survival, and abundance during each spawning season. Males typically immigrated earlier than females and also used upstream habitat at a higher percentage, but otherwise exhibited relatively similar migratory patterns. Proportional weight loss displayed a strong positive relationship with both cumulative water temperature during residence time and number of days spent upstream, and to a lesser extent, minimum distance the fish traveled in the river. Surviving emigrating males lost up to 30% of their initial weight and females lost up to 50% of their initial weight, indicating there are potential survival thresholds. Survival for the spawning season was low and estimates ranged from 0.07 to 0.17; no distinct factors (e.g., sex, size, migration distance) that could contribute to survival were detected. Sampled and estimated American Shad abundance increased from 2007 through 2009, but was lower in 2010. Our study provides substantial new information about American Shad spawning that may aid restoration efforts.

A Bayesian spawning habitat suitability model for American shad in southeastern United States rivers

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hightower, Joseph E.; Harris, Julianne E.; Raabe, Joshua K.; Brownell, Prescott; Drew, C. Ashton

2012-01-01

Habitat suitability index models for American shad Alosa sapidissima were developed by Stier and Crance in 1985. These models, which were based on a combination of published information and expert opinion, are often used to make decisions about hydropower dam operations and fish passage. The purpose of this study was to develop updated habitat suitability index models for spawning American shad in the southeastern United States, building on the many field and laboratory studies completed since 1985. We surveyed biologists who had knowledge about American shad spawning grounds, assembled a panel of experts to discuss important habitat variables, and used raw data from published and unpublished studies to develop new habitat suitability curves. The updated curves are based on resource selection functions, which can model habitat selectivity based on use and availability of particular habitats. Using field data collected in eight rivers from Virginia to Florida (Mattaponi, Pamunkey, Roanoke, Tar, Neuse, Cape Fear, Pee Dee, St. Johns), we obtained new curves for temperature, current velocity, and depth that were generally similar to the original models. Our new suitability function for substrate was also similar to the original pattern, except that sand (optimal in the original model) has a very low estimated suitability. The Bayesian approach that we used to develop habitat suitability curves provides an objective framework for updating the model as new studies are completed and for testing the model's applicability in other parts of the species' range.

Tambora and the mackerel year: phenology and fisheries during an extreme climate event

USGS Publications Warehouse

Alexander, Karen E.; Leavenworth, William B.; Hall, Carolyn; Mattocks, Steven; Bittner, Steven M.; Klein, Emily; Staudinger, Michelle D.; Bryan, Alexander; Rosset, Julianne; Willis, Theodore V.; Carr, Benjamin H.; Jordaan, Adrian

2017-01-01

Global warming has increased the frequency of extreme climate events, yet responses of biological and human communities are poorly understood, particularly for aquatic ecosystems and fisheries. Retrospective analysis of known outcomes may provide insights into the nature of adaptations and trajectory of subsequent conditions. We consider the 1815 eruption of the Indonesian volcano Tambora and its impact on Gulf of Maine (GoM) coastal and riparian fisheries in 1816. Applying complex adaptive systems theory with historical methods, we analyzed fish export data and contemporary climate records to disclose human and piscine responses to Tambora’s extreme weather at different spatial and temporal scales while also considering sociopolitical influences. Results identified a tipping point in GoM fisheries induced by concatenating social and biological responses to extreme weather. Abnormal daily temperatures selectively affected targeted fish species—alewives, shad, herring, and mackerel—according to their migration and spawning phenologies and temperature tolerances. First to arrive, alewives suffered the worst. Crop failure and incipient famine intensified fishing pressure, especially in heavily settled regions where dams already compromised watersheds. Insufficient alewife runs led fishers to target mackerel, the next species appearing in abundance along the coast; thus, 1816 became the “mackerel year.” Critically, the shift from riparian to marine fisheries persisted and expanded after temperatures moderated and alewives recovered. We conclude that contingent human adaptations to extraordinary weather permanently altered this complex system. Understanding how adaptive responses to extreme events can trigger unintended consequences may advance long-term planning for resilience in an uncertain future.

Tambora and the mackerel year: Phenology and fisheries during an extreme climate event

PubMed Central

Alexander, Karen E.; Leavenworth, William B.; Willis, Theodore V.; Hall, Carolyn; Mattocks, Steven; Bittner, Steven M.; Klein, Emily; Staudinger, Michelle; Bryan, Alexander; Rosset, Julianne; Carr, Benjamin H.; Jordaan, Adrian

2017-01-01

Global warming has increased the frequency of extreme climate events, yet responses of biological and human communities are poorly understood, particularly for aquatic ecosystems and fisheries. Retrospective analysis of known outcomes may provide insights into the nature of adaptations and trajectory of subsequent conditions. We consider the 1815 eruption of the Indonesian volcano Tambora and its impact on Gulf of Maine (GoM) coastal and riparian fisheries in 1816. Applying complex adaptive systems theory with historical methods, we analyzed fish export data and contemporary climate records to disclose human and piscine responses to Tambora’s extreme weather at different spatial and temporal scales while also considering sociopolitical influences. Results identified a tipping point in GoM fisheries induced by concatenating social and biological responses to extreme weather. Abnormal daily temperatures selectively affected targeted fish species—alewives, shad, herring, and mackerel—according to their migration and spawning phenologies and temperature tolerances. First to arrive, alewives suffered the worst. Crop failure and incipient famine intensified fishing pressure, especially in heavily settled regions where dams already compromised watersheds. Insufficient alewife runs led fishers to target mackerel, the next species appearing in abundance along the coast; thus, 1816 became the “mackerel year.” Critically, the shift from riparian to marine fisheries persisted and expanded after temperatures moderated and alewives recovered. We conclude that contingent human adaptations to extraordinary weather permanently altered this complex system. Understanding how adaptive responses to extreme events can trigger unintended consequences may advance long-term planning for resilience in an uncertain future. PMID:28116356

Changes in seasonal nearshore zooplankton abundance patterns in Lake Ontario following establishment of the exotic predator Cercopagis pengoi

USGS Publications Warehouse

Warner, David M.; Rudstam, Lars G.; Benoit, Hugues; Mills, Edward L.; Johannsson, Ora E.

2006-01-01

Cercopagis pengoi, a zooplanktivore first discovered in Lake Ontario in 1998, may reduce availability of prey for planktivorous fish. Cercoapgis pengoi is most abundant in late summer and fall. Therefore, we hypothesized that abundance of small zooplankton (bosminids and cyclopoids) species would decrease at that time. To determine if the establishment of C. pengoi was followed by changes in the zooplankton community, seasonal patterns in nearshore zooplankton collected from May to October 1995–2000 were examined. Early summer density of small zooplankton was similar in all years while late summer and fall densities were significantly lower in 1998–2000 than in 1995–1997. The declines of small zooplankton coincided seasonally with the peak in C. pengoidensity. Other possible causes for the observed changes in small zooplankton are less likely. High levels of fish predation should have resulted in smaller zooplankton in 1998–2000 than in 1995–1997 and larger declines in Daphnia than other groups. This was not observed. There was no significant decline in chlorophyll-a concentrations or changes in temperature between 1995–1997 and 1998–2000. Therefore, the declines in density of small zooplankton were most likely the result of C. pengoi predation. The effect of C. pengoi establishment on alewives is increased competition for zooplankton prey but C. pengoi has replaced a portion of the zooplankton biomass and adult alewife diet formerly dominated by Diacyclops thomasi and Bosmina longirostris.

From salmon to shad: Shifting sources of marine-derived nutrients in the Columbia River Basin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Haskell, Craig A.

2018-01-01

Like Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.), nonnative American shad (Alosa sapidissima) have the potential to convey large quantities of nutrients between the Pacific Ocean and freshwater spawning areas in the Columbia River Basin (CRB). American shad are now the most numerous anadromous fish in the CRB, yet the magnitude of the resulting nutrient flux owing to the shift from salmon to shad is unknown. Nutrient flux models revealed that American shad conveyed over 15,000 kg of nitrogen (N) and 3,000 kg of phosphorus (P) annually to John Day Reservoir, the largest mainstem reservoir in the lower Columbia River. Shad were net importers of N, with juveniles and postspawners exporting just 31% of the N imported by adults. Shad were usually net importers of P, with juveniles and postspawners exporting 46% of the P imported by adults on average. American shad contributed <0.2% of the total annual P load into John Day Reservoir, but during June when most adult shad are migrating into John Day Reservoir, they contributed as much as 2.0% of the P load. Nutrient inputs by American shad were similar to current but far less than historical inputs of Pacific salmon owing to their smaller size. Given the relatively high background P levels and low retention times in lower Columbia River reservoirs, it is unlikely that shad marine-derived nutrients affect nutrient balances or food web productivity through autotrophic pathways. However, a better understanding of shad spawning aggregations in the CRB is needed.

Seasonal zooplankton dynamics in Lake Michigan: disentangling impacts of resource limitation, ecosystem engineering, and predation during a critical ecosystem transition

USGS Publications Warehouse

Vanderploeg, Henry A.; Pothoven, Steven A.; Fahnenstiel, Gary L.; Cavaletto, Joann F.; Liebig, James R.; Stow, Craig Stow; Nalepa, Thomas F.; Madenjian, Charles P.; Bunnell, David B.

2012-01-01

We examined seasonal dynamics of zooplankton at an offshore station in Lake Michigan from 1994 to 2003 and 2007 to 2008. This period saw variable weather, declines in planktivorous fish abundance, the introduction and expansion of dreissenid mussels, and a slow decline in total phosphorus concentrations. After the major expansion of mussels into deep water (2007–2008), chlorophyll in spring declined sharply, Secchi depth increased markedly in all seasons, and planktivorous fish biomass declined to record-low levels. Overlaying these dramatic ecosystem-level changes, the zooplankton community exhibited complex seasonal dynamics between 1994–2003 and 2007–2008. Phenology of the zooplankton maximum was affected by onset of thermal stratification, but there was no other discernable effect due to temperature. Interannual variability in zooplankton biomass during 1994 and 2003 was strongly driven by planktivorous fish abundance, particularly age-0 and age-1 alewives. In 2007–2008, there were large decreases in Diacyclops thomasi and Daphnia mendotae possibly caused by food limitation as well as increased predation and indirect negative effects from increases in Bythotrephes longimanus abundance and in foraging efficiency associated with increased light penetration. The Bythotrephes increase was likely driven in part by decreased predation from yearling and older alewife. While there was a major decrease in epilimnetic–metalimnetic herbivorous cladocerans in 2007–2008, there was an increase in large omnivorous and predacious calanoid copepods, especially those in the hypolimnion. Thus, changes to the zooplankton community are the result of cascading, synergistic interactions, including a shift from vertebrate to invertebrate planktivory and mussel ecosystem impacts on light climate and chlorophyll.

Prey of nesting ospreys on the Willamette and Columbia Rivers, Oregon and Washington

USGS Publications Warehouse

Johnson, B.L.; Kaiser, J.L.; Henny, C.J.; Grove, R.A.

2008-01-01

To more effectively use ospreys as a biomonitoring tool and to better assess contaminant pathways, the diet of nesting ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) was studied along the lower Columbia and upper mainstem Willamette rivers by evaluating prey remains collected from wire baskets constructed under artificial feeding perches installed near nest sites and from the ground beneath natural feeding perches and nests. Prey remains from 1997-2004 on the Columbia River and 1993 (previously published) and 2001 on the Willamette River were evaluated and compared. Largescale suckers (Catostomus macrocheilus) were the predominate fish species identified in collections from the Columbia River (61.5% [84.3% biomass]) and Willamette River (76.0% [92.7% biomass]). Prey fish diversity, when based only on ground collections, was higher in the Columbia (2.45) than the Willamette river (1.92) (P = 0.038). Prey fish diversity in collections from the Willamette River did not differ between this study (2001) and previous study (1993) (P = 0.62). Fishbones recovered in wire baskets are likely more representative of osprey diet compared to bones recovered from the ground, because prey diversity was higher among basket samples compared to ground collections (wire basket diversity = 5.25 vs. ground collection diversity = 2.45, P = 0.011). Soft-boned salmonids (Oncorhynchus spp.), American shad (Alosa sapidissima), and mountain whitefish (Prosopium williamsoni) were probably underrepresented in collections obtained from the ground. Study results suggest that baskets provide a better method for assessing osprey diet than other indirect methods. These findings augment available osprey food-habits information and provide additional biological and ecological information to better assess potential impacts of various environmental contaminants on nesting ospreys.

Diel and distributional abundance patterns of fish embryos and larvae in the lower Columbia and Deschutes rivers

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gadomski, D.M.; Barfoot, C.A.

1998-01-01

Diel and distributional abundance patterns of free embryos and larvae of fishes in the lower Columbia River Basin were investigated. Ichthyoplankton samples were collected in 1993 during day and night in the main-channel and a backwater of the lower Columbia River, and in a tributary, the Deschutes River. Fish embryos and larvae collected in the main-channel Columbia River were primarily (85.6%) of native taxa (peamouth Mylocheilus caurinus, northern squawfish Ptychocheilus oregonensis, suckers Catostomus spp., and sculpins Cottus spp.), with two introduced species (American shad Alosa sapidissima and common carp Cyprinus carpio) comprising a smaller percentage of the catch (13.3%). Similarly, in the Deschutes River native taxa [lampreys (Petromyzontidae), minnows (Cyprinidae), and suckers Catostomus spp.] dominated collections (99.5% of the catch). In contrast, 83.5% of embryos and larvae in the Columbia River backwater were of introduced taxa [American shad, common carp, and sunfishes (Centrarchidae)]. In all locations, all dominant taxa except sculpins were collected in significantly greater proportions at night. Taxon-specific differences in proportions of embryos and larvae collected at night can in some instances be related to life history styles. In the main-channel Columbia River, northern squawfish and peamouth were strongly nocturnal and high proportions still had yolksacs, suggesting that they had recently hatched and were drifting downriver to rearing areas. In contrast, sculpin abundances were similar during day and night, and sculpins mostly had depleted yolksacs, indicating sculpins were feeding and rearing in offshore limnetic habitats. Taxon-specific diel abundance patterns and their causes must be considered when designing effective sampling programs for fish embryos and larvae.

Spawning habitat selection of hickory shad

USGS Publications Warehouse

Harris, Julianne E.; Hightower, J.E.

2011-01-01

We examined the spawning habitat selectivity of hickory shad Alosa mediocris, an anadromous species on the Atlantic coast of North America. Using plankton tows and artificial substrates (spawning pads), we collected hickory shad eggs in the Roanoke River, North Carolina, to identify spawning timing, temperature, and microhabitat use. Hickory shad eggs were collected by both sampling gears in March and April. The results from this and three other studies in North Carolina indicate that spawning peaks at water temperatures between 12.0??C and 14.9??C and that approximately 90% occurs between 11.0??C and 18.9??C. Hickory shad eggs were collected in run and riffle habitats. Water velocity and substrate were significantly different at spawning pads with eggs than at those without eggs, suggesting that these are important microhabitat factors for spawning. Hickory shad eggs were usually collected in velocities of at least 0.1 m/s and on all substrates except those dominated by silt. Eggs were most abundant on gravel, cobble, and boulder substrates. Hickory shad spawned further upstream in years when water discharge rates at Roanoke Rapids were approximately average during March and April (2005 and 2007), as compared with a severe drought year (2006), suggesting that water flows may affect not only spawning site selection but also the quantity and quality of spawning habitat available at a macrohabitat scale. Using our field data and a Bayesian approach to resource selection analysis, we developed a preliminary habitat suitability model for hickory shad. This Bayesian approach provides an objective framework for updating the model as future studies of hickory shad spawning habitat are conducted. ?? American Fisheries Society 2011.

Assessing distribution of migratory fishes and connectivity following complete and partial dam removals in a North Carolina River

USGS Publications Warehouse

Raabe, Joshua K.; Hightower, Joseph E.

2014-01-01

Fish, especially migratory species, are assumed to benefit from dam removals that restore connectivity and access to upstream habitat, but few studies have evaluated this assumption. Therefore, we assessed the movement of migratory fishes in the springs of 2008 through 2010 and surveyed available habitat in the Little River, North Carolina, a tributary to the Neuse River, after three complete dam removals and one partial (notched) dam removal. We tagged migratory fishes with PIT tags at a resistance-board weir located at a dam removal site (river kilometer [rkm] 3.7) and followed their movements with an array of PIT antennas. The river-wide distribution of fish following removals varied by species. For example, 24–31% of anadromous American Shad Alosa sapidissima, 45–49% of resident Gizzard Shad Dorosoma cepedianum, and 4–11% of nonnative Flathead CatfishPylodictis olivaris passed the dam removal site at rkm 56 in 2009 and 2010. No preremoval data were available for comparison, but reach connectivity appeared to increase as tagged individuals passed former dam sites and certain individuals moved extensively both upstream and downstream. However, 17–28% did not pass the partially removed dam at rkm 7.9, while 20–39% of those that passed remained downstream for more than a day before migrating upstream. Gizzard Shad required the deepest water to pass this notched structure, followed by American Shad then Flathead Catfish. Fish that passed the notched dam accessed more complex habitat (e.g., available substrate size-classes) in the middle and upper reaches. The results provide strong support for efforts to restore currently inaccessible habitat through complete removal of derelict dams.

Movement and spawning of American shad transported above dams on the Roanoke River, North Carolina and Virginia

USGS Publications Warehouse

Harris, Julianne E.; Hightower, Joseph E.

2011-01-01

American shad Alosa sapidissima are in decline throughout much of their native range as a result of overfishing, pollution, and habitat alteration in coastal rivers where they spawn. One approach to restoration in regulated rivers is to provide access to historical spawning habitat above dams through a trap-and-transport program. We examined the initial survival, movement patterns, spawning, and downstream passage of sonic-tagged adult American shad transported to reservoir and riverine habitats upstream of hydroelectric dams on the Roanoke River, North Carolina and Virginia, during 2007–2009. Average survival to release in 2007–2008 was 85%, but survival decreased with increasing water temperature. Some tagged fish released in reservoirs migrated upstream to rivers; however, most meandered back and forth within the reservoir. A higher percentage of fish migrated through a smaller (8,215-ha) than a larger (20,234-ha) reservoir, suggesting that the population-level effects of transport may depend on upper basin characteristics. Transported American shad spent little time in upper basin rivers but were there when temperatures were appropriate for spawning. No American shad eggs were collected during weekly plankton sampling in upper basin rivers. The estimated initial survival of sonic-tagged American shad after downstream passage through each dam was 71–100%; however, only 1% of the detected fish migrated downstream through all three dams and many were relocated just upstream of a dam late in the season. Although adult American shad were successfully transported to upstream habitats in the Roanoke River basin, under present conditions transported individuals may have reduced effective fecundity and postspawning survival compared with nontransported fish that spawn in the lower Roanoke River.

Movement Patterns of American Shad Transported Upstream of Dams on The Roanoke River, North Carolina and Virginia

USGS Publications Warehouse

Harris, Julianne E.; Hightower, J.E.

2011-01-01

American shad Alosa sapidissima are in decline throughout much of their native range as a result of overfishing, pollution, and habitat alteration in coastal rivers where they spawn. One approach to restoration in regulated rivers is to provide access to historical spawning habitat above dams through a trap-and-transport program. We examined the initial survival, movement patterns, spawning, and downstream passage of sonic-tagged adult American shad transported to reservoir and riverine habitats upstream of hydroelectric dams on the Roanoke River, North Carolina and Virginia, during 2007–2009. Average survival to release in 2007–2008 was 85%, but survival decreased with increasing water temperature. Some tagged fish released in reservoirs migrated upstream to rivers; however, most meandered back and forth within the reservoir. A higher percentage of fish migrated through a smaller (8,215-ha) than a larger (20,234-ha) reservoir, suggesting that the population-level effects of transport may depend on upper basin characteristics. Transported American shad spent little time in upper basin rivers but were there when temperatures were appropriate for spawning. No American shad eggs were collected during weekly plankton sampling in upper basin rivers. The estimated initial survival of sonic-tagged American shad after downstream passage through each dam was 71–100%; however, only 1% of the detected fish migrated downstream through all three dams and many were relocated just upstream of a dam late in the season. Although adult American shad were successfully transported to upstream habitats in the Roanoke River basin, under present conditions transported individuals may have reduced effective fecundity and postspawning survival compared with nontransported fish that spawn in the lower Roanoke River.

Status and trends of the Lake Huron offshore demersal fish community, 1976-2012

USGS Publications Warehouse

Roseman, Edward F.; Riley, Stephen C.; Farha, Steve A.; Maitland, Bryan M.; Tucker, Taaja R.; Provo, Stacy A.; McLean, Matthew W.

2015-01-01

The USGS Great Lakes Science Center has conducted trawl surveys to assess annual changes in the offshore demersal fish community of Lake Huron since 1973. Sample sites include five ports in U.S. waters with less frequent sampling near Goderich, Ontario. The 2012 fall bottom trawl survey was carried out between 20 October – 5 November 2012 and included all U.S. ports as well as Goderich, ON. The 2012 main basin prey fish biomass estimate for Lake Huron was 97 kilotonnes, higher than the estimate in 2011 (63.2 Kt), approximately one third of the maximum estimate in the time series, and nearly 6 times higher than the minimum estimate in 2009. The biomass estimates for adult alewife in 2012 were higher than 2011, but remained much lower than observed before the crash in 2004, and populations were dominated by small fish. Estimated biomass of rainbow smelt also increased and was the highest observed since 2005. Estimated adult bloater biomass in Lake Huron has been increasing in recent years, and the 2012 biomass estimate was the third highest ever observed in the survey. Biomass estimates for trout-perch and ninespine stickleback were higher than in 2011 but still remained low compared to historic estimates. The estimated biomass of deepwater and slimy sculpins increased over 2011, and slimy sculpin in particular seem to be increasing in abundance. The 2012 biomass estimate for round goby was similar to that in 2011 and was the highest observed in the survey. Substantial numbers of wild juvenile lake trout were captured again in 2012, suggesting that natural reproduction by lake trout continues to occur. The 2012 Lake Huron bottom trawl survey results suggest that several species of offshore demersal fish are beginning to increase in abundance.

Movements and demography of spawning American Shad in the Penobscot River, Maine, prior to dam removal

USGS Publications Warehouse

Grote, Ann B.; Bailey, Michael M.; Zydlewski, Joseph D.

2014-01-01

We conducted a baseline study to better understand the migratory movements and age and spawning histories of American Shad Alosa sapidissima in the Penobscot River, Maine. The Penobscot River is currently undergoing a major dam removal project that is focused on restoring migratory connectivity and recovering diadromous fish populations including American Shad. This study addresses key data gaps for a previously unstudied native population of shad prior to restoration. A combination of radio- (n = 70) and acoustic telemetry (n = 14) was used to investigate the movements of migratory adult fish in 2010 and 2011. Scale-based analyses were used to assess spawner age and iteroparity. Radiotelemetry results indicated that few tagged fish (5–8%) approached the head-of-tide dam. Tagged fish exhibited three general patterns of movement in the accessible freshwater river habitat: use of the upper river reach, the lower river reach, or both. Mean freshwater residence time ranged from 9.1 to 14.0 d. Congregating fish were observed at two sites in the upper river reach and spawning activity was observed. Freshwater survival and survival to the estuary were at least 71%. This observed high survival was consistent with the estimated age and spawning histories of tracked fish, which indicated that 75–95% of the sampled fish were repeat spawners. Estimated age of adult migrants ranged from age 4 to age 9. Postspawning acoustic-tagged American Shad exhibited a series of prolonged upstream and downstream reversals upon entering the lower estuary. These movements have been previously unreported, and suggest that estuarine residency after spawning is important to osmoregulatory acclimatization for re-entry into salt water and the resumption of postspawning feeding activity.

Demographic population model for American shad: will access to additional habitat upstream of dams increase population sizes?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Harris, Julianne E.; Hightower, Joseph E.

2012-01-01

American shad Alosa sapidissima are in decline in their native range, and modeling possible management scenarios could help guide their restoration. We developed a density-dependent, deterministic, stage-based matrix model to predict the population-level results of transporting American shad to suitable spawning habitat upstream of dams on the Roanoke River, North Carolina and Virginia. We used data on sonic-tagged adult American shad and oxytetracycline-marked American shad fry both above and below dams on the Roanoke River with information from other systems to estimate a starting population size and vital rates. We modeled the adult female population over 30 years under plausible scenarios of adult transport, effective fecundity (egg production), and survival of adults (i.e., to return to spawn the next year) and juveniles (from spawned egg to age 1). We also evaluated the potential effects of increased survival for adults and juveniles. The adult female population size in the Roanoke River was estimated to be 5,224. With no transport, the model predicted a slow population increase over the next 30 years. Predicted population increases were highest when survival was improved during the first year of life. Transport was predicted to benefit the population only if high rates of effective fecundity and juvenile survival could be achieved. Currently, transported adults and young are less likely to successfully out-migrate than individuals below the dams, and the estimated adult population size is much smaller than either of two assumed values of carrying capacity for the lower river; therefore, transport is not predicted to help restore the stock under present conditions. Research on survival rates, density-dependent processes, and the impacts of structures to increase out-migration success would improve evaluation of the potential benefits of access to additional spawning habitat for American shad.

Effect of low-head lock and dam structures on migration and spawning of American shad and striped bass in the Cape Fear River, North Carolina

USGS Publications Warehouse

Smith, Joseph A.; Hightower, Joseph E.

2012-01-01

Anadromous fish populations within the Cape Fear River, North Carolina, have declined substantially since the late 1800s. Three low-head lock-and-dam (LD) structures on the river (LD-1–3) contributed to this decline by limiting access to upstream spawning habitat. We used egg sampling and sonic telemetry to examine the effects of the LD structures on migration and spawning activity of American shad Alosa sapidissima and striped bassMorone saxatilis. Egg distribution and stage of development suggested that most of the American shad spawning took place downstream from the lowermost structure, LD-1. The predicted mean density of stage-1 American shad eggs at a water temperature of 21°C was 895 eggs/1,000 m3 (95% credible interval [CI] = 800–994) below LD-1; 147 eggs/1,000 m3 (95% CI = 103–197) below LD-2; and 32 eggs/1,000 m3 (95% CI = 17–49) below the uppermost structure, LD-3. The probability of capturing a stage-1 American shad egg was strongly dependent on water temperature and hour of egg collection. Transmitter detections for 20 sonic-tagged American shad and 20 striped bass in 2008 showed that for both species, the majority of fish moved upstream of LD-1; 35% of American shad and 25% of striped bass migrated upstream of LD-3. Based on passage rates at the three LD structures, American shad would be expected to be most abundant downstream of LD-1 and upstream of LD-3. For striped bass, the river section between LD-2 and LD-3 had the highest egg collections and highest predicted proportion of the run. In combination, these results demonstrate that the locking program provides some access to historical spawning habitat, although further improvements in fish passage could benefit both species.

Identification of American shad spawning sites and habitat use in the Pee Dee River, North Carolina and South Carolina

USGS Publications Warehouse

Harris, Julianne E.; Hightower, Joseph E.

2011-01-01

We examined spawning site selection and habitat use by American shad Alosa sapidissima in the Pee Dee River, North Carolina and South Carolina, to inform future management in this flow-regulated river. American shad eggs were collected in plankton tows, and the origin (spawning site) of each egg was estimated; relocations of radio-tagged adults on spawning grounds illustrated habitat use and movement in relation to changes in water discharge rates. Most spawning was estimated to occur in the Piedmont physiographic region within a 25-river-kilometer (rkm) section just below the lowermost dam in the system; however, some spawning also occurred downstream in the Coastal Plain. The Piedmont region has a higher gradient and is predicted to have slightly higher current velocities and shallower depths, on average, than the Coastal Plain. The Piedmont region is dominated by large substrates (e.g., boulders and gravel), whereas the Coastal Plain is dominated by sand. Sampling at night (the primary spawning period) resulted in the collection of young eggs (≤1.5 h old) that more precisely identified the spawning sites. In the Piedmont region, most radio-tagged American shad remained in discrete areas (average linear range = 3.6 rkm) during the spawning season and generally occupied water velocities between 0.20 and 0.69 m/s, depths between 1.0 and 2.9 m, and substrates dominated by boulder or bedrock and gravel. Tagged adults made only small-scale movements with changes in water discharge rates. Our results demonstrate that the upstream extent of migration and an area of concentrated spawning occur just below the lowermost dam. If upstream areas have similar habitat, facilitating upstream access for American shad could increase the spawning habitat available and increase the population's size.

Understanding the influence of predation by introduced fishes on juvenile salmonids in the Columbia River Basin: Closing some knowledge gaps. Interim Report of Research 2010

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rose, Brien P.; Hansen, Gabriel S.; Mesa, Matthew G.

2011-01-01

In response to these recent concerns about the potential predatory impact of non-native piscivores on salmon survival, the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority (CBFWA) co-hosted a workshop to address predation on juvenile salmonids in the CRB by non-native fish (Halton 2008). The purpose of the workshop was to review, evaluate, and develop strategies to reduce predation by non-native fishes on juvenile salmonids. In the end, discussion at the workshop and at subsequent meetings considered two potential ideas to reduce predation by non-native fish on juvenile salmonids; (1) understanding the role of juvenile American shad Alosa sapidissima in the diet of non-native predators in the fall; and (2) the effects of localized, intense reductions of smallmouth bass in areas of particularly high salmonid predation. In this report, we describe initial efforts to understand the influence of juvenile American shad as a prey item for introduced predators in the middle Columbia River. Our first objective, addressed in Chapter 1, was to evaluate the efficacy of nonlethal methods to describe the physiological condition of smallmouth bass, walleye, and channel catfish from late summer through late fall. Such information will be used to understand the contribution of juvenile American shad to the energy reserves of predaceous fish prior to winter. In Chapter 2, we describe the results of some limited sampling to document the food habits of smallmouth bass, walleye, and channel catfish in three reservoirs of the middle Columbia River during late fall. Collectively, we hope to increase our understanding of the contribution of juvenile American shad to the diets of introduced predators and the contribution of this diet to their energy reserves, growth, and perhaps over-winter survival. Managers should be able to use this information for deciding whether to control the population of American shad in the CRB or for managing introduced

The effects of juvenile American shad planktivory on zooplankton production in Columbia River food webs

USGS Publications Warehouse

Haskell, Craig A.; Tiffan, Kenneth F.; Rondorf, Dennis W.

2013-01-01

Columbia River reservoirs support a large population of nonnative American Shad Alosa sapidissima that consume the zooplankton that native fishes also rely on. We hypothesized that the unprecedented biomass of juvenile American Shad in John Day Reservoir is capable of altering the zooplankton community if these fish consume a large portion of the zooplankton production. We derived taxon-specific estimates of zooplankton production using field data and a production model from the literature. Empirical daily ration was estimated for American Shad and expanded to population-level consumption using abundance and biomass data from hydroacoustic surveys. Daphnia spp. production was high in early summer but declined to near zero by September as shad abundance increased. American Shad sequentially consumed Daphnia spp., copepods, and Bosmina spp., which tracked the production trends of these taxa. American Shad evacuation rates ranged from 0.09 to 0.24/h, and daily rations ranged from 0.008 to 0.045 g·g−1·d−1 (dry weight) over all years. We observed peak American Shad biomass (45.2 kg/ha) in 1994, and daily consumption (1.6 kg/ha) approached 30% (5.3 kg/ha) of zooplankton production. On average, American Shad consumed 23.6% of the available zooplankton production (range, <1–83%). The changes in the zooplankton community are consistent with a top-down effect of planktivory by American Shad associated with their unprecedented biomass and consumption, but the effects are likely constrained by temperature, nutrient flux, and the seasonal production patterns of zooplankton in John Day Reservoir. American Shad add to the planktivory exerted by other species like Neomysis mercedis to reduce the capacity of the reservoir to support other planktivorous fishes. The introduction of American Shad and other nonnative species will continue to alter the food web in John Day Reservoir, potentially affecting native fishes, including Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp.

Prevalence of Diphyllobothrium latum (Cestoda: Diphyllobothriidae) plerocercoids in fish species from four Italian lakes and risk for the consumers.

PubMed

Gustinelli, Andrea; Menconi, Vasco; Prearo, Marino; Caffara, Monica; Righetti, Marzia; Scanzio, Tommaso; Raglio, Annibale; Fioravanti, Maria Letizia

2016-10-17

In recent years there has been a re-emergence of diphyllobothriasis by Diphyllobothrium latum (Cestoda: Diphyllobothriidae) in Italy, France and Switzerland, where in the past this fish-borne zoonosis was widespread and then virtually disappeared. A change in eating habits such as the consumption of raw/undercooked freshwater fish, has led to an increased risk for consumers of ingesting infective larvae of D. latum. A survey on the factors responsible for the re-emergence of human diphyllobothriasis in Italy was carried out from March 2013 to December 2014. The aim of this study was to assess the diffusion of D. latum plerocercoids in the fish populations of the sub-alpine lakes of Maggiore, Como, Iseo and Garda, updating the scarce historical data and assessing a preliminary "risk level" of the lacustrine environments and fish species under investigation. A total of 2228 fish belonging to 5 species, 690 from Lake Maggiore, 500 from Lake Como, 655 from Lake Iseo and 383 from Lake Garda were submitted to parasitological examination. The presence of D. latum plerocercoid larvae was detected in 6.6%, 25.4% and 7.6% of perch (Perca fluviatilis) from Lakes Maggiore, Como and Iseo respectively. The parasite was also present in pike (Esox lucius) with prevalence values ranging from 71.4 to 84.2% and in 3.6-3.8% of burbot (Lota lota) from Lakes Iseo and Como. Fish from Lake Garda were negative as well as sampled whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus) and shad (Alosa fallax lacustris). The results of this survey showed a widespread presence of D. latum plerocercoid larvae in Maggiore, Como and Iseo fish populations. Urban fecal contamination of water is still a key issue to be resolved, together with the improvement of communication with consumers regarding the best dietary habits and the most effective processes of parasite inactivation, required for the consumption of raw/undercooked fish caught in high-risk areas. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

American shad in the Columbia River

USGS Publications Warehouse

Petersen, J.H.; Hinrichsen, R.A.; Gadomski, D.M.; Feil, D.H.; Rondorf, D.W.

2003-01-01

American shad Alosa sapidissima from the Hudson River, New York, were introduced into the Sacramento River, California, in 1871 and were first observed in the Columbia River in 1876. American shad returns to the Columbia River increased greatly between 1960 and 1990, and recently 2-4 million adults have been counted per year at Bonneville Dam, Oregon and Washington State (river kilometer 235). The total return of American shad is likely much higher than this dam count. Returning adults migrate as far as 600 km up the Columbia and Snake rivers, passing as many as eight large hydroelectric dams. Spawning occurs primarily in the lower river and in several large reservoirs. A small sample found returning adults were 2-6 years old and about one-third of adults were repeat spawners. Larval American shad are abundant in plankton and in the nearshore zone. Juvenile American shad occur throughout the water column during night, but school near the bottom or inshore during day. Juveniles consume a variety of zooplankton, but cyclopoid copepods were 86% of the diet by mass. Juveniles emigrate from the river from August through December. Annual exploitation of American shad by commercial and recreational fisheries combined is near 9% of the total count at Bonneville Dam. The success of American shad in the Columbia River is likely related to successful passage at dams, good spawning and rearing habitats, and low exploitation. The role of American shad within the aquatic community is poorly understood. We speculate that juveniles could alter the zooplankton community and may supplement the diet of resident predators. Data, however, are lacking or sparse in some areas, and more information is needed on the role of larval and juvenile American shad in the food web, factors limiting adult returns, ocean distribution of adults, and interactions between American shad and endangered or threatened salmonids throughout the river. ?? 2003 by the American Fisheries Society.

To stock or not to stock? Assessing restoration potential of a remnant American shad spawning run with hatchery supplementation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bailey, Michael M.; Zydlewski, Joseph D.

2013-01-01

Hatchery supplementation has been widely used as a restoration technique for American Shad Alosa sapidissima on the East Coast of the USA, but results have been equivocal. In the Penobscot River, Maine, dam removals and other improvements to fish passage will likely reestablish access to the majority of this species’ historic spawning habitat. Additional efforts being considered include the stocking of larval American Shad. The decision about whether to stock a river system undergoing restoration should be made after evaluating the probability of natural recolonization and examining the costs and benefits of potentially accelerating recovery using a stocking program. However, appropriate evaluation can be confounded by a dearth of information about the starting population size and age structure of the remnant American Shad spawning run in the river. We used the Penobscot River as a case study to assess the theoretical sensitivity of recovery time to either scenario (stocking or not) by building a deterministic model of an American Shad population. This model is based on the best available estimates of size at age, fecundity, rate of iteroparity, and recruitment. Density dependence was imposed, such that the population reached a plateau at an arbitrary recovery goal of 633,000 spawning adults. Stocking had a strong accelerating effect on the time to modeled recovery (as measured by the time to reach 50% of the recovery goal) in the base model, but stocking had diminishing effects with larger population sizes. There is a diminishing return to stocking when the starting population is modestly increased. With a low starting population (a spawning run of 1,000), supplementation with 12 million larvae annually accelerated modeled recovery by 12 years. Only a 2-year acceleration was observed if the starting population was 15,000. Such a heuristic model may aid managers in assessing the costs and benefits of stocking by incorporating a structured decision framework.

Fluktuationen der Fischfauna im Elbe-Ästuar als Indikator für ein gestörtes Ökosystem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Köhler, Angela

1981-09-01

During 1978, 22 fish species (in particular Anguilla anguilla L., Platichthys flesus L., Osmerus eperlanus L., Gasterosteus aculeatus L., Lampetra fluviatilis L., Alosa fallax [Lacepede], Gymnocephalus cernua L., Clupea harengus L. and Sprattus sprattus L.), sampled at the intake of the cooling system in the nuclear power plant at Brunsbüttel (Elbe estuary), were analyzed for quantities and size distribution. The data obtained were correlated to abiotic factors, such as water temperature, water outflow from the upper Elbe river, salinity and oxygen content. Spawning times and seasonal migrations of the fish species investigated corresponded to appropriate temperatures of the Elbe water. The diversity of fish species from the cooling water proved to be representative for the ichthyo-fauna of this particular estuarine area. At least 190 tons of fish per year were estimated to be annihilated by the suction of cooling water into the nuclear power plant. In spite of the progressive development of regional industries and the increasing discharges of cooling water, temperature in the estuary has remained largely unaffected up till now. The oxygen content of the heavily polluted lower Elbe river, however, has become mainly dependent on the amount of fresh water flowing from the upper Elbe river. Up to 1978, oxygen levels of 80 90 % were recorded only in the mouth of the Elbe, thus meeting the requirements for the continuous occurrence of fish species typical for this estuarine area. Varying oxygen concentrations downstream of Hamburg and at Brunsbüttel are considered to be responsible for migrations of certain fish species (mainly flounder and smelt) between the Brunsbüttel region and their habitats further upstream which were occupied before the process of industrialisation initiated. This was reflected by the size of the samples taken from various fishes. During an eventual hazard of the industrial filter plants at Brunsbüttel in May 1978 an extreme oxygen depletion

Entrainment of Juvenile and Adult American Shad at a Pumped Storage Facility

DOE PAGES

Mathur, Dilip; Heisey, Paul G.; Royer, Doug D.; ...

2017-12-13

The American Shad Alosa sapidissima has been targeted for restoration to the upper Susquehanna River, and entrainment losses at hydroelectric facilities on the river, including the Muddy Run Pumped Storage Facility, are of concern for the potential growth of the American Shad population. Based on the integration of pumping volume, time of entrainment, and literature–reported diel emigration of juvenile American Shad, the entrainment rate (N = 145; 53 exposed to pumping) was estimated at 3.5%. The entrainment rate for adults (N = 507) was estimated at 0.3–3.9%. Using multistate mark–recapture models, the estimated entrainment probabilities (Ψ) of radio–tagged juveniles weremore » higher during periods of extended pumping (>1 h; Ψ = 0.093; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.054–0.156) than at periods of no pumping or short–duration pumping (<1 h; Ψ < 0.0001; 95% CI = 0.0–0.001); the high extended pumping occurred between 2300 and 0600 hours. Entrainment probabilities for adults were low (Ψ < 0.02); the highest probability occurred for fish detected downstream of the intake during the peak portion of the run (Ψ = 0.015; 95% CI = 0.004–0.047). Entrainment probability for most adult fish did not differ from zero. The low values of Ψ for both life stages were attributed to (1) the deep location of the intake (intake ceiling >11.7 m below the water surface), (2) the surface orientation of American Shad (upper 3.1 m), (3) the low overlap between high–volume pumping and peak emigration/migration times, (4) the pumping volume relative to prevailing river flows, and (5) the prolonged, robust swimming speed of American Shad, particularly that of adults (>2.2 m/s), which exceeded the intake velocity (0.2–0.9 m/s). Entrainment of juveniles increased with co–occurrence of low incoming river flows, high pumping volume, and peak emigration times. Furthermore, quantification of migratory species’ entrainment at pumped storage facilities requires

Linking functional response and bioenergetics to estimate juvenile salmon growth in a reservoir food web.

PubMed

Haskell, Craig A; Beauchamp, David A; Bollens, Stephen M

2017-01-01

Juvenile salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) use of reservoir food webs is understudied. We examined the feeding behavior of subyearling Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha) and its relation to growth by estimating the functional response of juvenile salmon to changes in the density of Daphnia, an important component of reservoir food webs. We then estimated salmon growth across a broad range of water temperatures and daily rations of two primary prey, Daphnia and juvenile American shad (Alosa sapidissima) using a bioenergetics model. Laboratory feeding experiments yielded a Type-II functional response curve: C = 29.858 P *(4.271 + P)-1 indicating that salmon consumption (C) of Daphnia was not affected until Daphnia densities (P) were < 30 · L-1. Past field studies documented Daphnia densities in lower Columbia River reservoirs of < 3 · L-1 in July but as high as 40 · L-1 in August. Bioenergetics modeling indicated that subyearlings could not achieve positive growth above 22°C regardless of prey type or consumption rate. When feeding on Daphnia, subyearlings could not achieve positive growth above 20°C (water temperatures they commonly encounter in the lower Columbia River during summer). At 16-18°C, subyearlings had to consume about 27,000 Daphnia · day-1 to achieve positive growth. However, when feeding on juvenile American shad, subyearlings had to consume 20 shad · day-1 at 16-18°C, or at least 25 shad · day-1 at 20°C to achieve positive growth. Using empirical consumption rates and water temperatures from summer 2013, subyearlings exhibited negative growth during July (-0.23 to -0.29 g · d-1) and August (-0.05 to -0.07 g · d-1). By switching prey from Daphnia to juvenile shad which have a higher energy density, subyearlings can partially compensate for the effects of higher water temperatures they experience in the lower Columbia River during summer. However, achieving positive growth as piscivores requires subyearlings to feed at higher consumption rates than

Entrainment of Juvenile and Adult American Shad at a Pumped Storage Facility

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mathur, Dilip; Heisey, Paul G.; Royer, Doug D.

The American Shad Alosa sapidissima has been targeted for restoration to the upper Susquehanna River, and entrainment losses at hydroelectric facilities on the river, including the Muddy Run Pumped Storage Facility, are of concern for the potential growth of the American Shad population. Based on the integration of pumping volume, time of entrainment, and literature–reported diel emigration of juvenile American Shad, the entrainment rate (N = 145; 53 exposed to pumping) was estimated at 3.5%. The entrainment rate for adults (N = 507) was estimated at 0.3–3.9%. Using multistate mark–recapture models, the estimated entrainment probabilities (Ψ) of radio–tagged juveniles weremore » higher during periods of extended pumping (>1 h; Ψ = 0.093; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.054–0.156) than at periods of no pumping or short–duration pumping (<1 h; Ψ < 0.0001; 95% CI = 0.0–0.001); the high extended pumping occurred between 2300 and 0600 hours. Entrainment probabilities for adults were low (Ψ < 0.02); the highest probability occurred for fish detected downstream of the intake during the peak portion of the run (Ψ = 0.015; 95% CI = 0.004–0.047). Entrainment probability for most adult fish did not differ from zero. The low values of Ψ for both life stages were attributed to (1) the deep location of the intake (intake ceiling >11.7 m below the water surface), (2) the surface orientation of American Shad (upper 3.1 m), (3) the low overlap between high–volume pumping and peak emigration/migration times, (4) the pumping volume relative to prevailing river flows, and (5) the prolonged, robust swimming speed of American Shad, particularly that of adults (>2.2 m/s), which exceeded the intake velocity (0.2–0.9 m/s). Entrainment of juveniles increased with co–occurrence of low incoming river flows, high pumping volume, and peak emigration times. Furthermore, quantification of migratory species’ entrainment at pumped storage facilities requires

Linking functional response and bioenergetics to estimate juvenile salmon growth in a reservoir food web

USGS Publications Warehouse

Haskell, Craig A.; Beauchamp, David A.; Bollens, Stephen M.

2017-01-01

Juvenile salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) use of reservoir food webs is understudied. We examined the feeding behavior of subyearling Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha) and its relation to growth by estimating the functional response of juvenile salmon to changes in the density of Daphnia, an important component of reservoir food webs. We then estimated salmon growth across a broad range of water temperatures and daily rations of two primary prey, Daphnia and juvenile American shad (Alosa sapidissima) using a bioenergetics model. Laboratory feeding experiments yielded a Type-II functional response curve: C = 29.858 P *(4.271 + P)-1 indicating that salmon consumption (C) of Daphnia was not affected until Daphnia densities (P) were < 30 · L-1. Past field studies documented Daphnia densities in lower Columbia River reservoirs of < 3 · L-1 in July but as high as 40 · L-1 in August. Bioenergetics modeling indicated that subyearlings could not achieve positive growth above 22°C regardless of prey type or consumption rate. When feeding on Daphnia, subyearlings could not achieve positive growth above 20°C (water temperatures they commonly encounter in the lower Columbia River during summer). At 16–18°C, subyearlings had to consume about 27,000 Daphnia · day-1 to achieve positive growth. However, when feeding on juvenile American shad, subyearlings had to consume 20 shad · day-1 at 16–18°C, or at least 25 shad · day-1 at 20°C to achieve positive growth. Using empirical consumption rates and water temperatures from summer 2013, subyearlings exhibited negative growth during July (-0.23 to -0.29 g · d-1) and August (-0.05 to -0.07 g · d-1). By switching prey from Daphnia to juvenile shad which have a higher energy density, subyearlings can partially compensate for the effects of higher water temperatures they experience in the lower Columbia River during summer. However, achieving positive growth as piscivores requires subyearlings to feed at

Status and trends of prey fish populations in Lake Michigan, 2008

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bunnell, David B.; Madenjian, Charles P.; Holuszko, Jeffrey D.; Desorcie, Timothy J.; Adams, Jean V.

2009-01-01

.e., < 100 mm) equaled 0.7 fish per ha, which is indicative of a relatively poor year-class. Lake-wide biomass of dreissenid mussels dropped precipitously in 2008, down to 9.47 kt, and a 96% decline from the 2007 biomass estimate. Overall, the total lake-wide prey fish biomass estimate (sum of alewife, bloater, rainbow smelt, deepwater sculpin, slimy sculpin, round goby, and ninespine stickleback) in 2008 was 25.62 kt, which was the lowest observed since the survey began in 1973.

Understanding the influence of predation on introduced fishes on juvenile salmonids in the Columbia River Basin: Closing some knowledge gaps. Late summer and fall diet and condition of smallmouth bass, walleye, and channel catfish in the middle Columbia River, USA. Interim Report of Research 2011.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rose, Brien P.; Hansen, Gabriel S.; Weaver,; Ayers, David; Van Dyke, Erick S.; Mesa, Matthew G.

2012-01-01

American shad Alosa sapidissima in the middle Columbia River (MCR)—a high energy food available in the summer and fall—may be contributing to the increased growth and enhanced condition of nonnative piscivores. To test this hypothesis we quantified the late summer and autumn diets of smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu, walleye Sander vitreus, and channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus in the three lowermost reservoirs on the Columbia River (Bonneville [BON], The Dalles [TDA], and John Day [JDA]). The diet of smallmouth bass (SMB) was fairly similar among reservoirs, with crustaceans (52–82%) and fish (13–38%) being the dominant prey groups by percent mass. Cottidae were usually the dominant fish prey in the diet of SMB at all areas and the contribution of juvenile shad ranged from 0–8.2%. Fish (mostly Cyprinidae and Cottidae) were always the dominant prey item for walleye (WAL) at all areas and at all times, ranging from 70–100% of their diet by mass. Juvenile American shad composed from 10–27% (by mass) of the diet of walleye, depending on area and month. For channel catfish (CHC), the most common prey items consumed were crustaceans (20%–80% by mass) and unidentified items (30%–80%). Fish represented a relatively small component (< 4%) of their diet. We also evaluated the condition of SMB and WAL by determining relative weights (Wr) and hepatosomatic indices (HSI). Mean Wr for SMB greater than 300 mm ranged from 0.89 to 0.94 depending on area and month and showed a significant increase from August to September for fish in BON only. Overall, mean Wr of WAL was similar at all areas, ranging from 0.89–0.91, and increased significantly from September to mid-October and November for fish in TDA only. Overall, mean HSI of SMB ranged from 1.18 to 1.48, did not differ between fish in different reservoirs, and increased significantly from September to mid-October and November for fish from the lower JDA only. Mean HSI of WAL was significantly higher in

Habitat use by fishes of Lake Superior. II. Consequences of diel habitat use for habitat linkages and habitat coupling in nearshore and offshore waters

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gorman, Owen T.; Yule, Daniel L.; Stockwell, Jason D.

2012-01-01

nearshore-offshore trend was one of increasing estimated total areal biomass of the fish community with depth zone, which ranged from 13.71 kg ha−1 at depths ≤40 m to 18.81 kg ha−1 at depths >160 m, emphasizing the importance of the offshore fish community to the lake ecosystem. The prevalence of diel migration expressed by Lake Superior fishes increases the potential of fish to link benthic and pelagic and shallow and deepwater habitats. These linkages enhance the potential for habitat coupling, a condition where habitats become interconnected and interdependent through transfers of energy and nutrients. Habitat coupling facilitates energy and nutrient flow through a lake ecosystem, thereby increasing productivity, especially in large lakes where benthic and pelagic, and nearshore and offshore habitats are often well separated. We propose that the application of biomass estimates to patterns of diel migration in fishes can serve as a useful metric for assessing the potential for habitat linkages and habitat coupling in lake ecosystems, and provide an important indicator of ecosystem health and function. The decline of native Lake Trout and ciscoes and recent declines in exotic Alewife and Rainbow Smelt populations in other Great Lakes have likely reduced the capacity for benthic-pelagic coupling in these systems compared to Lake Superior. We recommend comparing the levels and temporal changes in diel migration in other Great Lakes as a means to assess changes in the relative health and function of these ecosystems.

The Application of Traits-Based Assessment Approaches to Estimate the Effects of Hydroelectric Turbine Passage on Fish Populations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cada, Glenn F; Schweizer, Peter E

. (2000) found useful turbine passage survival data for only 30 species. Tests of advanced hydropower turbines have been limited to seven species - Chinook and coho salmon, rainbow trout, alewife, eel, smallmouth bass, and white sturgeon. We are investigating possible approaches for extending experimental results from the few tested fish species to predict turbine passage survival of other, untested species (Cada and Richmond 2011). In this report, we define the causes of injury and mortality to fish tested in laboratory and field studies, based on fish body shape and size, internal and external morphology, and physiology. We have begun to group the large numbers of unstudied species into a small number of categories, e.g., based on phylogenetic relationships or ecological similarities (guilds), so that subsequent studies of a few representative species (potentially including species-specific Biological Index Testing) would yield useful information about the overall fish community. This initial effort focused on modifying approaches that are used in the environmental toxicology field to estimate the toxicity of substances to untested species. Such techniques as the development of species sensitivity distributions (SSDs) and Interspecies Correlation Estimation (ICE) models rely on a considerable amount of data to establish the species-toxicity relationships that can be extended to other organisms. There are far fewer studies of turbine passage stresses from which to derive the turbine passage equivalent of LC{sub 50} values. Whereas the SSD and ICE approaches are useful analogues to predicting turbine passage injury and mortality, too few data are available to support their application without some form of modification or simplification. In this report we explore the potential application of a newer, related technique, the Traits-Based Assessment (TBA), to the prediction of downstream passage mortality at hydropower projects.« less

2013 status of the Lake Ontario lower trophic levels

USGS Publications Warehouse

Holeck, Kristen T.; Rudstam, Lars G.; Hotaling, Christopher; McCullough, Russ D.; Lemon, Dave; Pearsall, Web; Lantry, Jana R.; Connerton, Michael J.; LaPan, Steve; Trometer, Betsy; Lantry, Brian F.; Walsh, Maureen; Weidel, Brian C.

2014-01-01

abundant in the summer, peaking at ~7 mg/m3in the offshore. Bythotrephes peaked in October (~0.7 mg/m3), but Bythotrephes biomass was at its lowest biomass in both offshore and nearshore stations since 2005.Summer nearshore zooplankton density and biomass have declined significantly since 1995 at rates of 9-10% per year. Nearshore epilimnetic zooplankton density and biomass have remained stable since 2005 at low levels relative to previous years.Summer offshore zooplankton density and biomass in the epilimnion of Lake Ontario have also declined since 1995 at rates of 10-14% per year, but those declines are marginally significant; density declined significantly in the long-term (since 1981) but has remained at a lower stable level since 2005.Bosminid and cyclopoid copepod biomass declined significantly in nearshore waters. The same pattern occurred in the offshore but declines were significant for bosminids and marginally significant for cyclopoid copepods. Daphnid biomass has also declined significantly in the nearshore.The decline in Daphnid biomass nearshore and Bythotrephes biomass offshore and nearshore is indicative of increased planktivory by alewife. Significant declines in Bosminid and cyclopoid copepod biomass is indicative of increased invertebrate predation by Cercopagis and Bythotrephes in recent years.

Evaluating the negative effect of benthic egg predators on bloater recruitment in northern Lake Michigan

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bunnell, David B.; Mychek-Londer, Justin G.; Diana, James S.; Stott, Wendylee; Madenjian, Charles P.

2012-01-01

As the only extant deepwater cisco in Lake Michigan, bloater is currently at record low levels of abundance.  Several mechanisms to regulate their recruitment have been proposed, including skewed sex ratios, predation on their larvae by adult alewife, and climatic factors during early life history stages, but none has unequivocal support.  In this research, we evaluated an alternative mechanism of egg predation that was supported by an inverse relationship between bloater recruitment and biomass of slimy sculpin, which are known to be effective egg predators.  To that end, we used a combination of field sampling, laboratory experiments, and modeling to estimate the proportion of bloater eggs consumed by sculpins each year between 1973 and 2008.  Monthly field sampling between January through May 2009-2010 (when bloater eggs were incubating) offshore of Frankfort (Michigan), Sturgeon Bay (Wisconsin), Two Rivers (Wisconsin), and Muskegon (Michigan) provided benthivore diets for subsequent laboratory processing.  Identification and enumeration of stomach contents and subsequent genetic analyses of eggs revealed that the mean proportion of bloater eggs in slimy sculpin diets (N = 1016) equaled 0.04.  Bloater eggs also were consumed by deepwater sculpins (N = 699) at a slightly lower mean proportion (0.02), and only one round goby diet among 552 enumerated revealed a bloater egg.  Based on the diet results, we developed daily ration models to estimate consumption for both deepwater and slimy sculpins.  We conducted feeding experiments to estimate gastric evacuation (GEVAC) for water temperatures ranging 2-5 °C, similar to those observed during egg incubation.  GEVAC rates equaled 0.0115/ h for slimy sculpin and 0.0147/h for deepwater sculpin, and did not vary between 2.7 and 5.1 °C for either species or between prey types (Mysis relicta and fish eggs) for slimy sculpin.  Index of fullness [(g prey/g fish weight)100%] was estimated from sculpins sampled in

Development of a bioenergetics model for age-0 American Shad

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sauter, Sally T.

2011-01-01

Bioenergetics modeling can be used as a tool to investigate the impact of non-native age-0 American shad (Alosa sapidissima) on reservoir and estuary food webs. The model can increase our understanding of how these fish influence lower trophic levels as well as predatory fish populations that feed on juvenile salmonids. Bioenergetics modeling can be used to investigate ecological processes, evaluate alternative research hypotheses, provide decision support, and quantitative prediction. Bioenergetics modeling has proven to be extremely useful in fisheries research (Ney et al. 1993,Chips and Wahl 2008, Petersen et al. 2008). If growth and diet parameters are known, the bioenergetics model can be used to quantify the relative amount of zooplankton or insects consumed by age-0 American shad. When linked with spatial and temporal information on fish abundance, model output can guide inferential hypothesis development to demonstrate where the greatest impacts of age-0 American shad might occur.

Bioenergetics modeling is particularly useful when research questions involve multiple species and trophic levels (e.g. plankton communities). Bioenergetics models are mass-balance equations where the energy acquired from food is partitioned between maintenance costs, waste products, and growth (Winberg 1956). Specifically, the Wisconsin bioenergetics model (Hanson et al. 1997) is widely used in fisheries science. Researchers have extensively tested, reviewed, and improved on this modeling approach for over 30 years (Petersen et al. 2008). Development of a bioenergetics model for any species requires three key components: 1) determine physiological parameters for the model through laboratory experiments or incorporate data from a closely related species, 2) corroboration of the model with growth and consumption estimates from independent research, and 3) error analysis of model parameters.

Wisconsin bioenergetics models have been parameterized for