Fisheries Research:

Monitoring fish movement

in pelagic habitat
Andrew J. Carlson and
Rodney B. Pierce

http://waterontheweb.org

2011 Minnesota Governor’s Fishing Opener

2:30-3:30 May 13th 2011
Fisheries Research
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
Pelagic habitat
Open water (>15´ deep)
 Temperature
 Dissolved oxygen
 Summer stratification

http://io.uwinnipeg.ca/~simmons/16cm05/1116/50-15-LakeStratification-L4.gif
 Eutrophication
Nutrients enter system Algae dies – oxygen-
Increase in demanding bacteria
photosynthesis and algae decompose the algae
blooms using up the oxygen

Nutrients
Spring
Summer
Late summer
Extreme summer
Extreme summer
Fall
Thermistor chain
Focal species

Artwork by: Ellen Edmonson and Hugh Chrisp (cisco) and Joe Tomelleri
 Summer squeeze
Date
06/01 06/21 07/11 07/31 08/20 09/09 09/29 10/19
0

-1

-2

-3 Temp. @ 20˚ C
Depth (m)

-4

-5

-6

-7

-8

-9

-10
 Summer squeeze
Date
06/01 06/21 07/11 07/31 08/20 09/09 09/29 10/19
0

-1

-2
Temp. @ 20˚ C
-3
Depth (m)

-4 DO @ 4mg/l
-5

-6

-7

-8

-9

-10
Fish movement
Acoustic tags
 Continual movement
(location on every fish
every ~1-2 minutes)
 Temperature

 Depth

Study systems
 Little Wabana
 Pillager Lake

 Elk Lake

 Shingobee Lake
 Acoustic tag
coverage
Hydrophone
16" Cisco
Why is this important /
what do we do?
Standardized assessment techniques
Unique species assemblage
Changing habitat conditions
 Climatic patterns
 Increased levels of eutrophication

Maintaining water quality

 Little Wabana
Itasca County
104 acres
Maximum depth: 57 feet
Large northern pike
Cisco were historically abundant
 1990: 14.5 cisco/net
 2005: 6.33 cisco/net
Do large pike use
different temperatures
and depths than small
pike?
Evaluating length regulations:
30-40 inch
Slot Limit

24-36 inch
Slot Limit

Lake Melissa (24 inch maximum length limit)

40
Example: Pre-regulation
20
Post-regulation
0
Percentage Percentage
over 24 inches over 30 inches
Sampling pike:
Summer lake
survey gill
netting
 9/29/2010 0:00 11/18/2010 0:00 1/7/2011 0:00 2/26/2011 0:00 4/17/2011 0:00
-2

4
Depth (m)

10 19.5 inch Male

12

14

16
9/29/2010 0:00 11/18/2010 0:00 1/7/2011 0:00 2/26/2011 0:00 4/17/2011 0:00
0

31.8 inch Female

2

8
Depth (m)

10

12

14

16

18
 9/29/2010 0:00 11/18/2010 0:00 1/7/2011 0:00 2/26/2011 0:00
0

6
Depth (m)

10

12

14
21.4 inch Female

16
 Pillager Lake July-September
Large Pike Small Pike
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

Depth

1m

2m

3m

4m

5m

6m

7m
Field sampling

Stationary acoustic
DO / Temperature profile
Hydrophone download
Questions

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