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Andrew Honsey, PhD

Hello! I am a fisheries biologist with the USGS Great Lakes Science Center, and I am stationed at the Hammond Bay Biological Station in Millersburg, MI.

I provide science to support the conservation and restoration of ciscoes (herring and chubs) and whitefishes throughout the Great Lakes. My current projects encompass a variety of topics, including surveying Great Lakes tributaries for river spawning populations of ciscoes or whitefishes, analyzing recruitment (population-level reproductive success) drivers and dynamics of cisco and lake whitefish populations across the basin, characterizing shifts in body shapes among ciscoes throughout the last century in lakes Michigan and Huron, and comparing the body shapes of ciscoes reared in hatcheries and laboratories to those of wild populations. 

Professional Experience

  • 2020-Present: Fisheries Biologist, USGS Great Lakes Science Center

  • 2019-2020: Postdoctoral research associate, Hansen Lab, University of Minnesota

Education and Certifications

  • PhD (2018), Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota

  • M.S. (2014), Forestry and Natural Resources (Fisheries Track), Purdue University

  • B.S. (2012), Biology, Hillsdale College

Science and Products

Bottom Trawl Catch Alewife Densities and Ages in Lakes Michigan and Huron

This data release provides catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) data by age-class for alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) based on bottom trawl surveys from Lake Michigan (1973-2022) or Lake Huron (1976-2004). These data are associated with a study that sought to evaluate whether alewife populations across the Great Lakes are synchronous in their time series.
By
Great Lakes Science Center

Traditional and geometric morphometric data describing wild and artificially reared cisco (Coregonus artedi) from lakes Huron and Ontario

These data describe morphometric (body shape) measurements of wild and artificially reared (i.e., raised in a laboratory or fish hatchery) cisco (Coregonus artedi) from lakes Huron and Ontario in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Specifically, this data release includes traditional morphometric data (i.e., measurements of fish specimens) describing wild and artificially reared cisco from Lake Huron, as
By
Great Lakes Science Center

Historical Spawning Sites for Lake Whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) and Cisco (Coregonus artedi) in Lake Ontario and Connecting Channels, 1860-1970

The following data release contains coordinates for suspected historical spawning locations of lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) and cisco (Coregonus artedi) across the Lake Ontario basin, including the Niagara River and St. Lawrence River. These data were gathered from published and unpublished sources cited in the Atlas of the Spawning and Nursery Areas of Great Lakes Fishes (Goodyear et a
By
Great Lakes Science Center
Andrew Honsey Holding a Cisco
Andrew Honsey Ice Fishing for Cisco
Andrew Honsey Ice Fishing for Cisco
Andrew Honsey Holding a Cisco

Andrew Honsey Ice Fishing for Cisco

Andrew Honsey Ice Fishing for Cisco

Andew Honsey is pictured ice fishing for cisco on Lake Charlevoix on 31 January 2022. Photo Credit: Ralph Tingley, USGS.

By
Great Lakes Science Center, Great Lakes Science Center
Andrew Honsey Holding a Cisco

Andrew Honsey Ice Fishing for Cisco

Andrew Honsey Ice Fishing for Cisco

Andew Honsey is pictured ice fishing for cisco on Lake Charlevoix on 31 January 2022. Photo Credit: Ralph Tingley, USGS.

By
Great Lakes Science Center, Great Lakes Science Center

Publications by this scientist

Morphological differences between wild and hatchery-reared Bloater (Coregonus hoyi) from Lake Michigan, USA

Coregonines (ciscoes and whitefishes) are economically, ecologically, and culturally important fishes that are distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere. In the Laurentian Great Lakes, coregonines declined throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, and managers have prioritized their restoration. A key restoration tool is reintroduction via stocking. However, hatchery-reared coregonines can disp
Authors
Andrew Edgar Honsey, Yu-Chun Kao, Christopher Olds, David Bunnell
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Great Lakes Science Center

A science and management partnership to restore coregonine diversity to the Laurentian Great Lakes

Similar to many freshwater ecosystems, the Laurentian Great Lakes of North America have undergone numerous anthropogenic stressors resulting in considerable loss of biodiversity and habitat. Among Great Lakes fishes, the coregonine sub-family has endured the most extensive declines, including extinction of several species (Coregonus johannae, C. alpenae, and C. kiyi orientalis) and at least 10 ins
Authors
David Bunnell, Amanda Susanne Ackiss, Karen M Alofs, Cory Brant, Charles R. Bronte, Randall M. Claramunt, John M. Dettmers, Andrew Edgar Honsey, Nicholas E. Mandrak, Andrew M. Muir, Victor Santucci, David R. Smith, Russell M. Strach, John A. Sweka, Brian C. Weidel, William Mattes, Kurt R. Newman
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Great Lakes Science Center, Eastern Ecological Science Center

Longitudinal analyses of catch-at-age data for reconstructing year-class strength, with an application to lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) in the main basin of Lake Huron

We investigated using longitudinal models to reconstruct year-class strength (YCS) from catch-at-age data, with an example application to lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) in the main basin of Lake Huron. The best model structure depended on the age range used for model implementation. The YCS trajectory from the full age range (3–30 years) was similar to the trajectory from a narrow age range tha
Authors
Ji X. He, Andrew Edgar Honsey, David F. Staples, James R. Bence, Tracy L. Claramunt
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Great Lakes Science Center

Predicting physical and geomorphic habitat associated with historical lake whitefish and cisco spawning locations in Lakes Erie and Ontario

The Great Lakes basin was historically populated by multiple, coevolved coregonine species, but much of that diversity has been lost. In Lakes Erie and Ontario, both lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) and cisco (Coregonus artedi) occurred in high numbers before habitat degradation, overfishing, invasive species, and other factors caused significant declines. There is growing interest in resto
Authors
Hannah M Schaefer, Andrew Edgar Honsey, David Bunnell, Brian C. Weidel, Robin DeBruyne, James S. Diana, Dimitry Gorsky, Edward F. Roseman
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Great Lakes Science Center
GLSC Scientists Present Research Findings at the International Coregonid Symposium

GLSC Scientists Present Research Findings at the International Coregonid Symposium

International symposium works together to understand Coregonids in Europe, Asia, and North America.

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