USFWS Strategies for Early Detection of Non-native Species in Lake Huron
The State of Lake Huron Meeting Alpena, Michigan November 4-5, 2015
Anjanette Bowen, Stephen Hensler, and Chris Olds U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Alpena Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office • Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act (1990) reauthorized as National Invasive Species Act (1996)
• Executive Order 13112
• Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (1972), amended 2012 Annex 6 – Aquatic Invasive Species
• Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, FY 2010-2014 Action Plan Priority Focus Area – Invasive Species
Strategies for Early Detection of Non-native Species in Lake Huron Eurasian ruffe (Gymnocephalus cernua) surveillance program - 1995 to present in Lake Huron (Great Lakes Program - initiated 1982) - spring and fall sampling to determine presence and abundance
EDNA sampling for invasive carps - 2015 to present - spring water sampling targeting high risk areas for invasion
Early detection program for non-native fish species - 2013 to present - late summer to fall sampling for juvenile and adult species in high risk areas for invasion
Eurasian Ruffe Surveillance Program
Wisconsin
1. Port Dolomite 2. Cheboygan River 3. Trout River 4. Port of Calcite 5. Lafarge 6. Thunder Bay River 7. Thunder Bay 8. Au Sable River 9. Au Gres River 10. Saginaw River
Ruffe Control Program (Ruffe Control Committee, 1996) Surveillance Objective – “Conduct surveillance sampling in likely locations to find newly established populations of ruffe, and designate a single office to compile collections of ruffe.”
Thunder Bay River
Total count Total
Small-mesh gillnetting initiated Round Goby Relative Abundance Invasive Carp eDNA Collections 2015
Lake Huron (n=200) • Saginaw River • Cass River • Flint River • Shiawassee River • Tittabawassee River
Lake Erie (n=1434) • Ottawa River • Maumee River • Portage River • Sandusky River • Huron River • Black River • Cuyahoga River • Grand River
Results available at: http://www.fws.gov/midwest/fisheries/eDNA.html
Early Detection and Monitoring for Non-Native Fishes/Benthos Strategic Framework for the Early Detection of Non-native Fishes and Select Benthic Macroinvertebrates in the Great Lakes
“Service’s Region 3 and Region 5 Fish and Aquatic Resource Conservation Program, Great lakes Fish and Wildlife Conservation Offices will implement a comprehensive Great Lakes early detection program for non-native invasive fishes, and a targeted, focused early detection effort toward select benthic macroinvertebrates (mollusks and amphipods).”
Lakewide Implementation Plans
Vector Risk Analysis
Priority Sampling Areas Modified from Lake Superior Work Group 2010
Maritime Canals F&A Trade Agency Illegal Recreation Tourism Precedent Weight Factor 0.40 0.14 0.20 0.14 0.04 0.04 0.02 0.02 Site Score St. Marys River 0.40 0.00 0.28 0.14 0.00 0.04 0.03 0.00 1.00 1.89 Saginaw Bay 0.40 0.00 0.60 0.42 0.00 0.12 0.06 0.00 0.00 1.60 Presque Isle County - Stoneport, Rogers City 1.20 0.00 0.20 0.14 0.00 0.04 0.02 0.00 0.00 1.60 Mackinac County 0.40 0.00 0.20 0.14 0.00 0.04 0.02 0.06 0.00 0.86 Cheboygan County 0.40 0.00 0.24 0.14 0.00 0.04 0.03 0.00 0.00 0.85 Southern Huron - Port Huron 0.40 0.00 0.20 0.14 0.00 0.04 0.02 0.00 0.00 0.80 Thunder Bay 0.40 0.00 0.20 0.14 0.00 0.04 0.02 0.00 0.00 0.80 Iosco County-Tawas Bay 0.40 0.00 0.20 0.14 0.00 0.04 0.02 0.00 0.00 0.80 Alcona County 0.00 0.00 0.20 0.14 0.00 0.04 0.02 0.00 0.00 0.40 Juvenile and Adult Fish Sampling Approach: Rare Species Detection
. Trebitz et al. (2009) Exploiting habitat and gear patterns for efficient detection of rare and non- native benthos and fish in Great Lakes coastal ecosystems. Aquatic Invasions
. 95% of known species
. Phase 1: Multi-gear deployment with random allocation of sample sites based on water depth strata . Phase 2: Adjust allocation of gear to maximize the efficiency of detecting new species.
Gotelli and Colwell 2011 Hoffman et al. in review Sampling gear Depth strata Gear allocation Target effort
Fyke Net 0-1 m 33.3% 15
Electrofishing 1-2 m 33.3% 15
Trawl >2 m 33.3% 15 Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Upper Great Lakes Management Unit St. Marys River
2013 2014 Samples Species Samples Species Total Gear Species Fyke Net 15 25 15 27 28 Electrofishing 14 19 10 28 31 Trawl 15 18 15 12 20
Existing non-native species captured Round goby Threespine stickleback Rainbow smelt
2013-2014 Species Accumulation Curves
St. Marys River Total samples = 84 Total species = 44
Information Needs
• Future sampling in Lake Huron will include ichthyoplankton sampling • Expand high risk sampling coverage in US waters –high risk locations prioritized for future sampling • Timely results with new technology may be challenging – genetic barcoding • Need identification keys for high risk species likely to be introduced into the Great Lakes
Lake Trout – 3 lb 80 ft water off Rogers City – July 2015
Lake Trout Atlantic Salmon– 15 in 54 ft water off Rogers City – July 2015 60 ft water off Rogers City – October 2015
Photos courtesy of Frank Krist