Five-year evaluation of habitat remediation in Thunder Bay, Lake Huron: Comparison of constructed reef characteristics that attract spawning lake trout

J. Ellen Marsden; Thomas R. Binder; James Johnson; Ji He; Natalie Dingledine; Janice Adams; Nicholas S. Johnson; Tyler J. Buchinger; Charles C. Krueger

doi:10.1016/j.fishres.2016.06.012

USGS · 70174926

Five-year evaluation of habitat remediation in Thunder Bay, Lake Huron: Comparison of constructed reef characteristics that attract spawning lake trout

J. Ellen Marsden·Thomas R. Binder·James Johnson·Ji He·Natalie Dingledine·Janice Adams·Nicholas S. Johnson·Tyler J. Buchinger·Charles C. Krueger

View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Degradation of aquatic habitats has motivated construction and research on the use of artificial reefs to enhance production of fish populations. However, reefs are often poorly planned, reef design characteristics are not evaluated, and reef assessments are short-term. We constructed 29 reefs in Thunder Bay, Lake Huron, in 2010 and 2011 to mitigate for degradation of a putative lake trout spawning reef. Reefs were designed to evaluate lake trout preferences for height, orientation, and size, and were compared with two degraded natural reefs and a high-quality natural reef (East Reef). Eggs and fry were sampled on each reef for five years post-construction, and movements of 40 tagged lake trout were tracked during three spawning seasons using acoustic telemetry. Numbers of adults and spawning on the constructed reefs were initially low, but increased significantly over the five years, while remaining consistent on East Reef. Adult density, egg deposition, and fry catch were not related to reef height or orientation of the constructed reefs, but were related to reef size and adjacency to East Reef. Adult lake trout visited and spawned on all except the smallest constructed reefs. Of the metrics used to evaluate the reefs, acoustic telemetry produced the most valuable and consistent data, including fine-scale examination of lake trout movements relative to individual reefs. Telemetry data, supplemented with diver observations, identified several previously unknown natural spawning sites, including the high-use portions of East Reef. Reef construction has increased the capacity for fry production in Thunder Bay without apparently decreasing the use of the natural reef. Results of this project emphasize the importance of multi-year reef assessment, use of multiple assessment methods, and comparison of reef characteristics when developing artificial reef projects. Specific guidelines for construction of reefs focused on enhancing lake trout spawning are suggested.

Explore related subjects

Fisheries Research Article

Source-reported bounding extent: 44.74380712723563° to 45.12974228438219° latitude; -83.583984375° to -82.99209594726562° longitude. This indicates report coverage, not an exact sampling location. View area on OpenStreetMap.

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeX RIS

J. Ellen Marsden, Thomas R. Binder, James Johnson, Ji He, Natalie Dingledine, Janice Adams, Nicholas S. Johnson, Tyler J. Buchinger, Charles C. Krueger. 2016. Five-year evaluation of habitat remediation in Thunder Bay, Lake Huron: Comparison of constructed reef characteristics that attract spawning lake trout. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2016.06.012

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related USGS reports

USGS2026

Using a temporary emigration model to estimate abundance of stream fishes from hybrid removal surveys with and without block nets

Monitoring programs are often faced with a decision to allocate resources into either robust spatiotemporal coverage to estimate a population index (e.g., not true abundance) or confirming closed sampling conditions (e.g., with block nets) for an unbiased population estimate at the cost of spatiotemporal coverage. However, making accurate and precise abundance estimates at robust spatiotemporal scales is possible when combining open and closed sampling designs with integrated modeling techniques. We used simulations and a case study of backpack electrofishing surveys in the Santa Ana River, California to test the efficacy of an integrated abundance model (temporary emigration model, TE) to estimate abundance of fishes using removal sampling methods with a hybrid sampling design (sampling with and without block nets during removal sampling). We found that the TE model performed well under most modeling scenarios (sample size, amount of closure violation, number of samples collected during closure), although at least a few samples with block nets were necessary for all parameters to be estimable. When applied to fish surveys in the Santa Ana River, we found that catch of the fishes fit to the TE model (Santa Ana Sucker, Arroyo Chub, Channel Catfish, Largemouth Bass, Yellow Bullhead) showed little evidence that the closure assumption was violated when block nets were not used. Additionally, we found that the abundance of non-native fishes negatively affected the abundance of the native Santa Ana Sucker, which was also found to adversely affect the native fish’s access to critical habitat consisting of gravel and cobble substrate. Our results indicate that the TE model presents a viable solution to common sampling problems that impact many monitoring programs, where precise and accurate population estimates can be made at large spatiotemporal scales even when most samples violate the closure assumption.

California↗

USGS2026

Strength of depensation not influenced by fish population productivity

A long-held assumption in the management of exploited fisheries is that fish populations will compensate with increased recruit survival to replenish the population when adult stock size is reduced through harvest. Observations of depensatory recruitment (reduced recruit survival at low adult stock size) and critical depensatory thresholds have challenged the compensation assumption. Post et al. (2002) postulated that critical depensatory thresholds were related to fish population productivity. Walleye Sander vitreus are a culturally, economically, and recreationally important sportfish whose persistence is being challenged by natural recruitment declines throughout much of its native range. Depensation, among other abiotic and biotic stressors, has been implicated in walleye natural recruitment declines. If walleye population productivity is related to critical depensatory thresholds, then population productivity benchmarks could be established to reduce the probability of crossing them. We used empirically-derived and model predicted depensation values ( q ) and empirical estimates of walleye population productivity to test for relationships between these variables in northern Wisconsin lakes. We found little evidence for a relationship between q and walleye population productivity across all lakes examined. Our finding failed to support the theoretical postulation of a relationship between these variables by Post et al. (2002) for walleye. Little evidence for a relationship between q and population productivity suggests that depensatory thresholds may differ among individual walleye populations and that walleye populations may transition abruptly between compensatory and depensatory states. Given our findings, conservation efforts for walleye that solely focus on low productivity populations may miss other trends because population productivity may not be considered a broad predictor of crossing a critical depensatory threshold.

Fisheries Research↗

USGS2026

Evaluating the use of uncrewed surface vessels to enhance Lake Erie acoustic prey-fish surveys

Incorporation of autonomous uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) into large-scale acoustic surveys may enhance spatiotemporal extent and quality of fish density estimates. Lake Erie is currently surveyed by three motorized research vessels (RVs), which annually collect acoustic data and estimate prey-fish abundances. To evaluate the feasibility of incorporating a USV into the existing survey to increase spatial coverage, we compared paired acoustic measurements of target strength (TS), area backscattering coefficient (ABC), and areal fish density from four motorized RVs (three currently and one historically used) and one USV (Saildrone Explorer). Acoustic data were collected along 2-km transects during five sampling events distributed throughout Lake Erie. Despite observing event-specific differences that were likely impacted by sampling conditions, survey-level estimates of areal density between RVs and the USV were comparable (i.e., RV 6% lower than USV). RVs and the USV appear to react differently (speed and stability) to variable environmental conditions (wind and waves), which impacted data quality and must be mitigated in future applications. However, similar to previous comparisons in marine and freshwater environments, incorporating a USV into an acoustic survey could enhance annual fish density estimates by increasing effort, spatial coverage, logistical flexibility, and biological data collection opportunities from RVs.

Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania↗