Geology topics

Charles R. Bronte

Publications and source records attributed to Charles R. Bronte.

57 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

USGS1993

Dynamics of a yellow perch population in western Lake Superior

Yellow perch Perca flavescens were sampled annually in 1973–1988 with bottom trawls in Chequamegon Bay, Lake Superior. Biomass averaged l.6 kg/hectare. Fish l–3 years old made up 64% of the biomass, whereas fish of harvestable size (≥4 years old) made up only 31% of the biomass. Year-class strength was variable among years, but a Ricker recruitment function described the relation between year-class strength and parental stock size, Age-specific mortality increased substantially as fish became sexually mature at age 4, perhaps as a result of energy depletion associated with high reproductive and maintenance costs in a suboptimal thermal environment. Yield-per-recruit analysis indicated that most of the age-specific annual mortality was due to natural causes. Natural mortality, rather than limited recruitment or fishing mortality, was the major factor controlling harvestable stock size, Regardless of the size of a year-class produced, natural mortality greatly reduced its abundance prior to maturity and recruitment to the fishable stock. This high mortality, combined with very slow growth, limits the biomass potential of the harvestable stock, and sustainable yields from this population are therefore low.

North American Journal of Fisheries Management↗

USGS1993

Food of salmonine predators in Lake Superior, 1981-87

Diets of ten species of Lake Superior salmonines are described. Rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) were the primary prey during all seasons and years for inshore lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush), Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.), Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), brown trout (S. trutta), brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), and splake (lake trout x brook trout hybrid). Coregonines were the second most-important prey for chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha), siscowet trout (S. namaycush siscowet), and splake. Invertebrates were important to rainbow trout (O. mykiss), coho salmon (O. kisutch), and pink salmon (O. gorbuscha), especially during the summer. Diets of lake trout from inshore and offshore locations differed markedly. Rainbow smelt were the primary food of inshore lake trout, and coregonines were the main food of offshore lake trout. Chinook salmon and inshore lake trout had the most similar diets because they ate similar proportions of rainbow smelt and coregonines. Salmonines generally ate more rainbow smelt and less coregonines in proportion to the abundance of these prey in the lake. If rainbow smelt populations collapse, the ability of salmonines to convert to a diet based on lake herring (Coregonus artedi) could be important to the stability of predator populations.

Technical Report↗

USGS1991

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

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.

Journal of Great Lakes Research↗