Fisheries Research Board of Canada ANNUAL REPORT to the GREAT LAKES FISHERY COMMISSION of activities carried out under a Memorandum of Agreement during the period APRIL 1, 1964 to MARCH 31, 1965 With Investigators' Summaries as Appendices Fisheries Research Board of Canada ANNUAL REPORT to the GREAT LAKES FISHERY COMMISSION of activities carried out under a Memorandum of Agreement during the period April 1, 1964 to March 31, 1965 With Investigators Summaries as Appendices 1 Annual Report to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission for 1964-65 This report is submitted in - compliance with terms of a Meinorandum of Agreement between the Fisheries Research Board of Canada and the Great Lakes Fishery Commission. Appended are detailed accounts by those responsible for specific aspects of the program. MAINTENANCE OF ELECTRICAL BARRIERS Barriers were maintained and operated on the eight Lake Superior streams specified in the Memorandum of Agreement, namely: Big Carp, Harmony, Chippewa, Batchawana, Sable, Pancake, Pays Plat, and Big Gravel. Except for a few insignificant interruptions, all eight barriers were operated con- tinuously from May 15 to July 31 inclusive. Details on lampreys counted at the barriers are given in Appendix 1, and information on sex and size is given in Appendix 4. As Appendix 2 indicates, an unusual amount of barrier main- tenance was required in 1964. Although not specified in the Memorandum of Agreement, but as pro- vided for in paragraph 5 of same, electrical barriers were constructed on three Lake Huron streams: Root River, Garden River, and at the junction of the Naiscoot and Harris Rivers. Preliminary arrangements were also made for the acquisition of sites for eight other barriers on Lake Huron streams. Almost all of the material used in the new barriers- had been salvaged from Lake Superior barriers that had been dismantled several years ago. Details are given in Appendix 3. CHEMICAL TREATMENT OPERATIONS Surveys: Routine re-surveys were carried out on 49 Lake Superior streams. As a result one stream, Blende Creek, was added to the list of streams known to harbor sea lampreys. Post-treatment surveys were carried out on 14 Lake Superior streams; they indicated that sonie sea lamprey ammocoetes had survived treatment in Stillwater Creek and in West Davignon Creek. Surveys designed to determine which streams harbor sea lamprey ammo- coetes were carried out on 136 streams tributary to Lake Huron, on 23 streams tributary to the connecting waters between Lakes Huron and Erie, on 174 Lake Erie streams, and on 293 Lake Ontario streams. As a result, the list of streams known to harbor sea lamprey ammocoetes was increased as follows; 4 2 Lake Huron by 0; connecting waters by 1; Lake Erie by 4; Lake Ontario by 5. nn. Canadian tributaries of the Great Lakes have now been surveyed at least ,Ance. The number of tributaries of each known to harbor sea lamprey am- *mocoetes is as follows: Lake Superior, 38; Lake Huron, 38; Lake St. Clair, 1; Lake Erie, 6; Lake Ontario, 21. An electrified beam trawl was again used to assess the prevalence of lake-dwelling sea lamprey ammocoetes. The already known lacustrine population in Batchawana Bay seemed relatively unchanged from 1963. None were found in hauls that covered an estimated total of 11,000 square yards in Michipicoten Bay. Lacustrine sea lamprey ammocoetes were found in Nipigon Bay off the Jackfish River, also in Helen Lake, an expansion of the Nipigon River. Detail on the above surveys are given in Appendices 5, 6, 7, 18 and 19. Treatment: - Of 15 streams specified in the Memorandum of Agreement, 14 were treated. Exceptionally heavy rains made treatment of the Black Sturgeon River impractical. Blende Creek, where sea lampreys were undiscovered un- til 1964, was treated after consultation with the Commission's Secretariat. The synergist, Bayer 73, was used in conjunction with the usual lam- pricide, TFM, in all the larger streams that were treated in 1964. The amount of TFM needed when Bayer 73 was added was notably less than with TFM alone. Treatment costs were materially reduced by adding the synergist. It soon be- came apparent, however, that in small streams the amount saved on chemical costs by using Bayer 73 is not worth the difficulties that result from a tendency for the synergist to clog the app'aratus used to introduce lampricides into the stream' s, thereby damaging equipment, slowing the work, and ,increasing the chances of failure of the treatment. The synergist was therefore not used on small streams. A number of minor studies associated with lamprey bi ol ogy have been car ried out. They were des igned to yi el d i nf or mat ion 1 ikel y to i ncr eas e the ef fect ivenes s of the treatment pr ogr am and/or per t inent t o s upplying information on the ef f ecti veness of treatments. Details on treatment s and r elated s ubj ects ar e gi ven i n Appendi ces 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, and 21. RESEARCH It leas not practicable to car r y out the research specified in the Memorandum of Agr eement . 3 LIST OF APPENDICES Item • • Append! x . Page Speci es Named .. .. ; ..... 5 Oper ation and Maintenance of Electrical Barrier s, Lake Superior , 1964 1 6 Repairs and Cons truct ion of Electrical Barrier a, Lake .Superior , 1964 2 7 Cons truct ion of Electrical Barrier s; Lake Hur on, 1964, with Figure Indi cating Location of Bar rier Sites on Lakes Super for and Hur on 3 8 Adul t Sea Lampr eys Collected at Lake Super ior Electrical Barrier s, 1963 and 1964 4 10 Sea Lampr ey Surveys , Lake Super tor . 1964 5 11 Sea Lamprey Surveys , Lakes Huron; St. Clair, Erie and Ontario, 1964 6 14 Sea Lamprey Distribution on the Cana di an Side of the Great Lakes , 1964 7 16 Stream Treatments, Lake Superior, 1958-1964 . 8 22 Summary of . Chemical Treatment s of Streams, Lake Super ior -1964 9 26 Indi vi dual Stream Treatment Repor ts, Lake Super . ior , 1964 . 10 ; 8 Comparison of Suscept ibi lity of Two Genera of Lampr eys to Lamprici de TFM and to TFM pl us Bayer 73, 1964 11 66 Comparison of Bio-as say Resul ts Using TFM and TFM pl us Bayer 73, 1964 12 67 Comparison of Cost of Rivers Treated with the Lamprici de TFM and TFM plus the Synergi st Bayer 73 13 69 Effects of Fluct uating Water Levels on Ammocoete Activity at Various Water Temperatures 14 71 1 4 Item Appendix _Page The Effects oLFliactuating Water Level s in Nipigon River on Ammocoete Distribution 15 72 , Effect s of Fluct uating Wat er Level s on Ammocoete ' Activi ty During Fiel d Experiments 16 74 Some Interesting Stream Treatment Records , 17 77 An Electric Trawl Designed for the Capt ur e of . Lamprey Ammocoetes 18 78 Estimates of Population Densities of Sea Lampr ey ' Ammocoetes in Certain Bays ,of Lake .Super ior • 1964 • . • - 19 - 80 • • • Preliminary Studi es of Lampr ey Biology Using Elect rophoresis ...... / 20 81 • • -1 Permanent Camp Sites - Lakes Superior and Huron . 21 83 A ' ' 1 I , -; /`. MUM a / À 1 f I 10. 5 SPECIES NAMED The following species of aquatic ver tebr at es ar e ment ioned in thi s repor t and its appendi ces ; synonymy is indi cat ed to as s ist the reader in ident ificat ion. In most cas es the "common name" is the one recommended. by a committee of the American Fisheries Society. "Shor t" names ar e al ter natives us ed f or br evi t y or to incl ude mor e than one s peci es. An aster isk in the "common name" column indi cat es the des i gnat i on when i dent i ficati on is not made to species. Common Name Scient ific Name Shor t Name Sea lampr ey Petromyzon mar inus lampr ey Silver lampr ey Icht hyomyzon uni cus pi s lampr ey Michigan br ook 1 ampr ey Icht hyom_yzon f os s or lampr ey * Icht yomyzon s pp. 1 ampr ey Amer ican brook 1 ampr ey Ent osphenus 1 amot t ei lampr ey Rai nbow trout Sal mo gair dner i trOUt Brook trout Salvel i nus f ont inal is trout Lake whi t ef i sh Coregonus cl upeaf or mi s whitefish Menominee Pros opi um cyl i ndr aceum ... Longnos e s ucker Cat os t omus cat os t omus s ucker Longnos e dace Rhini cht hys cat ar act ae dace or mi nnow Spot tail shi ner Notropi s huds oni us • • • Notropi s spp. shi ner Mus kel 1 unge Esox mas qui nongy Norther n pi ke Esox luci us pi ke Yellow wal leye Stizos tedi uni vi treum walleye Johnny dar t er Etheos toma ni gr um ... Etheos toma s pp. dar ter Cottus spp. scul pi n J. J. Tibbles Appendix 1 OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF ELECTRICAL BARRIERS, LAKE SUPERIOR, 1964 r Lamprey barriers were again operated •on the following eight Lake Superior ' r ; tributaries: Big Carp, Harmony, Chippewa, Batchawana, Sable, and Pancake Rivers near Sault Ste. Marie, and the Pays Plat and Gravel Rivers near Nipigon. The location of these barrier sites is indicated on the map accompanying Appen- dix :3, "Construction of Electrical Barriers - Lake Huron". The barriers were operated continuously from May 15 to July 31. By this date, as in the past, the recovery at the barriers indicated that the lampreys had practically completed their spawning run.