Position and residency patterns of eastern Lake Erie Lake Sturgeon in the headwaters of the upper Niagara River evaluated using a non-VPS acoustic telemetry array: Informing transition to VPS Rachel D. Neuenhoff*, John Sweka, Lori Davis, Jonah Withers Northeast Fishery Center, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Lamar, PA 16848 Results: Introduction: • All LS were detected in the array in the 2015 release • Life history information for eastern Lake Erie year, and again in 2016 (Fig. 3) (LE) Lake Sturgeon (LS) is lacking relative to • LS had similar positional patterns across 2015 and 2016. • Late spring: LS spent time near the eastern system of other LE populations breakwalls and made several forays possibly into the • We examined residency in the headwaters of river at the northern end of the array the upper Niagara River (UNR) (Fig. 1) May 2015 May 2016 • Summer/Fall: most LS were localized in the northwest • Data inform questions about range, site fidelity end of the array and life history of this population • Many LS left the array several times, and were detected on other GLATOS project receivers near the central Methods: basin in both years • 2015/16 data informed 2017 VPS array design (Fig. 4) • Implanted 19 LS in 2015 with 69kHz acoustic transponders (Fig. 1) • Transmitted location data to an array of Vemco© VR2W Discussion: • Eastern LE LS demonstrate acoustic receivers deployed in the spring, summer and fall of June 2015 June 2016 2015 and 2016 (Fig. 3) annual use patterns near • After retrieval, associated .vrl files were submitted to the headwaters of the UNR GLATOS • LS use headwaters of UNR • Detections for all LS were collated by month in 2015 and during and outside of the 2016 spawning season • Position estimated by box kernal procedure per Hedger et al. • Study offers insight into 2008 possible spawning • We present a modified array to allow for VPS (Vemco locations near the UNR • VPS will provide precise Positioning System) in future years July 2015 July 2016 positional information to better inform movement behavior, habitat Fig. 4 Vemco Positional System re-design for the UNR in the 2017 field season. The northern extent preferences and life of the array was targeted for transition to VPS due to observed seasonal positional associations within history requirements the array. References Hedger, R. D., Martin, F., Dodson, J, J., Hatin, D., Caron, F., and Whoriskey, F. G. 2008. The optimized Aug 2015 Aug 2016 interpolation of fish positions and speeds in an array of fixed acoustic receivers. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 65: 1248–1259.

Fig. 1. Map of study site within Lake Erie with Acknowlegements GLATOS receivers indicated. Positions were Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) estimated from fish detected in non-VPS array of Great Lakes Acoustic Telemetry Observation System (GLATOS) VR2W receivers at 500m spacing in the headwaters of the UNR. Buffalo State University of New York New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Fig. 2. Surgically implanting LS Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources with acoustic U.S. Army Corps of Engineers transmitters. U.S. Coast Guard U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Sept 2015 Sept 2016 Fig. 3. Box kernal estimated position of implanted LS in late spring, summer and early fall of 2015 Lower Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office (Left) and 2016 (Right).