Predation by Freshwater Seals on the Fish Community of Lower Seal Lake, Quebec
The presence of freshwater harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) in Lower Seal Lake, Quebec, has drastically modified the lake's fish community. Lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) are the most affected; they are small (rarely exceed 55 cm fork length), their growth rate is faster than in neighboring lak...
Published in: | Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada |
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Canadian Science Publishing
1978
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f78-135 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/f78-135 |
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/f78-135 2023-12-17T10:48:43+01:00 Predation by Freshwater Seals on the Fish Community of Lower Seal Lake, Quebec Power, G. Gregoire, Jean 1978 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f78-135 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/f78-135 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada volume 35, issue 6, page 844-850 ISSN 0015-296X General Medicine journal-article 1978 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/f78-135 2023-11-19T13:38:47Z The presence of freshwater harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) in Lower Seal Lake, Quebec, has drastically modified the lake's fish community. Lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) are the most affected; they are small (rarely exceed 55 cm fork length), their growth rate is faster than in neighboring lakes, their longevity is greatly reduced, the age at sexual maturity has been halved, and individual fecundity per unit weight has increased at the expense of egg diameter. Brook trout (S. fontinalis), the dominant fish species in the lake, show evidence of high mortality rates in the lake, but are protected during the vulnerable spawning period because their spawning sites are dispersed in tributary streams. Rough calculation suggests the seal population is small and that it consumes the lake's potential yield of fish annually. Key words: predation, freshwater seals, Phoca vitulina, Salvelinus namaycush, Salvelinus fontinalis Article in Journal/Newspaper Phoca vitulina Canadian Science Publishing (via Crossref) Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada 35 6 844 850 |
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Open Polar |
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Canadian Science Publishing (via Crossref) |
op_collection_id |
crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
topic |
General Medicine |
spellingShingle |
General Medicine Power, G. Gregoire, Jean Predation by Freshwater Seals on the Fish Community of Lower Seal Lake, Quebec |
topic_facet |
General Medicine |
description |
The presence of freshwater harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) in Lower Seal Lake, Quebec, has drastically modified the lake's fish community. Lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) are the most affected; they are small (rarely exceed 55 cm fork length), their growth rate is faster than in neighboring lakes, their longevity is greatly reduced, the age at sexual maturity has been halved, and individual fecundity per unit weight has increased at the expense of egg diameter. Brook trout (S. fontinalis), the dominant fish species in the lake, show evidence of high mortality rates in the lake, but are protected during the vulnerable spawning period because their spawning sites are dispersed in tributary streams. Rough calculation suggests the seal population is small and that it consumes the lake's potential yield of fish annually. Key words: predation, freshwater seals, Phoca vitulina, Salvelinus namaycush, Salvelinus fontinalis |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Power, G. Gregoire, Jean |
author_facet |
Power, G. Gregoire, Jean |
author_sort |
Power, G. |
title |
Predation by Freshwater Seals on the Fish Community of Lower Seal Lake, Quebec |
title_short |
Predation by Freshwater Seals on the Fish Community of Lower Seal Lake, Quebec |
title_full |
Predation by Freshwater Seals on the Fish Community of Lower Seal Lake, Quebec |
title_fullStr |
Predation by Freshwater Seals on the Fish Community of Lower Seal Lake, Quebec |
title_full_unstemmed |
Predation by Freshwater Seals on the Fish Community of Lower Seal Lake, Quebec |
title_sort |
predation by freshwater seals on the fish community of lower seal lake, quebec |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
1978 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f78-135 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/f78-135 |
genre |
Phoca vitulina |
genre_facet |
Phoca vitulina |
op_source |
Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada volume 35, issue 6, page 844-850 ISSN 0015-296X |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/f78-135 |
container_title |
Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada |
container_volume |
35 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
844 |
op_container_end_page |
850 |
_version_ |
1785572955284045824 |