Walleye Movements Within the Lake Huron and Lake Erie Corridor: Lessons from the Lake Erie Interagency Tagging ToddStudy Wills Michigan Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Division What is the Huron-Erie Corridor? Why are Walleye Important? Objectives
• Highlight interagency fisheries management • Describe the movement of walleye in the Huron-Erie Corridor (HEC) and beyond • Approximate the number of Lake Erie walleye migrating through the HEC How are Lake Erie Walleye Managed?
MU 5
MU 3 MU 4
MU 1 MU 2 Population Estimate of Age 2+ Walleye
1,808 tag returns
140
120
100
80
60
40
Millions of Millions of walleye 20
0
Year Interagency Jaw Tagging Study
• Essential component of collaborative walleye management in Lake Erie since 1978 • Allows estimation of population metrics such as survival, mortality, and exploitation Tagging site Capture site • Also provides data on walleye movement West Basin Walleye Tagging Sites
Tag sites
Lake St. Clair Creel survey grids
Lake Erie Number of Walleye Tagged
Tagging Site Total Number Chicken & Hen Islands 18,622 Sandusky River 8,167 Sandusky Bay 17,877 Bono 2,968 Maumee River 22,893 Sugar Rock 8,637 Maumee Bay 857 Raisin River 37,049 Huron River 7,453 Grand Total 124,523 Returns of Walleye in the HEC… 45 1,808 tag returns 40
35
30
25
20
15
10
Percent of tags recovered tags of Percent 5
0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Month of tag recovery
West Basin Lake Erie Detroit River Lake St. Clair St. Clair River …and Their Origin by Tagging Site
100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20
Percent of reported tags of reported Percent 10 0 Chicken SanduskySandusky Bono Maumee Sugar Maumee Raisin Huron & Hen River Bay River Rock Bay River River Islands 1,808 tag returns Tagging site West Basin Lake Erie Detroit River Lake St. Clair St. Clair River Do Walleye Move Beyond the HEC?
2,812 tag returns When are HEC Walleye Captured?
December November October September August July June May April March Calendar day recovered day Calendar February January
Tag recovery location
Raisin River tagging site 2,812 tag returns How Many Walleye Move Through HEC?
• Jaw tag return data show ~15% of walleye tagged in West Basin are recaptured north of Lake Erie (mostly in HEC) • Estimated West-Central Basin abundance: – 2006-2015 low: 24,039,030 walleye – 2006-2015 high: 83,920,517 walleye • Possible range of 3.6-12.6 million walleye moving north into HEC each In Summary:
• Lake Erie walleye are highly migratory – Substantial migration occurs after spawning – Walleye from across western Lake Erie move through the HEC – Lake Erie walleye tags recovered from southern Lake Huron, Saginaw Bay, and Straits of Mackinac • Lake Erie walleye stock is an important source of walleye for HEC and beyond What Don’t We Know?
• Jaw tags: – Dependent upon fishery returns – Reflect single capture location • Unable to determine: – Fine-scale movements – Stock-specific movement patterns – Motivation for migration Thank You!
Great Lakes, Great Times, Great Outdoors www.michigan.gov/dnr