Receivers deployed to understand interbasin directional movement of various species

LOIBM

August 2018 - September 2030

Twenty-nine 69 kHz receivers oriented in two parallel lines running from shore to 100m to assess directional movement of fishes from eastern to central Lake Ontario. Array incorporates four V9 alternating power 69 kHz sentinel tags. In 2020, with support from RAEON, 16 additional 69 kHz receivers were added in Canadian waters south of Prince Edward County (7.5 km square grid). In 2021, with support from GLATOS, 30 additional 69 kHz receivers were added in Canadian and US waters in the central portion of Lake Ontario and north of Oswego (15 km square grid). Two VR4 69/180 kHz dual frequency long-term deployment receivers (supplied by RAEON) were deployed along the east end of the Canada-US border north of Oswego. These receivers will be serviced annually during glider missions.

• Understand interbasin movement and direction of fishes between the eastern and central basins of Lake Ontario
• Identify possible species-specific depth corridors for movement, including possible seasonal variation
• Investigate seasonal variation in detection efficiency at both shallow (<10m) and deep (~50m) depth to inform future receiver deployments
• Investigate feasibility of open coastal, shallow water receiver deployments (<5m) giving consideration to currents, ice and other forces

• Tim Johnson (Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry) - tim.johnson@ontario.ca
• Aaron Fisk (University Of Windsor - Great Lakes Institute For Environmental Research)
• Jon Midwood (Fisheries And Oceans Canada)

• Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada
• University of Windsor

• Canada Ontario Agreement Respecting the Great Lakes Basin
• Great Lakes Fishery Commission
• NSERC / Canada Research Chair

• Ivanova, S. V., G. D. Raby, T. B. Johnson, S. M. Larocque, A. T. Fisk. 2022. Effects of life stage on the spatial ecology of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) during pelagic freshwater foraging. Fisheries Research. (106395).
• Ivanova, S. V., T. B. Johnson, B. W. Metcalfe, A. T. Fisk. 2020. Spatial distribution of lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) across seasonal thermal cycles in a large lake. Freshwat. Biol. 66: 615-627.
• Ivanova, S. V., S.M. Larocque, A.T. Fisk, T.B. Johnson. 2021. Spatiotemporal interactions of native and introduced salmonid top predators in a large lake: Implications for species restoration. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 78(8): 1158-1167.
• Ivanova, S. V., T. B. Johnson, A. T. Fisk. 2021. Movement ecology of a potamodromous top predator in a large lake: synchrony and coexistence of distinct migratory patterns. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 150: 748-760.