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Application and Modification of an Auger Trap to Quantify Emigrating Fishes in Lake Ontario Tributaries
Author(s) -
Kennen Jonathan G.,
Wisniewski Steven J.,
Ringler Neil H.,
Hawkins Harry M.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
north american journal of fisheries management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.587
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1548-8675
pISSN - 0275-5947
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8675(1994)014<0828:aamoaa>2.3.co;2
Subject(s) - tributary , chinook wind , oncorhynchus , fishery , environmental science , streams , salmo , juvenile , hatchery , fish <actinopterygii> , ecology , biology , geography , computer network , cartography , computer science
Assessments of natural reproduction, rates of survival, and patterns of migration by Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp. in Great Lakes tributaries require quantification of emigrating smolts. Auger smolt traps were modified and tested during annual downstream migrations of juvenile chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha , coho salmon O. kisutch , and steelhead O. mykiss in three eastern Lake Ontario tributaries. The traps were scaled to fit small‐ to medium‐sized streams (third or fourth order) that had fluctuating flows and high debris outputs. During periods of reduced discharge, up to 85% of the streamflow was sampled by one trap. The fraction of migrating smolts captured (efficiency) was determined with wild and hatchery‐released fish. Site choice played a major role in determination of trapping efficiencies, which ranged from 1.3 to 17% for wild salmonids. The highest efficiencies were found for wild chinook salmon smolts (11–17%) in a tributary of the Salmon River, New York. No salmonids appeared to be injured by the trapping mechanism on any of the streams sampled from 1988 to 1991. The traps also proved effective at capturing brown bullheads Ameiurus nebulosus and golden shiners Notemigonus crysoleucas that were migrating to Lake Ontario from ponds and beaver impoundments in the drainage.