Movement, Habitat Use & Survival of a Re-Introduced Fish: Bloater (Coregonus hoyi) in Lake Ontario

Session: 08a. - Restoration of Native Fishes

Natalie Klinard, Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research - University of Windsor, [email protected]
Aaron Fisk, University of Windsor, [email protected]
Michael Connerton, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, [email protected]
Edmund Halfyard, Nova Scotia Salmon Association, [email protected]
Scott Colborne, Michigan State University, [email protected]
Timothy Johnson, Ontario MNRF, Glenora Fisheries Station, [email protected]

Abstract

Until the mid-1950s, a diverse group of deepwater ciscoes including bloater (Coregonus hoyi) were part of Lake Ontario's native fish community, now reduced to a single shallow-water species (C. artedi). Plans to re-establish a self-sustaining population of deepwater ciscoes in Lake Ontario consist of stocking ?500,000 hatchery-reared bloater yearly. To determine the post-stocking movement, habitat use and survival of hatchery-reared bloater, we implanted 231 yearling bloater with acoustic transmitters between 2015-2017 and released these fish intermixed with the restoration stocking bloater in eastern Lake Ontario. Tagged individuals were tracked on an array of 105 acoustic receivers in the St. Lawrence Channel. First year results indicated high detection (68 of 70 tagged bloater) and high dispersal of bloater following release. This presentation will include updated movement, habitat use, and survival of tagged bloater following the third year download of the array. Establishing a self-sustaining population of deepwater ciscoes will help restore fish native to Lake Ontario, thus increasing biodiversity, improving food web stability, and serving as a basis for reintroduction and management of other native species throughout the Great Lakes.

1. Keyword
fish behavior

2. Keyword
Lake Ontario

3. Keyword
spatial distribution

4. Additional Keyword
acoustic telemetry