Post-release survival and detection frequency of acoustically tagged Yellow Perch in Lake Erie

LEYPA

October 2022 - May 2025

Yellow Perch [Perca flavescens] is a critical component to Lake Erie’s ecosystem and regional economy; however, a general lack of knowledge exists on seasonal distributions and movements in Lake Erie. Basic understanding of spatial ecology is critical to the development and communication of sustainable management practices. The Lake Erie Committee (see LEC support letter) is interested in developing a large-scale multi-year telemetry study for Lake Erie Yellow Perch, leveraging the existing GLATOS receiver array, to better understand seasonal spatial ecology. Prior to development of a broader study, researchers must determine expected post-release survival of fish implanted with acoustic telemetry tags as well as the average detection rates and quantity/quality of data returned per fish. This information will help inform sample sizes (i.e., number of tagged fish) and receiver array configuration (i.e., grid spacing) required to develop a future large-scale multi-year study with reasonable expectation of success. We've recently expanded this study into the Central Basin to evaluate the impact of barotrauma on fish survival.

• Quantify post-release (30 d) and annual (359 d) survival rates of Yellow Perch tagged with internal acoustic transmitters.
• Compare the frequency of detections (i.e., how often are fish detected) and inferred fate (i.e., alive or dead) of Yellow Perch tagged with acoustic transmitters in the western basin of Lake Erie in acoustic receiver arrays spaced at 4, 8, and 16 km.

• This study will help inform sample sizes (i.e., number of tagged fish) and receiver array configuration (i.e., grid spacing) required to develop a future large-scale multi-year study with reasonable expectation of success.

• Mark Dufour (United States Geological Survey - Great Lakes Science Center - Lake Erie Biological Station) - mdufour@usgs.gov
• Richard Kraus (United States Geological Survey)
• James Roberts (United States Geological Survey)
• Kevin Keretz (United States Geological Survey - Lake Erie Biological Station)
• Matthew Faust (Ohio Department Of Natural Resources)
• Ann Marie Gorman (Ohio Department Of Natural Resources)

• USGS - Great Lakes Science Center (Lake Erie Biological Station)
• Ohio Department of Natural Resources - Division of Wildlife
• The Ohio State University - Aquatic Ecology Laboratory
• Great Lakes Acoustic Telemetry and Observation System

• Great Lakes Fishery Commission
• In-kind contributions from partner organizations