Filling a data gap – Lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) index netting in the North Channel of Lake Huron
Keywords:
First Nation, commercial catch quotas, condition, catch-per-unit-effortAbstract
The Anishinabek/Ontario Fisheries Resource Centre collaborated with the First Nation communities along the North Channel of Lake Huron – Aundeck-Omni-Kaning, Mississauga, Sagamok Anishnawbek, Serpent River and Wikwemikong Unceded – on a 5-year lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) index netting project. The impetus for this undertaking was concern that adequate information was not available for the derivation of the commercial catch quotas by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. Traditional First Nation fishing waters were sampled from 2000 to 2004 using the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources index netting methodology. A total of 2,760 lake whitefish were caught in 468 net sets, representing up to 17 year classes. The catch-per-unit-effort, as well as the number of year classes represented in the catch, was greater in Aundeck-Omni-Kaning than in the other four areas in the North Channel. The size and age at which 50% of lake whitefish are mature, ranged from 350 mm to 520 mm and 3 to 5 years, respectively. The data gathered from this study augmented the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources biological catch data and was used in their statistical catch-at-age models for the derivation of lake whitefish commercial catch quotas in the North Channel.
References
Budd, J. 1957. Movements of tagged whitefish in northern Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc., 86: 128–134.
Casselman, J. M., Collins, J. J., Crossman, E. J., Ihssen, P. E. and Spangler, G. R. 1982. Lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) stocks of the Ontario waters of Lake Huron. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci., 38: 1772–1789.
Cottrill, R. A. 2001. Offshore Index Assessment Program 2001 Summary Report Upper Great Lakes Management Unit Lake Huron. Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources Queens Printer Report PS_2002_03
Cottrill, R. A. 2002. Offshore Index Assessment Program 2001 Summary Report Upper Great Lakes Management Unit Lake Huron. Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources Queens Printer Report PS_2002_03
Cottrill, R. A. 2003. Offshore Index Assessment Program 2001 Summary Report Upper Great Lakes Management Unit – Lake Huron. Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Queens Printer Report PS_2002_03
Crawford, S., Muir, A. and McCann, K. 2001. Ecological basis for recommendation of 2001 Saugeen Ojibway commercial harvest TACs for lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) in Lake Huron prepared for the Chippewas of Nawash First Nation, R. R. #5, Wiarton, Ontario
Cucin, D. and Regier, H. A. 1965. Dynamics and exploitation of lake whitefish in southern Georgian Bay. J. Fish. Res. Bd. Can., 23: 221–274.
Ebener, M. P., Bence, J. R., Newman, K. and Schneeberger, P. J. 2003. An overview of the application of statistical catch-at-age models to assess lake whitefish stocks in the 1836 treaty-ceded waters of the upper Great Lakes. Gt. Lakes Fish. Comm. Tech. Rep.,
Gile, S. R. and Taylor, H. W. 2003. Lake Huron Commercial Fishing Summary for 2003. Upper Great Lakes Management Unit Lake Huron Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources Queens Printer Report TR_LHA_2004_1
Gillies, M. 2004. Assessment of lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) stocks in Lake Superior and Lake Huron: Georgian Bay and the North Channel, 2002 (Year 1) Anishinabek/Ontario Fisheries Resource Centre Report
Harley, S. J., Myers, R. A. and Dunn, A. 2001. Is catch-per-unit-effort proportional to abundance?. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci., 58: 1760–1772.
Hilborn, R. and Walters, C. J. 1992. Quantitative fisheries stock assessment: choice, dynamics and uncertainty, New York: Chapman and Hall.
Maunder, M. N. 2001. A general framework for integrating the standardization of catch per unit effort into stock assessment models. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci., 58: 795–803.
Mohr, L. C., Cottrill, A., Milne, S. and Mcleish, D. 2003. Review of Status of Lake Whitefish Populations in the waters surrounding the Bruce Peninsula. Upper Great Lakes Management Unit Lake Huron, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. Queens Printer Report
Published
Issue
Section
License
Manuscripts must be original. They must not be published or be under consideration for publication elsewhere, in whole or in part. It is required that the lead author of accepted papers complete and sign the MSU Press AEHM Author Publishing Agreement and provide it to the publisher upon acceptance.
