Movements of Rare Fishes in the Bay of Quinte

BQEEL

April 2015 - March 2020

The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (Lake Ontario Management Unit) and the US Fish and Wildlife Service (New York Field Office) are interested in learning more about the movements of species such as American Eels, Muskellunge and Lake Sturgeon in and out of the Bay of Quinte system. Since June 2015, OMNRF has worked with the Dr. Bruce Tufts (Freshwater Fisheries Conservation lab at Queen’s University) and Dr. Mark Ridgway (OMNRF) to deploy and maintain receiver arrays throughout the Bay of Quinte and eastern Lake Ontario. USFWS has deployed and maintained a VPS reciever array during the fall of 2016 and 2017 upstream of the Iroquois Water Control Structure in the St. Lawrence River.

• Maturing American Eel migrate out of the Bay of Quinte at the start of their journey to the spawning grounds located in the Sargasso Sea (North Atlantic Ocean). This project will provide information on the timing of their departure and potentially be tracked as they move down the St. Lawrence River system.

• American Eel are listed as endangered under Ontario’s Endangered Species Act, 2007. Improved understanding of their migration towards the spawning grounds will increase fisheries managers ability to provide additional protection to these fish.

• Colin Lake (Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry) - colin.lake@ontario.ca
• Scott Schlueter (United States Fish And Wildlife Service - New York Field Office)

• Canada Ontario Agreement Respecting the Great Lakes Basin
• Fish Enhancement, Mitigation, and Research Fund
• Ontario Power Generation - Eel Action Plan