Region 3 wild coregonine broodstock collection activities for FY 2019 in support of restoration activities on Lake Huron and Lake Ontario
Contributing Authors
Executive Summary
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services Midwest Region Fisheries Program carried out two projects in support of a multi-agency effort to restore coregonid populations in Lake Huron and Lake Ontario. The first project began in 2017 when USFWS started collecting cisco (Coregonus artedi) in Northern Lake Huron in support of the development of a line of captive brood stock at the Jordan River National Fish Hatchery (NFH). From 2017 to 2020 cisco gametes were collected from two sites in Northern Lake Huron (Les Cheneaux Islands and Drummond Island) using short set gillnets (<4 hr) in shallow water (~6.5m) during cisco spawning in November. The gametes of approximately 100+ pairs of cisco were collected each year. Fertilized eggs from each pair were transported to Jordan River NFH to support an experimental stocking and evaluation program authorized by the Lake Huron Committee in an attempt to reestablish cisco populations in Saginaw Bay. Additionally, a small volume of eggs from each pair were sent to the Genoa NFH for disease testing, isolation, and brood line development. All fish that were used during gamete collections had samples taken for a genetic classification and the USFWS La Crosse Fish Health Center conducted the disease screening of production and brood lines. Once the brood lines cleared isolation and disease screenings, they were transferred to Jordan River NFH to support future stocking activities in Saginaw Bay. The goal of the second project was to collect bloater (C. hoyi) from Lake Michigan to begin the culture of a representative brood stock for stocking into Lake Ontario. In 2018 and 2020 a commercial bottom trawler (Susie Q Fisheries, Two Rivers, Wisconsin) sampled spawning bloater in offshore water (>90m) weekly during January and February. No sampling occurred during 2019 due to the federal shutdown. Sampling continued until ~100 spawning pairs were collected, and all eggs were transferred to the Jordan River NFH for incubation. Each spawn pairing (family) consisted of one female crossed with two males. There were a total of 120 families used in 2018, whose progeny represent an effective population size (Ne) of 320 individuals (Kapuscinksi and Jacobson 2007). In 2020, a total 75 families were used which produced a separate progeny line with an estimated effective population size of 200.