1. Lake Erie Fisheries Community Status: 2013
Christopher S. Vandergoot
Sandusky Fisheries Research Station
Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife

2. Lake Erie Fisheries Community Status: 2013
Background
Physical Environment
Fish Community
Sampling Programs
Predator Trends
Western and Central Basin
Eastern Basin
Prey Trends
Factors Affecting Fish Community

3. Lake Erie Fisheries Community Status: 2013
West to east gradient in depth, temperature, and productivity
West to east gradient in fish community
Warm and cool water species dominant in west basin
Cool and cold water species dominant in east basin
West to east gradient in diversity
Nearshore fish community
West basin
East basin

4. Lake Erie Fisheries Community Status: 2013 Population Surveys
Lakewide harvest assessment programs
Lakewide gill net survey
Lakewide trawling survey
Lakewide acoustic survey
Other surveys
Lower trophic level
Diet assessment

5. Lake Erie Fisheries Community Status: 2013 Population Surveys
Port Stanley, ON
Fairport Harbor, OH
57850

6. Lake Erie Fisheries Community Status 2013 Lower Trophic Level Survey
Ontario 20 19 25 15 16 18 1 17 2 13 MI 14 9 PA NY 5 10 6
Added location of station 25 in the Eastern basin in 2009
Stations 5,6 in West Basin are not incorporated into database yet
Stations 13,14 in Central Basin were not sampled in 2011 3 11 4 12 OH PA OH 8 7 6

7. Lake Erie Fisheries Community Status: 2013 Predator Trends (West-central)
Declines in walleye abundance
2003 year-class still dominant
Highly variable recruitment
Recent recruitment mediocre
Changes in spatial structure*
Growth rates increasing
confounded by abundance?

8. Lake Erie Fisheries Community Status: 2013 Predator Trends (Lakewide)
Lakewide declines in yellow perch abundance
Majority of population in central basin
Highly variable recruitment
Movement patterns?

9. Lake Erie Fisheries Community Status: 2013 Predator Trends (West-central)
Declines in smallmouth bass abundance
Spring closure enacted 2003
Round goby nest predation
Potential cormorant predation
Increased abundance in other areas due to warming
Lack survey information

10. Lake Erie Fisheries Community Status: 2013 Predator Trends (East)
Population sustained via stocking/ limited natural reproduction
Abundance below target levels
Sea lamprey abundance on rise
Alternative strains evaluated
Experimental stocking in WB and CB basins

11. Lake Erie Fisheries Community Status: 2013 Predator Trends (East)
Population sustained via natural reproduction
Abundance levels declined recent years
Sea lamprey abundance on rise?

12. Lake Erie Fisheries Community Status: 2013 Nearshore Trends
Increases in largemouth bass
Increases in sunfish spp.
Lake sturgeon abundances
Nearshore community study
Vegetation= good

13. Lake Erie Fisheries Community Status 2013 Forage Fish Trends
Gradient in forage fish community from west to east
Higher diversity in east
Cluepids, shiners dominate in western basin
Rainbow smelt dominate eastern basin
Nearshore fish community?
West basin
East basin

14. Lake Erie Fisheries Community Status 2013 Forage Fish Trends
Functional forage groups
Decrease in clupeids
Increase in spiny rayed fish

15. Lake Erie Fisheries Community Status 2013 Forage Fish Trends
Since discovered abundance variable
Recent trends declining abundance in all basins

16. Lake Erie Fisheries Community Status 2013 Lower Trophic Level Trends 2012 Data
Dissolved Oxygen (mg/L)

17. Lake Erie Fisheries Community Status 2013 Factors Effecting Fish Community
Hypoxia
USGS, EPA & ODNR
Harmful Algal Blooms
AEL Ohio State

18. Lake Erie Fisheries Community Status: 2013
Acknowledgements
Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission
Ohio Department of Natural Resources
Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Walleye , Yellow Perch and Forage Task Groups
Lake Erie Millennium Network