According to the authors of a study from Ottawa, Canada, “Resource management agencies in the Laurentian Great Lakes routinely conduct studies of fish movement and migration to understand the temporal and spatial distribution of fishes within and between the lakes and their tributaries. This literature has never been summarized and evaluated to identify common themes and future research opportunities.”
“We reviewed 112 studies, published between 1952 and 2010, with the goal of summarizing existing research on the movement and migration of fishes in the Laurentian Great Lakes. The most commonly studied species were Lake Trout (Salvelinus namaycush), Walleye (Sander vitreus), and Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens). Studies relied mainly on mark-recapture techniques with comparatively few using newer technologies such as biotelemetry, hydroacoustics, or otolith microchemistry/isotope analysis. Most movement studies addressed questions related to reproductive biology, effects of environmental factors on movement, stocking, and habitat use. Movement-related knowledge gaps were identified through the literature synthesis and a survey distributed to Great Lakes fisheries managers. Future studies on emigration/ immigration of fishes through lake corridors, the dispersal of stocked fishes and of stock mixing were identified as being particularly important given their potential for developing lake- or region-wide harvest regulations and stocking strategies. The diversity of tools for studying fish movement across multiple years and various spatial scales gives researchers new abilities to address key science questions and management needs,” wrote S.J. Landsman and colleagues, Carleton University (see also ).
The researchers concluded: “Addressing these needs has the potential to improve upon existing fisheries management
practices within the complexity of multi-jurisdictional governance in the Laurentian Great Lakes.”
Landsman and colleagues published their study in the Journal of Great Lakes Research (Fish movement and migration studies in the Laurentian Great Lakes: Research trends and knowledge gaps. Journal of Great Lakes Research, 2011;37(2):365-379).
For more information, contact S.J. Landsman, Carleton University, Dept. of Biology, Fish Ecology & Conservat Physiol Laboratory, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, CANADA.
Publisher contact information for the Journal of Great Lakes Research is: Elsevier Science Ltd., the Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, Oxon, England.
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