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Relationship between Surface Water Temperature and Steelhead Distributions in Lake Michigan
Author(s) -
Höök Tomas O.,
Rutherford Edward S.,
Brines Shan J.,
Schwab David J.,
McCormick Michael J.
Publication year - 2004
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/m02-159
Subject(s) - environmental science , predation , surface water , recreational fishing , fishery , rainbow trout , fish <actinopterygii> , recreation , hydrology (agriculture) , oceanography , ecology , geology , biology , geotechnical engineering , environmental engineering
Salmonines support valuable recreational fisheries and are the predominant predators in the open waters of the Great Lakes, yet the spatial distributions of salmonines in these systems have not been fully documented. We analyzed the horizontal distributions of steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss in Lake Michigan from 1992 to 1997 and related these distributions to mean surface temperature and temperature variation. We used angler catch rate data from Lake Michigan natural resources agencies to index the spatial and temporal distributions of steelhead and obtained surface water temperature data from advanced very‐high‐resolution radiometer satellite imagery through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's CoastWatch Program. During most months, steelhead catch rates were negatively related to surface temperature and were highest in areas of high temperature variation (i.e., vertical thermal fronts and upwelling zones) where thermal conditions and prey densities may have been optimal for growth. Our results demonstrate how remotely sensed and creel survey data can be integrated to allow for more effective exploitation and management of lakewide fish stocks while enabling researchers to generate and test hypotheses regarding the spatial distributions of fish populations.