Acoustic telemetry reveals large-scale migration patterns of walleye in Lake Huron

Abstract

Fish migration in large freshwater lacustrine systems such as the Laurentian Great Lakes is not well understood. The walleye (Sander vitreus) is an economically and ecologically important native fish species throughout the Great Lakes. In Lake Huron walleye has recently undergone a population expansion as a result of recovery of the primary stock, stemming from changing food web dynamics. During 2011 and 2012, we used acoustic telemetry to document the timing and spatial scale of walleye migration in Lake Huron and Saginaw Bay. Spawning walleye (n = 199) collected from a tributary of Saginaw Bay were implanted with acoustic tags and their migrations were documented using acoustic receivers (n = 140) deployed throughout U.S. nearshore waters of Lake Huron. Three migration pathways were described using multistate mark-recapture models. Models were evaluated using the Akaike Information Criterion. Fish sex did not influence migratory behavior but did affect migration rate and walleye were detected on all acoustic receiver lines. Most (95%) tagged fish migrated downstream from the riverine tagging and release location to Saginaw Bay, and 37% of these fish emigrated from Saginaw Bay into Lake Huron. Remarkably, 8% of walleye that emigrated from Saginaw Bay were detected at the acoustic receiver line located farthest from the release location more than 350 km away. Most (64%) walleye returned to the Saginaw River in 2012, presumably for spawning. Our findings reveal that fish from this stock use virtually the entirety of U.S. nearshore waters of Lake Huron.

Figure 1. Map of study area and locations of acoustic receiver lines in Lake Huron and Saginaw Bay in 2011–2012.

Inset highlights study region within the Great Lakes region. Values in parentheses denote number of receivers at each location. Walleye were tagged and released in the Tittabawassee River (triangle) in April 2011. Acoustic receiver lines: BBI – Bois Blanc Island, FMP – Forty Mile Point, PRS – Presque Isle, THB – Thunder Bay, STG – Sturgeon Point, OSC – Oscoda, SBO – Saginaw Bay outer, SBI – Saginaw Bay inner, SGR – Saginaw River, TTB – Tittabawassee River, WHT – White Rock, BWB – Blue Water Bridge.

Figure 2. Histogram of the frequency and timing of walleye at Saginaw River, Saginaw Bay, Thunder Bay, Boise Blanc, and White Rock acoustic receiver lines (April 2011–April 2012; See Fig. 1 for receiver line locations).

Bars represent the number of walleye initially detected on a date for male (black) and female (red) walleye.

Figure 3. Movement probabilities for two migration pathways estimated from a multi-state mark-recapture model for tagged walleye released in the Tittabawassee River in 2011.

The northern pathway consists of movements from the Saginaw Bay (SBI/SBO) receiver line to the Oscoda (OSC), Sturgeon Point (STG), Thunder Bay (THB), Presque Isle (PRS), Forty Mile Point (FMP), or Bois Blanc Island (BBI) receiver lines. The southern pathway consists of movements to White Rock (WHT) and Blue Water Bridge (BWB) receiver lines from the Saginaw Bay (SBI/SBO) receiver line. See Fig. 1 for receiver line locations. Solid arrows represent the probability of moving between receiver arrays, given that a fish survives and is present. Dashed lines represent the probability that a fish detected at the location ceased migration after detection. Values in parentheses are standard error of the estimate.