Aquatic Native Species and Habitat Restoration: Restoring native freshwater fish populations
USGS is working to help restore Atlantic salmon, bloater and cisco populations in Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River as part of the Coregonid Restoration effort. These three key species of the native Lake Ontario fish community are extirpated (Atlantic salmon and bloater) or are at low levels of former abundance (cisco).
Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), cisco (Coregonus artedi), and bloater (Coregonus hoyi) are key native species of the Lake Ontario fish community and the salmon were important to Native Americans in the St. Lawrence River Basin. However, Atlantic salmon and bloater are extirpated, while cisco populations are a remnant of former abundance, substantially altering the food web of the lake and great river. Results from this effort will help to identify appropriate strategies for restoring the species in these waters. Re-integration of these species is a major step in increasing the resiliency of the native fish community and has never been attempted in a water body as large as the Lake Ontario-St.Lawrence system.
A wide range of fish culture-related research data (e.g., diet, health treatment, unique marking, etc.) has been systematically collected at the USGS, Great Lakes Science Center Tunison Laboratory of Aquatic Science (TLAS) on all three species and recorded in databases. Analyses of these data have improved fish culture success at TLAS and informed recently initiated rearing practices of these species in U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) hatcheries. The first successful artificial culture of Bloater was accomplished at TLAS in 2012. Hundreds of thousands of Cisco, Bloater, and Atlantic salmon have been successfully reared at TLAS and stocked into appropriate areas of the Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence system since 2012. Records or returning fish are increasing, bloater and cisco have been recovered broadly across Lake Ontario, and the first wild production of Atlantic salmon in the Salmon River, NY in >100 years was documented a few years ago.
Publications
Johnson, J.H., Chalupnicki, M.S., Abbett, R. and Verdoliva, F., 2016, Predation on Pacific salmonid eggs and carcasses by subyearling Atlantic salmon in a tributary of Lake Ontario: Journal of Great Lakes Research, v. 42, i. 2, pp. 472-475, (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2015.12.004).
Johnson, J.H., and McKenna Jr., J.E., 2017, Habitat use by juvenile salmonids in Lake Ontario tributaries-species, age, diel and seasonal effects: Journal of Great Lakes Research, v. 43, i. 5, pp. 963-969, (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2017.07.001).
Contributions
- This work has thus far demonstrated that Bloater can be cultured, as well as Cisco and Atlantic Salmon; that stocked Cisco, Bloater, and Atlantic Salmon survive and some return to where they were released; that juvenile Atlantic Salmon use various means to successfully complete with non-native salmonids in tributaries to Lake Ontario; and that the quantity of stocked fish roughly corresponds with the number of returning adults after the species-appropriate life cycle lag time (2 – 5 years, depending on the species). These results have allowed state, federal, and tribal managers to begin development of appropriate artificial rearing facilities and identify their needs and set stocking targets to support their restoration or rehabilitation goals.
Partners
- This work is inherently multi-agency and our collaborations are critical to continued success of the project. Partner contributions include, extensive coordination between USFWS, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (ONMRF), NYSDEC, and USGS TLAS to acquire eggs for culture of large quantities of each of these three species; the expansion of coregonid rearing capacity after transfer of culture technology from TLAS to USFWS and NYSDEC; sharing of hatchery facilities and personnel from the above agencies and the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe (SRMT) to stock Atlantic salmon into the Salmon River and St. Regis River, cisco into coastal Lake Ontario embayments that had historically large production, and bloater into deep waters of Lake Ontario; and collaborative field collections by USGS TLAS, USFWS, NYSDEC, and SRMT to evaluate stocking successes. This work supports the goals of the Lake Ontario Committee.
USGS is working to help restore Atlantic salmon, bloater and cisco populations in Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River as part of the Coregonid Restoration effort. These three key species of the native Lake Ontario fish community are extirpated (Atlantic salmon and bloater) or are at low levels of former abundance (cisco).
Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), cisco (Coregonus artedi), and bloater (Coregonus hoyi) are key native species of the Lake Ontario fish community and the salmon were important to Native Americans in the St. Lawrence River Basin. However, Atlantic salmon and bloater are extirpated, while cisco populations are a remnant of former abundance, substantially altering the food web of the lake and great river. Results from this effort will help to identify appropriate strategies for restoring the species in these waters. Re-integration of these species is a major step in increasing the resiliency of the native fish community and has never been attempted in a water body as large as the Lake Ontario-St.Lawrence system.
A wide range of fish culture-related research data (e.g., diet, health treatment, unique marking, etc.) has been systematically collected at the USGS, Great Lakes Science Center Tunison Laboratory of Aquatic Science (TLAS) on all three species and recorded in databases. Analyses of these data have improved fish culture success at TLAS and informed recently initiated rearing practices of these species in U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) hatcheries. The first successful artificial culture of Bloater was accomplished at TLAS in 2012. Hundreds of thousands of Cisco, Bloater, and Atlantic salmon have been successfully reared at TLAS and stocked into appropriate areas of the Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence system since 2012. Records or returning fish are increasing, bloater and cisco have been recovered broadly across Lake Ontario, and the first wild production of Atlantic salmon in the Salmon River, NY in >100 years was documented a few years ago.
Publications
Johnson, J.H., Chalupnicki, M.S., Abbett, R. and Verdoliva, F., 2016, Predation on Pacific salmonid eggs and carcasses by subyearling Atlantic salmon in a tributary of Lake Ontario: Journal of Great Lakes Research, v. 42, i. 2, pp. 472-475, (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2015.12.004).
Johnson, J.H., and McKenna Jr., J.E., 2017, Habitat use by juvenile salmonids in Lake Ontario tributaries-species, age, diel and seasonal effects: Journal of Great Lakes Research, v. 43, i. 5, pp. 963-969, (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2017.07.001).
Contributions
- This work has thus far demonstrated that Bloater can be cultured, as well as Cisco and Atlantic Salmon; that stocked Cisco, Bloater, and Atlantic Salmon survive and some return to where they were released; that juvenile Atlantic Salmon use various means to successfully complete with non-native salmonids in tributaries to Lake Ontario; and that the quantity of stocked fish roughly corresponds with the number of returning adults after the species-appropriate life cycle lag time (2 – 5 years, depending on the species). These results have allowed state, federal, and tribal managers to begin development of appropriate artificial rearing facilities and identify their needs and set stocking targets to support their restoration or rehabilitation goals.
Partners
- This work is inherently multi-agency and our collaborations are critical to continued success of the project. Partner contributions include, extensive coordination between USFWS, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (ONMRF), NYSDEC, and USGS TLAS to acquire eggs for culture of large quantities of each of these three species; the expansion of coregonid rearing capacity after transfer of culture technology from TLAS to USFWS and NYSDEC; sharing of hatchery facilities and personnel from the above agencies and the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe (SRMT) to stock Atlantic salmon into the Salmon River and St. Regis River, cisco into coastal Lake Ontario embayments that had historically large production, and bloater into deep waters of Lake Ontario; and collaborative field collections by USGS TLAS, USFWS, NYSDEC, and SRMT to evaluate stocking successes. This work supports the goals of the Lake Ontario Committee.