Determining connectivity between the Boardman River, Grand Traverse Bay, and Lake Michigan proper in support of FishPass

FPASS

July 2020 - August 2024

40 lake trout, longnose sucker, rainbow trout, walleye, and white sucker captured in the Boardman River and Grand Traverse Bay will be surgically implanted with acoustic transmitters in 2020-2021 (n=200 tags total). Arrays of receivers will be deployed at the entrance of the Boardman River, in the lower Boardman River, and at the north entrance of West Grand Traverse Bay . These will be used in combination with an existing array within and at the entrance to Grand Traverse Bay to form three ‘gates’ to evaluate fish movement among the river, bay, and lake.

• 1. Determine the proportion of fish tagged and released in the Boardman River that are subsequently detected elsewhere in Grand Traverse Bay and the outer-bay/Lake Michigan ecosystem.
• 2. Determine the extent and timing of fish movement into and out of the Boardman River.
• 3. Determine the variables that cue the timing of river entry/exit.

• Reid Swanson (Great Lakes Fishery Commission) - rswanson@glfc.org
• Andrew Muir (Great Lakes Fishery Commission)
• Darryl Hondorp (United States Geological Survey)
• Aaron Fisk (University Of Windsor - Great Lakes Institute For Environmental Research)
• Daniel Zielinski (Great Lakes Fishery Commission)

• Great Lakes Fishery Commission
• United States Geological Survey
• Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians - Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians

• Great Lakes Fishery Commission