Egg Deposition by Lithophilic-Spawning Fishes in the Detroit and Saint Clair Rivers, 2005–14 Scientific Investigations Report 2017–5003 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Cover. Viable lake whitefish eggs collected from the Detroit River. Photograph by U.S. Geological Survey Great Lakes Science Center staff. Egg Deposition by Lithophilic-Spawning Fishes in the Detroit and Saint Clair Rivers, 2005–14 By Carson G. Prichard, Jaquelyn M. Craig, Edward F. Roseman, Jason L. Fischer, Bruce A. Manny, and Gregory W. Kennedy Scientific Investigations Report 2017–5003 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Department of the Interior SALLY JEWELL, Secretary U.S. Geological Survey Suzette M. Kimball, Director U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia: 2017 For more information on the USGS—the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment—visit http://www.usgs.gov or call 1–888–ASK–USGS. 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ISSN 2328-0328 (online) iii Acknowledgments We thank Rose Ellison from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Jen Read and Lynn Vaccaro of the University of Michigan Water Center, and Mike Thomas of the Michigan Depart- ment of Natural Resources for their support with this research. Jim Boase and Justin Chiotti of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Alpena Fisheries Conservation Office and Rich Drouin of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry provided logistical support for various stages of field work. We acknowledge the efforts of numerous field technicians, graduate students, and interns who assisted with this work. Stacey Ireland and three anonymous reviewers provided useful comments that greatly improved the quality of this manuscript. This is Scientific Investi- gations Report 2017–5003 of the USGS Great Lakes Science Center. This work was funded by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Project #70–Fish Habitat Enhancement Strategies for the Huron–Erie Corridor and the USGS Science Support Program Project 10–R3–04. iv Contents Abstract ...........................................................................................................................................................1 Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................1 Methods...........................................................................................................................................................3 Study Location .......................................................................................................................................3 Fish Egg Sampling .................................................................................................................................3 Data Analyses........................................................................................................................................4 Results .............................................................................................................................................................6 Detroit River ...........................................................................................................................................6 Saint Clair River ...................................................................................................................................13 Discussion .....................................................................................................................................................15 Summary........................................................................................................................................................17 References Cited..........................................................................................................................................17 Figures 1. Map showing location of the Saint Clair–Detroit River System identifying major landmarks and metropolitan areas ............................................................................................2 2. Maps showing egg sampling locations on the Saint Clair and Detroit Rivers ...................5 3. Bar chart showing average duration of egg collections of lithophilic-spawning fishes in the Detroit and Saint Clair Rivers for years in which the onset and cessation of spawning were detected ....................................................................................10 4. Cumulative mean catch-per-unit effort of eggs on mats sampled on or near the artificial reef complex off the northeastern shores of A, Belle Isle 2005–14; and B, Fighting Island 2006–14 .................................................................................................11 5. Cumulative mean catch-per-unit effort of eggs on mats sampled in the vicinity of the artificial reef complex at the head of Fighting Island ................................................12 6. Densities of eggs collected 2010–14 at five regions sampled each year in the Saint Clair River ...........................................................................................................................14 Tables 1. Median cumulative catch–per–unit effort of walleye eggs collected during spring egg mat sampling in the Detroit River, 2005–14 ...........................................................6 2. Median cumulative catch–per–unit effort of sucker eggs collected during spring egg mat sampling in the Detroit River, 2005–14 ...........................................................7 3. Median cumulative catch–per–unit effort of trout–perch eggs collected during spring egg mat sampling in the Detroit River, 2005–14 ..............................................8 4. Median cumulative catch–per–unit effort of lake whitefish eggs collected during fall egg mat sampling in the Detroit River, 2006–14 .....................................................8 5. Water temperatures corresponding to the onset and cessation of egg collections in the Detroit River, 2005–14 ...................................................................................9 6. Water temperatures corresponding to the onset and cessation of egg collections in the Saint Clair River, 2010–14 ...........................................................................14 v Conversion Factors International System of Units to U.S. customary units Multiply By To obtain Length centimeter (cm) 0.394 inch (in) meter (m) 3.28 foot (ft) kilometer (km) 0.621 mile (mi) Area hectare (ha) 2.47 acre square meter (m2) 10.8 square foot (ft2) hectare (ha) 0.00386 square mile (mi2) Volume cubic meter (m3) 35.3 cubic feet (ft3) Flow rate meter per second (m/s) 3.28 foot per second (ft/s) cubic meter per second (m3/s) 35.3 cubic foot per second (ft3/s) Mass kilogram (kg) 2.20 pound (lb) Temperature in degrees Celsius (°C) may be converted to degrees Fahrenheit (°F) as °F = (1.8 × °C) + 32 Abbreviations CPUE catch-per-unit effort GLSC Great Lakes Science Center SCDRS Saint Clair-Detroit River System USGS U.S. Geological Survey Egg Deposition by Lithophilic-Spawning Fishes in the Detroit and Saint Clair Rivers, 2005–14 By Carson G. Prichard, Jaquelyn M. Craig, Edward F. Roseman, Jason L. Fischer, Bruce A. Manny, and Gregory W. Kennedy Abstract SCDRS including walleye (Sander vitreus), lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis), cisco (Coregonus artedi), and A long-term, multiseason, fish egg sampling program lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) (Goodyear and others, conducted annually on the Detroit (2005–14) and Saint Clair 1982) that all contributed to a thriving commercial fishery (2010–14) Rivers was summarized to identify where produc- (Baldwin and others, 2009); however, habitat changes from tive fish spawning habitat currently exists. Egg mats were over a century of shipping channel excavation and dredging, placed on the river bottom during the spring and fall at historic shoreline development, and pollution cumulatively resulted in spawning areas and candidate fish spawning habitat restora- huge losses of fish spawning and nursery habitats (Edsall and tion sites throughout both rivers. Widespread evidence was others, 1988; Manny and others, 1988; Bennion and Manny, found of lithophilic spawning by numerous native fish species, 2011). These perturbations, in combination with heavy com- including walleye (Sander vitreus), lake whitefish Coregonus( mercial fishing pressure, led to large-scale losses of fish popu- clupeaformis), lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens), suckers lations in these rivers, including the local extirpations of cisco (Catostomidae spp.), and trout-perch (Percopsis omiscomaycus). and lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush)