Investigating the movements of Cisco (Coregonus artedi) and Lake Whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) within the Bay of Quinte, Lake Ontario

BQCLW

April 2016 - March 2025

The Cisco/Lake Herring (Coregonus artedi) is a cold-water planktivorous fish species that has undergone significant declines throughout the Great Lakes. This decline has been associated with a number of factors, with the most influential being the degradation of important habitat, past commercial exploitation, and the introduction of various invasive species. Although environmental agencies have expressed a growing interest in the rehabilitation of Cisco within this region, lack of basic natural history knowledge of many Great Lake Cisco populations has prevented most recovery efforts. This study will attempt to increase our understanding of Cisco movement dynamics within the Lake Ontario ecosystem, with a particular focus on seasonal migration and spawning behaviour of Cisco inhabiting the Bay of Quinte. As a secondary objective, this study will also be used to gain information on the Lake Whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis), a cold-water benthopelagic species that has also experienced declines within the Great Lakes system. We have implanted a total of 30 Cisco and 29 Lake Whitefish for this study, and are monitoring their movement using an existing acoustic telemetry framework (see ELOBB).

• Identify habitat ranges and seasonal movement patterns for cisco and lake whitefish within the Bay of Quinte system.
• Identify important spawning areas within the Bay of Quinte.
• Assess the potential for philopatric spawning behaviour.

• Advancing our knowledge of cisco and lake whitefish movement within Lake Ontario will provide important insights into the natural history of these species, which could have potential uses for the future of rehabilitation within this region.
• Information on spawning behaviour could be used to protect important spawning habitat for both cisco and lake whitefish

• Bruce Tufts (Queen's University) - tuftsb@queensu.ca

• Queen's University, Freshwater Fisheries Conservation Lab
• Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry
• Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry - Aquatic Research & Monitoring Section

• Queen's University