Tracking diel foraging behavior of Chinook Salmon in Lake Ontario using pop-off archival tags

Session: 13. - Building Relationships of Anglers and Scientists toward Sustainable Fisheries

James Watkins, Cornell University, [email protected]
Christopher Perle, Florida State College at Jacksonville, [email protected]
Jesse Lepak, NY Sea Grant, [email protected]
Lars Rudstam, Cornell University Bio Field Station, Dept. of Natural Resources, [email protected]

Abstract

Chinook Salmon are an important open water fishery in Lake Ontario fueled by abundant alewife forage.   With the assistance of charter boat captains, pop-off satellite archival tags (PSATs) were deployed on several mature Chinook Salmon off of Oswego and Rochester in July 2017. These tags measure depth, temperature, light level, and acceleration.  This presentation will focus on the paths of two fish tagged off of Oswego on July 13 whose tags were retrieved in spawning habitat in Cobourg Creek and Salmon River in the early fall.  The salmon had a clear temperature preferences (12-14 C) which corresponds to a depth of 15-30 m in the open lake.  Fish responded rapidly to changes in thermal structure, including coastal upwelling events, to maintain that preferred temperature.  Each night of the two-month journey the fish made several forays into the epilimnion, presumably to track alewife prey.  During the day, the fish made several dives as deep as 100 m into 4C water. Quantification of these short-term deviations from thermal preferences supplement continued bioenergetics modeling of Chinooks.    

1. Keyword
salmon

2. Keyword
satellite technology

3. Keyword
fish behavior