Age-0 Lake Trout Research Articles

Diet differences between wild and stocked age-0 to age-3 lake trout indicate influence of early rearing environments

Wild lake trout recently began to appear in abundance in Lake Champlain after over 40 years of stocking, providing an opportunity to compare the seasonal diet of wild and stocked juveniles. We sampled 2,349 age-0 to age-3 lake trout collected in bottom trawls from April to November 2015–2018, and examined the relationship between diet and spatial heterogeneity in abundance of wild and stocked juveniles. Stocked fish were, on average, the size of wild fish one year older. Wild juveniles had fewer empty stomachs and more items per stomach than stocked fish at each age. Mysis diluviana dominated the diet of age-0 and age-1 wild lake trout until they began to consume fish in fall at age-1. In contrast, the diet of newly-stocked fish (age-1) comprised rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax), slimy sculpin (Cottus cognatus), alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), with Mysis only abundant in summer and fall. Number and composition of diet items varied among geographic areas of the lake but did not explain differences in abundance of wild or stocked fish by area. Diet overlap was high between wild and stocked fish for each age class at each season, except in fall at age-0. Differences in the diet of wild and stocked juveniles likely reflect effects of early rearing experience. Recruitment of wild lake trout depends on availability and abundance of Mysis, but our diet data do not provide insight to explain why recruitment is finally occurring after a protracted delay.

Foraging mechanisms of age-0 lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush)

Reaction distances under various light intensities (0-19 uE/m2/s), angles of attack, swimming speeds, and percentage of overall foraging success were measured. Extensive efforts have been invested in restoring lean lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) populations in the Laurentian Great Lakes, but successful natural recruitment of lake trout continues to be rare outside of Lake Superior and parts of Lake Huron. There is evidence of high mortality during the first several months after eggs hatch in the spring, but little is known about the foraging mechanisms of this age-0 life stage. We developed a foraging model for age-0 lake trout (S. namaycush) in response to amphipods (Hyalella azteca) and mysids (Mysis diluviana) by simulating underwater environmental conditions in the Great Lakes using a temperature-controlled chamber and spectrally matched lighting. Reaction distances under various light intensities (0–19 uE/m2/s), angles of attack, swimming speeds, and percentage of overall foraging success were measured. Intake rates under different light intensities and prey densities were also measured. Age-0 lake trout were non-responsive in the dark, but were equally responsive under all light levels tested. Age-0 lake trout also demonstrated a longer reaction distance in response to moving prey, particularly mysids, which had an escape response that reduced overall foraging success. We determined that prey intake rate (numeric or biomass) could be modeled most accurately as a function of prey density using a Michaelis–Menton equation and that even under low mysid densities (3 individuals/m2), age-0 lake trout could quickly satisfy their energetic demands in a benthic setting.

Heritage strain and diet of wild young of year and yearling lake trout in the main basin of Lake Huron

Restoration of lake trout Salvelinus namaycush stocks in Lake Huron is a fish community objective developed to promote sustainable fish communities in the lake. Between 1985 and 2004, 12.65 million lake trout were stocked into Lake Huron representing eight different genetic strains. Collections of bona fide wild fish in USGS surveys have increased in recent years and this study examined the ancestry and diet of fish collected between 2004 and 2006 to explore the ecological role they occupy in Lake Huron. Analysis of microsatellite DNA revealed that both pure strain and inter-strain hybrids were observed, and the majority of fish were classified as Seneca Lake strain or Seneca Lake hybrids. Diets of 50 wild age-0 lake trout were examined. Mysis, chironomids, and zooplankton were common prey items of wild age-0 lake trout. These results indicate that stocked fish are successfully reproducing in Lake Huron indicating a level of restoration success. However, continued changes to the benthic macroinvertebrate community, particularly declines of Mysis, may limit growth and survival of wild fish and hinder restoration efforts.

Predation on emergent lake trout fry in Lake Champlain

The rehabilitation of extirpated lake trout ( Salvelinus namaycush) in the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain has been hindered by various biological and physiological impediments. Efforts to restore a lake trout fishery to Lake Champlain include hatchery stocking and sea lamprey control. Despite these management actions, there is little evidence of recruitment of naturally-produced fish in annual fall assessments. Spawning occurs at multiple sites lake-wide in Lake Champlain, with extremely high egg and fry densities, yet sampling for juvenile lake trout has only yielded fin-clipped fish. To investigate this recruitment bottleneck, we assessed predation pressure by epi-benthic fish on emergent fry on two spawning reefs and the subsequent survival and dispersal of fry in potential nursery areas. Epi-benthic predators were sampled with 2-h gillnet sets at two small, shallow sites in Lake Champlain throughout the 24-h cycle, with an emphasis on dusk and dawn hours. In total, we documented seven different species that had consumed fry, with consumption rates from 1 to 17 fry per stomach. Rock bass and yellow perch dominated the near-shore fish community and were the most common fry predators. Predator presence and consumption of fry was highest between 19:00 and 07:00. Predators only consumed fry when fry relative abundance was above a threshold of 1 fry trap − 1 day − 1 . We used an otter trawl to sample for post-emergent fry adjacent to the reef, but did not capture any age-0 lake trout. Due to the observed predation pressure by multiple littoral, species on shallow spawning reefs, lake trout restoration may be more successful at deep, offshore sites.

Evidence of Offshore Lake Trout Reproduction in Lake Huron

Six Fathom Bank-Yankee Reef, an offshore reef complex, was an historically important spawning area believed to represent some of the best habitat for the rehabilitation of lake trout Salvelinus namaycush in Lake Huron. Since 1986, lake trout have been stocked on these offshore reefs to reestablish self-sustaining populations. We sampled with beam trawls to determine the abundance of naturally reproduced age-0 lake trout on these offshore reefs during May-July in 1994-1998 and 2000-2002. In total, 123 naturally reproduced lake trout fry were caught at Six Fathom Bank, and 2 naturally reproduced lake trout fry were caught at nearby Yankee Reef. Our findings suggest that this region of Lake Huron contains suitable habitat for lake trout spawning and offers hope that lake trout rehabilitation can be achieved in the main basin of Lake Huron.

Optimum Temperature for Growth and Preferred Temperatures of Age-0 Lake Trout

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.

Status of Lake Trout Rehabilitation in the Northern Refuge of Lake Michigan

Abstract The Northern Refuge in Lake Michigan was established in 1985 as part of a rehabilitation program to stock yearling lake trout Salvelinus namaycush in areas with the best potential for success. Stocking of hatchery-reared lake trout within the refuge began in 1986 at three reefs: Boulder Reef, Gull Island Reef, and Richards Reef. On each reef from 1991 to 1997 we conducted gill-net surveys during the fall spawning season to evaluate performance of adult lake trout, and we conducted beam trawl surveys for naturally reproduced age-0 lake trout in the spring. Criteria to evaluate performance included spawner density, growth, maturity, and mortality. We found no evidence of natural reproduction by lake trout from our surveys. Nevertheless, density of spawning lake trout on Boulder Reef (69 fish/305 m of gill net/night) and Gull Island Reef (34 fish/305 m of gill net/night) appeared to be sufficiently high to initiate a self-sustaining population. Growth and maturity rates of lake trout in the Northern...

Predator-Prey Relations and Competition for Food Between Age-0 Lake Trout and Slimy Sculpins in the Apostle Island Region of Lake Superior

Slimy sculpins (Cottus cognatus) are an important component of the fish community on reefs and adjacent nursery areas of the Great Lakes and overlap spatially with age-0 lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush). Important interactions between these fishes are possible during the lake trout's first year of life, which could include predation on each other's eggs and larvae, and competition for food resources. We investigated the diets of age-0 lake trout and slimy sculpins on a lake trout spawning reef (Gull Island Shoal) and adjacent nursery area (near Michigan Island) in the Apostle Island region of western Lake Superior during June through September from 1988 through 1991. Organisms in stomachs of 511 lake trout and 562 sculpins were identified and counted. Of the 11 major food types found in age-0 lake trout stomachs from both areas, Mysis was the dominant food item (mean volume in stomachs=68%) and occurred in about 3/4 of the fish analyzed. Copepods, cladocerans, chironomid pupae, fish, and Bythotrephes were also common in the diet (frequency of occurrence > 4%). Diets of lake trout were more diverse on the reef than on the nursery area where Mysis dominated the diet. Slimy sculpins were only found in lake trout greater than 50 mm. Mysis was an important food item of slimy sculpins over the reef but not over the nursery area, where Diporeia was by far the most important taxon. A variety ofben-thic invertebrates (Asellus, chironomids, benthic copepods, and snails) comprised the bulk of the sculpin diet over the reef. Sculpins also ate lake trout eggs in November. Based on cluster analysis, diets were most similar over the reef where both consumed Mysis, calanoid copepods and chironomid pupae. Diets diverged over the nursery areas where sculpins were strictly benthic feeders and lake trout maintained their planktonic diet. In Lake Superior, where lake trout recruitment through natural reproduction has become well established, the coexistence of the two species appears amicable. However, in other Great Lakes with higher sculpin to lake trout ratios on a reef, the coexistence of the two species may be a bottleneck for age-0 lake trout survival beginning with egg deposition and ending when age-0 lake trout move off the reef and the two species no longer compete for a common food resource.

Hatching, Dispersal, and Bathymetric Distribution of Age-0 Wild Lake Trout at the Gull Island Shoal Complex, Lake Superior

We studied age-0 lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) associated with spawning and nursery areas of the Gull Island Shoal complex in western Lake Superior. Post-emergent age-0 lake trout were captured on rocky spawning substrate with a 3-m beam trawl and at the nursery area with a bottom trawl from June to September 1990 and June to August 1991. Catch data suggested that age-0 lake trout move distances of 7–11 km to the nursery area over a 3-month period. Water currents, measured at Gull Island Shoal, may be a part of the transport mechanism. Examination of daily-growth increments on the sagittae and back-calculation from the date of capture revealed that most fish hatched between 6 June and 19 July in 1990 and between 30 April and 30 May in 1991. The duration of the hatch was 100 days in 1990 and 120 days in 1991, and the estimated incubation period is about 7 months for lake trout eggs at this site. Similar hatch-date distributions of age-0 captured on different sampling dates suggested that natural mortality was low.

Population Recovery and Natural Recruitment of Lake Trout at Gull Island Shoal, Lake Superior, 1964–1992

We documented an increase in the abundance of wild lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) at Gull Island Shoal in western Lake Superior and examined the relationship between parental-stock size and recruitment of age-0 fish in 1964–1992. Abundance of adult wild female lake trout and densities of age-0 fish both increased during the 28-year period. A significant positive, linear relationship (P = 0.0002) was found between the abundance of wild females on the spawning reef in the fall and density of age-0 lake trout on adjacent nursery grounds in August and September of the following year. The abundance of hatchery-origin females did not explain significant amounts (P = 0.107) of variation in recruitment. We concluded that most recruitment in 1965–1992 was the result of natural reproduction of wild females. After 28 years of recovery the Gull Island Shoal lake trout population appears to have additional capacity to increase because the stock-recruitment relationship is still linear. Therefore, restoration periods on the order of 30 years may be needed for other lake trout populations in the Great Lakes. We recommend that the refuge established to protect this population be maintained to allow further study of the relationship between parental stock and recruitment, and to provide a major source of recruitment to the lake trout population in the surrounding waters.

Evaluation of Age-0 Survival and Its Effect on Lake Trout Rehabilitation in the Michigan Waters of Lake Superior

Efforts to rehabilitate lake trout in the upper Great Lakes have met with limited success. One key factor hypothesized to impede progress towards rehabilitation is inadequate age-0 survival (from egg deposition to age-1). We evaluated age-0 survival rates for lean lake trout populations in the Michigan waters of Lake Superior during three periods of significantly different abundance levels and mortality regimes: pre-sea lamprey (1929–1950), sea lamprey-dominant (1951–1962), and current (1988–1993). Current age-0 survival rate was calculated to be 0.00118 which is lower than age-0 survival rates corresponding to the pre-sea lamprey (0.00372) and sea lamprey-dominant (0.00416) periods. Population growth rates of lake trout were found to be extremely sensitive to changes in age-0 survival rates. We found that if the current lake trout population in the Michigan waters of Lake Superior exhibited an age-0 survival rate similar to that of the pre-sea lamprey population, the current population would be increasing in numbers rather than decreasing. As increasing age-0 survival will greatly increase the population growth rate and facilitate the rehabilitation process, we recommend that future research and management efforts place a high priority on evaluating the factors that are currently depressing survival rates of age-0 lake trout in Lake Superior in order to develop strategies to overcome these impediments.

Rehabilitation of Lake Trout in the Apostle Islands Region of Lake Superior

Marked success of rehabilitation of lake trout in Lake Superior has been due principally to the control of the sea lamprey and closure of the lake trout fishery in 1962 and large-scale plantings of yearling lake trout in 1959–66. After the sea lamprey became established in the late 1940s, spawning stocks of lake trout began to decrease and were almost nonexistent by 1960–61. After control of the sea lamprey and closure of the commercial fishery for lake trout in 1962, the abundance of spawning stocks began to rise and reached the highest levels on record in 1964–66. Successful spawning in 1964 and 1965 was demonstrated by catches of age-0 lake trout in 1965 and 1966, the first evidence of natural reproduction since 1959.Plantings of hatchery-reared lake trout in Wisconsin waters of Lake Superior began in 1952. The percentage of hatchery-reared fish in catches of juvenile lake trout increased almost steadily from 1953 to 1965 (when nearly all were of hatchery origin). The abundance of juvenile fish increased from 1959 to 1962 and remained nearly constant in 1962–66. The success of lake trout plantings was highest in 1959–61 but generally declined after 1961; the success of the plantings was inversely related to the abundance of older lake trout.Annual increments of growth of hatchery-reared lake trout varied from 1.1 to 5.0 inches after planting. The average lengths of fish of identical age-groups varied according to gear of capture, depth of water, and season. More than 65% of the season's growth of age-III lake trout took place after September.The findings indicated that the present rate of stocking lake trout may be higher than necessary to maintain optimum abundance.