Spatial ecology and migration of adult walleye in the eastern basin of Lake Erie

ELEWE

January 2015 - January 2019

Walleye in the Great Lakes are known to move long distances through multiple management jurisdictions. Understanding fish movements and how they relate to fishing effort and harvest is essential when managing a complex, valuable, multijurisdictional fishery such as the Lake Erie walleye fishery. Beginning in spring 2015, New York State DEC biologists will deploy acoustic receivers in the eastern basin of Lake Erie to monitor the timing, magnitude, demographics, and spatial extent of the western basin migrants tagged on western basin spawning areas by Ohio DNR. Additionally, acoustic transmitters will be surgically implanted into walleyes from eastern basin spawning aggregations to estimate spawning site fidelity and movement patterns of individual eastern basin spawning stocks. The relative contribution of eastern basin walleyes to the mixed-origin fisheries in the eastern basin will be assessed by implanting acoustic tags in walleye captured in the eastern basin summer fishery. Acoustic receivers will be placed on known spawning areas in the spring and deployed in four lines spanning the eastern basin from north to south to monitor summer and fall movement. Existing acoustic lines in the western and central basins will allow detection of the westward movement of walleye tagged as part of this study.

• Determine whether the relative contribution of central and western basin stocks to the summer eastern-basin fishery in Lake Erie is greater than from eastern-basin stocks.
• Determine whether the timing, magnitude, demographics, and spatial distribution of central and western basin migrants varies annually in the eastern basin.
• Determine whether spawning site fidelity of the two major eastern basin spawning stocks (Van Buren Bay, Grand River) show a consistent pattern of site fidelity.
• Determine whether movements of eastern basin spawning stocks out of the eastern basin occurs consistently.

• Gaining a better understanding of walleye movement dynamics and life history in the eastern basin will inform management strategies.
• Understanding how western basin walleye stocks contribute to fisheries throughout Lake Erie will lead to improved management decisions which achieve a broad distribution of benefits.
• Estimating site fidelity of the individual eastern basin walleye spawning stocks provides a foundation of knowledge for assessing potential impacts of management actions and angling practices on a more local level.
• Addressing key uncertainties concerning movement dynamics and spawning stock contributions of the walleye resource inhabiting Lake Erie’s eastern basin may eventually advocate for inclusion of the eastern basin in the broader walleye assessment and management framework for Lake Erie.

• Jason Robinson (New York State Department of Environmental Conservation) - jason.robinson@dec.ny.gov
• Don Einhouse (New York State Department Of Environmental Conservation)
• Chuck Murray (Pennsylvania Fish And Boat Commission)
• Tom Macdougall (Ontario Ministry Of Natural Resources And Forestry)
• Chris Vandergoot (Michigan State University)
• John Dettmers (Great Lakes Fishery Commission)
• Charles Krueger (Michigan State University)

• New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
• Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission
• Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry
• Ohio Department of Natural Resources
• Great Lakes Fishery Commission
• Michigan State University

• New York State Environmental Protection Fund
• New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
• Canada-Ontario Agreement on Great Lakes Water Quality and Ecosystem Health
• United States Fish and Wildlife Service
• Great Lakes Acoustic Telemetry Observation System