Evaluating the risk of direct movement of fishes through the Welland Canal and St. Marys River

DFOWS

April 2011 - April 2016

The Welland Canal has been identified as a pathway for direct (dispersal) and indirect (shipping) bi-directional movement of non-indigenous species (NIS) between Lake Ontario and the remaining Great Lakes, and the St. Marys River for movement of NIS between lakes Huron and Superior. Although substantial study is ongoing on the movement of NIS through the shipping vector, there has been virtually no study of the direct movement of NIS through these connections. Fishes of varying sizes and swimming abilities will be tagged internally, and their movement through these connections tracked by receivers placed throughout these systems. The occurrence of fishes in the lock chambers will be additionally assessed using remote hydroacoustics and a didson camera.

• To determine if fishes, including NIS, directly move between the Lake Ontario and Erie basins through the Welland Canal, and through the St. Marys River between Lake Superior and Huron basins using four types of water structures - locks, overflow channels will facilitate fish movement in both directions; and, the power generation network will minimize fish movement in both directions.

• This project will provide a better understanding of how NIS do, and could, use these connections to spread from one Great Lakes basin to another. This understanding is critical to the evaluation management options to prevent the spread of NIS between basins.

• Lisa O'connor (Fisheries and Oceans Canada) - lisa.oconnor@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
• Nicholas Mandrak (Fisheries And Oceans Canada)
• Becky Cudmore (Fisheries And Oceans Canada)
• Thomas Pratt (Fisheries And Oceans Canada)
• Marten Koops (Fisheries And Oceans Canada)
• David Marson (Fisheries And Oceans Canada)

• St. Lawrence Seaway Commission
• Ontario Invasive Species Centre
• Great Lakes Fishery Commission

• Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada
• Ontario Invasive Species Centre

• Currie, W.J.S., Kim, J., Koops, M.A., Mandrak, N.E., O’Connor, L.M., Pratt, T.C., Timusk, E., and Choy, M. (2017) Modelling spread and assessing movement of Grass Carp, Ctenopharyngodon idella, in the Great Lakes Basin. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Res. Doc. 2016/114. v 31 p. http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/csas-sccs/Publications/ResDocs-DocRech/2016/2016_114-eng.html
• Kim, J. and Mandrak, N.E. (2016), Assessing the potential movement of invasive fishes through the Welland Canal. Journal of Great Lakes Research. 42: 1102-1108.