Early Mortality of Lake Trout in the Great Lakes

Coordination Workshop | Sponsored by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission

On October 2 and 3, 2008, the Quantitative Fisheries Center at Michigan State University will be hosting the first of two coordination workshops intended to gain greater understanding of the role that mortality of age-1 lake trout has played in structuring lake trout populations in the Great Lakes. Questions that we hope to answer during the first workshop include the following:

(1) What is the current status of lake trout populations in the Great Lakes?
(2) What methods are currently used for evaluating first year survival of stocked lake trout?
(3) What processes affect first year survival of stocked lake trout among the Great Lakes and what is the relative importance of these factors?
(4) What is the effectiveness of different stocking strategies in maintaining first year survival of stocked lake trout in relation to changes in adult densities?

Workshops will consist of key-note speakers and presentations by university, state, federal, provincial, and tribal fishery biologists with familiarity of lake trout populations in the Great Lakes. Workshops will also include focused discussions or break-out groups to address key issues concerning lake trout mortality and to develop working hypotheses that will be addressed in the second workshop.
This workshop will be held at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center on the Michigan State University Campus in East Lansing, MI. A block of rooms has been reserved for the workshop under the function name "Great Lakes Lake Trout Mortality Workshop". Rooms will be held until September 1, 2008. Please contact Travis Brenden (brenden@msu.edu) or Ji He (hej@michigan.gov) for additional information about the workshop.

Location:
Room 104 A & B
Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center
Michigan State University
55 South Harrison Road
East Lansing, Michigan 48824

Schedule of Presentations:

Day 1 – Thursday, October 2, 2008.

Introductory Comments – Tammy Newcomb
10:00 - 10:10 AM

Mark Ebener – Comparison of Lakes Huron and Lake Superior lake trout
10:10 - 10:40 AM

Brian Lantry – Lake Ontario lake trout
10:40 - 11:00 AM

Ted Schaner – Update of Lake Ontario lake trout management plan
11:00 - 11:20 AM

John Netto – Status of sea lamprey mortality on lake trout in the Great Lakes
11:20 - 11:40 AM

Ellen Marsden – Investigations into age-1 mortality of lake trout in Lake Champlain
11:40 - 12:00 PM

Lunch: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM (Corniche Room)

Jim Markham – Lake Erie lake trout
1:00 - 1:20 PM

John Fitzsimmons – Ontogeny of thiamine deficiency in Lake Ontario lake trout and its implications to lake trout recruitment
1:20 - 1:40 PM

Jory Jonas – A model of interstitial predation on lake trout eggs
1:40 - 2:00 PM

Stephen Riley – Thiamine status of lake trout eggs in lakes Michigan and Huron, 2007
2:00 - 2:20 PM

Gordon Paterson - Latitudinal and Temporal Declines in Great Lakes Lake Trout Energy Densities.
2:20 - 2:40 PM

Jim Johnson – Lake Huron foodweb changes: implications to juvenile salmonine survival and stocking strategies
2:40 - 3:00 PM

Afternoon Break 3:00 – 3:20 PM

Adam Cottrill – Ontario strategies and practices of lake trout stocking in Lake Huron
3:20 - 3:40 PM

Aaron Woldt – Practices and strategies of lake trout stocking in US waters of Lake Huron
3:40 - 4:00 PM

Chuck Bronte and Aaron Woldt – Overview of lake trout coded-wire tag program, the past, current, and future
4:00 - 4:20 PM

Mike Hansen – Keynote
4:20 - 5:00 PM

Day 2 – Friday, October 3, 2008.

Jim Bence – Overview of statistical catch at age modeling
9:00 - 9:20 AM

Shawn Sitar – Pre-recruit lake trout surveys in Lake Superior and application in stock assessments
9:20 - 9:40 AM

Stephen Riley – Trends in lake trout catches from USGS Lake Huron trawl surveys
9:40 - 10:00 AM

Tim O’Brien and Ed Rosemen – Diet of age-0 heritage lake trout
10:00 - 10:20 AM

Morning Break: 10:20 – 10:40 AM

Adam Cottrill – Summary and use of lake trout data collected in gill net surveys on Ontario waters of Lake Huron
10:40 – 11:00 AM

Ji He and Mark Ebener – Spring gillnetting lake trout survey in Lake Huron main basin
11:00 – 11:20 AM

Discussion Session (We will break for lunch at around 12:20 PM – Lunch will be served in the Corniche Room)
11:20 – 3:00 PM

Discussion Topics
Comparison of processes among lakes
Lake trout ecology with emphasis on juveniles
Stocking practices and strategies
Survey based measures of processes
Location, format, topics
Possible speakers for second workshop