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Survival and Growth of Stocked Lake Trout in Relation to Body Size, Stocking Season, Lake Acidity, and Biomass of Competitors
Author(s) -
Gunn J. M.,
McMurtry M. J.,
Bowlby J. N.,
Casselman J. M.,
Liimatainen V. A.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8659(1987)116<618:sagosl>2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - stocking , trout , fishery , biology , biomass (ecology) , salvelinus , intraspecific competition , electrofishing , competition (biology) , juvenile fish , ecology , zoology , environmental science , fish <actinopterygii>
Juvenile, hatchery‐reared lake trout Salvelinus namaycush, 25–36 months old, were stocked (about 24 fish/hectare) in six small oligotrophic lakes to test the effects of fish size, stocking season, and lake water acidity on survival and growth of introduced fish. The test lakes had few, if any, native lake trout. Little or no survival of stocked lake trout occurred in lakes with pH 5.0 or less. High survival and growth occurred in intermediately acidic (pH 5.6–6.1) and circumneutral (pH 6.9–7.3) lakes. Survival of stocked lake trout increased with size at the time of stocking. Size differences of the three size‐classes introduced in each lake were maintained throughout the 2‐year study. Competition with other resident fish species appeared to influence stocking success strongly. There was an inverse relationship between the biomass of stocked lake trout subsequently recaptured and biomass of all hypolimnefic species present in the lake. Intraspecific competition with previously stocked lake trout also appeared to restrict survival of lake trout in subsequent stockings.