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Performance of Two Strains of Lake Trout Stocked in the Midlake Refuge of Lake Michigan
Author(s) -
McKee Patrick C.,
Toneys Michael L.,
Hansen Michael J.,
Holey Mark E.
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/m03-142.1
Subject(s) - salvelinus , trout , petromyzon , reef , fishery , biology , ecology , fish <actinopterygii> , lamprey
To evaluate the performance of Seneca and Marquette strains of lake trout Salvelinus namaycush for restoring stocks in southern Lake Michigan, we compared relative abundance (fish per lift of 305 m of gill net), survival (slope of the decline in natural logarithms of relative abundance), growth (von Bertalanffy growth curves), and wounding rates by sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus of the 1984 and 1985 year‐classes captured at ages 3–16 in fall gill‐net assessments on the Sheboygan Reef and the Milwaukee nearshore area during 1987–2000. Marquette strain lake trout survived at a significantly higher rate than Seneca strain lake trout prior to age 3 but at similar rates after age 3. The 1984 year‐class of lake trout survived at a significantly higher rate than the 1985 year‐class of lake trout prior to age 3 but at similar rates after age 3. Emigration of lake trout from the Sheboygan Reef to the nearshore Milwaukee area was similar for the Marquette and Seneca strains but was higher for the 1984 year‐class than the 1985 year‐class. The mean relative abundance of the 1984 and 1985 year‐classes of Marquette and Seneca strains of lake trout varied erratically with age but did not decline with age on the Sheboygan Reef and Milwaukee nearshore area. On the Sheboygan Reef, growth in length, expressed as asymptotic length ( L ∞ ), differed significantly between the Marquette and Seneca strains of lake trout but did not differ significantly between the 1984 and 1985 year‐classes. On the Sheboygan Reef, wounding rates by sea lampreys did not differ significantly between the Marquette and Seneca strains of lake trout among size‐classes (633–734, 735–836, and ≥837 mm) during 1994–2000. Our findings suggest that the performance of Marquette strain lake trout was superior to that of Seneca strain lake trout on the Sheboygan Reef in central Lake Michigan.