Lake Ontario: Effects of Exploitation, Introductions, and Eutrophication on the Salmonid Community
Commercial catch statistics were analyzed to follow the sequence of events in the deterioration of the major fish stocks of Lake Ontario. Atlantic salmon (Salmo salas), lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush), burbot (Lota lota), deepwater ciscoes (Coregonus sp.), and whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) ha...
Published in: | Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada |
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Canadian Science Publishing
1972
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f72-134 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/f72-134 |
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/f72-134 2024-09-15T17:56:31+00:00 Lake Ontario: Effects of Exploitation, Introductions, and Eutrophication on the Salmonid Community Christie, W. J. 1972 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f72-134 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/f72-134 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada volume 29, issue 6, page 913-929 ISSN 0015-296X journal-article 1972 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/f72-134 2024-07-25T04:10:06Z Commercial catch statistics were analyzed to follow the sequence of events in the deterioration of the major fish stocks of Lake Ontario. Atlantic salmon (Salmo salas), lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush), burbot (Lota lota), deepwater ciscoes (Coregonus sp.), and whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) have all disappeared or declined seriously in abundance. Only the colonists alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), smelt (Osmerus mordax) and white perch (Morone americana) are currently abundant. Abundance of deepwater ciscoes is thought to have been controlled originally by the piscivores lake trout and burbot. Three deepwater cisco species are inferred to have been progressively eliminated by overfishing, leaving only the smallest and least valuable present when the fishery collapsed. The effects of the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) on the Lake Ontario fishes are held to have increased with the reduction of the number of dams in the watershed, and as fishing reduced numerical abundance and average size of the prey fishes. The early colonists alewife and carp (Cyprinus carpio) were thought to have stabilized early. It was suggested smelt were suppressed for many years by trout and burbot predation, and after the release of this constraint, the smelt in turn caused the collapse of the deepwater ciscoes and other species through predation. The white perch invasion of the Bay of Quinte was thought particularly swift and successful because of the absence of predators. Yellow perch (Perca flavescens) abundance may have increased because of eutrophication effects in the nearshore areas. Recent deterioration of water quality appears so extreme as to ensure that the last premium species which used the inshore areas cannot return. Overfishing is thought to have been the major destabilizing influence. The role of the open lake predators in the vectoring of energy and materials through the system is discussed. Article in Journal/Newspaper Atlantic salmon Burbot Lota lota lota Canadian Science Publishing Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada 29 6 913 929 |
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Open Polar |
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Canadian Science Publishing |
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crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
description |
Commercial catch statistics were analyzed to follow the sequence of events in the deterioration of the major fish stocks of Lake Ontario. Atlantic salmon (Salmo salas), lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush), burbot (Lota lota), deepwater ciscoes (Coregonus sp.), and whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) have all disappeared or declined seriously in abundance. Only the colonists alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), smelt (Osmerus mordax) and white perch (Morone americana) are currently abundant. Abundance of deepwater ciscoes is thought to have been controlled originally by the piscivores lake trout and burbot. Three deepwater cisco species are inferred to have been progressively eliminated by overfishing, leaving only the smallest and least valuable present when the fishery collapsed. The effects of the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) on the Lake Ontario fishes are held to have increased with the reduction of the number of dams in the watershed, and as fishing reduced numerical abundance and average size of the prey fishes. The early colonists alewife and carp (Cyprinus carpio) were thought to have stabilized early. It was suggested smelt were suppressed for many years by trout and burbot predation, and after the release of this constraint, the smelt in turn caused the collapse of the deepwater ciscoes and other species through predation. The white perch invasion of the Bay of Quinte was thought particularly swift and successful because of the absence of predators. Yellow perch (Perca flavescens) abundance may have increased because of eutrophication effects in the nearshore areas. Recent deterioration of water quality appears so extreme as to ensure that the last premium species which used the inshore areas cannot return. Overfishing is thought to have been the major destabilizing influence. The role of the open lake predators in the vectoring of energy and materials through the system is discussed. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Christie, W. J. |
spellingShingle |
Christie, W. J. Lake Ontario: Effects of Exploitation, Introductions, and Eutrophication on the Salmonid Community |
author_facet |
Christie, W. J. |
author_sort |
Christie, W. J. |
title |
Lake Ontario: Effects of Exploitation, Introductions, and Eutrophication on the Salmonid Community |
title_short |
Lake Ontario: Effects of Exploitation, Introductions, and Eutrophication on the Salmonid Community |
title_full |
Lake Ontario: Effects of Exploitation, Introductions, and Eutrophication on the Salmonid Community |
title_fullStr |
Lake Ontario: Effects of Exploitation, Introductions, and Eutrophication on the Salmonid Community |
title_full_unstemmed |
Lake Ontario: Effects of Exploitation, Introductions, and Eutrophication on the Salmonid Community |
title_sort |
lake ontario: effects of exploitation, introductions, and eutrophication on the salmonid community |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
1972 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f72-134 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/f72-134 |
genre |
Atlantic salmon Burbot Lota lota lota |
genre_facet |
Atlantic salmon Burbot Lota lota lota |
op_source |
Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada volume 29, issue 6, page 913-929 ISSN 0015-296X |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/f72-134 |
container_title |
Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada |
container_volume |
29 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
913 |
op_container_end_page |
929 |
_version_ |
1810432722267537408 |