Use of Fish Telemetry in Rehabilitation Planning, Management, and Monitoring in Areas of Concern in the Laurentian Great Lakes.

Freshwater ecosystems provide many ecosystem services; however, they are often degraded as a result of human activity. To address ecosystem degradation in the Laurentian Great Lakes, Canada and the United States of America established the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA). In 1987, 43 highly polluted and impacted areas were identified under the GLWQA as having one or more of 14 Beneficial Use Impairments (BUIs) to the physical and chemical habitat for fish, wildlife and humans, and were designated as Areas of Concern (AOC). Subnational jurisdictions combined with local stakeholders, with support from federal governments, developed plans to remediate and restore these sites. Biotelemetry (the tracking of animals using electronic tags) provides information on the spatial ecology of fish in the wild relevant to habitat management and stock assessment. Here, seven case studies are presented where biotelemetry data were directly incorporated within the AOC Remedial Action Plan (RAP) process. Specific applications include determining seasonal fish-habitat associations to inform habitat restoration plans, identifying the distribution of pollutant-indicator species to identify exposure risk to contamination sources, informing the development of fish passage facilities to enable fish to access fragmented upstream habitats, and assessing fish use of created or restored habitats. With growing capacity for fish biotelemetry research in the Great Lakes, we discuss the strengths and weaknesses of incorporating biotelemetry into AOC RAP processes to improve the science and practice of restoration and to facilitate the delisting of AOCs.

Spatial ecology of non-native common carp (Cyprinus carpio) in Lake Ontario with implications for management.

Common carp, Cyprinus carpio, are a non-native species that established within the Laurentian Great Lakes more than a century ago and are abundant in some locations. Common carp have negatively impacted freshwater ecosystems, including in the Great Lakes, by increasing turbidity and uprooting vegetation through foraging and/or spawning activities. Knowledge of spatial ecology is necessary to effectively manage non-native species and aid in the development of remediation strategies. The aim of this study was to examine the spatial ecology of common carp across multiple spatial scales within Lake Ontario using passive acoustic telemetry. First, Residency Index (RI), as a metric for habitat preference, was calculated for common carp in Toronto Harbour (TH) and Hamilton Harbour (HH). Linear mixed modelling revealed that season, as well as the interaction between season and physical habitat conditions significantly affected RI. Specifically, during spring and summer common carp had significantly higher RI at sites with increased submerged aquatic vegetation, which could be associated with spawning activities. All common carp tagged in HH were resident, compared to half of individuals tagged in TH. Larger individuals tagged in TH were more likely to be absent from the array during summer. Non-resident common carp tagged at TH made extensive movements in spring and summer along the nearshore of Lake Ontario and were detected throughout the entire basin. Knowledge of spawning habitat could inform efforts to exclude common carp from these specific locations. Based on our findings, common carp should be managed at a regional level, as opposed to single sites, owing to their extensive movements. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00027-022-00917-9.