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Overview of NYSDEC Surveys on Canadaway Creek

Overview of NYSDEC Surveys on Canadaway Creek. By Jim Markham Senior Aquatic Biologist - Coldwater Lake Erie Fisheries Unit. Salmonid Diary Program Tributary Angler Survey Wild Steelhead Survey Smolt Emigration Survey Sea Lamprey Nest Survey Habitat Improvements. Hannah Crane.

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Overview of NYSDEC Surveys on Canadaway Creek

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  1. Overview of NYSDEC Surveys on Canadaway Creek By Jim Markham Senior Aquatic Biologist - Coldwater Lake Erie Fisheries Unit

  2. Salmonid Diary Program Tributary Angler Survey Wild Steelhead Survey Smolt Emigration Survey Sea Lamprey Nest Survey Habitat Improvements Hannah Crane

  3. Steelhead Stocking Jon Sztukowski

  4. Trout Stocking in New York Waters of Lake Erie, 1968 - 2013 Yearling Equivalents (thousands)

  5. Ontario, Canada Buffalo/Cayuga/Caz Creeks 45,000 Lake Erie Eighteen Mile Creek 40,000 Cattaraugus Creek 90,000 Canadaway Creek 20,000 Silver/Walnut Creeks 20,000 New York Chautauqua Creek 40,000 Lake Erie Tributary Stocking Sites

  6. Salmonid Diary Program Christina Clark

  7. SalmonineStream Catch Rates from Lake Erie Angler Diaries, 1983 - 2012 Catch Rate (number/hr)

  8. Yearly catch rates from angler diary program for major Lake Erie tributaries, 1998 – 2012. Catch Rate (number/hr) Year

  9. Tributary Angler Survey Bruce Wager

  10. Survey Overview Initial angler surveys began in 2003-04; Subsequent surveys in 2004-05, 2007-08, and 2011-12 Designed to determine overall catch, use, and harvest of the tributary salmonid fishery Survey covered 8 stocked streams from mid-Sept. – mid-May 2 survey technicians conducted angler interviews and car counts at 73 different sites Also collected demographic and angler opinion information

  11. Total Tributary Angler Effort by Survey Year Angler Effort (hrs) Survey Year • NOTE: 10% decrease in total tributary effort in 2011-12

  12. Yearly angler effort from tributary angler survey for major Lake Erie tributaries, 2003 – 2012. Angler Effort (angler-hours) Year

  13. Tributary Catch Rates by Survey Year Catch Rates (fish/hr) Survey Year • NOTE: 42% decrease in tributary catch rates in 2011-12

  14. Yearly catch rates from tributary angler survey for major Lake Erie tributaries, 2003 – 2012. Catch Rate (number/hr) Year

  15. Total Tributary Catch by Survey Year Total Catch Survey Year • NOTE: 47% decrease in overall tributary catch in 2011-12

  16. Tributary Release Rates by Survey Year Release Rates (%) Survey Year

  17. Lake Erie Tributary Surveys for Wild Steelhead Production

  18. Big Sister Creek Reiter Creek Slippery Rock Creek Reproductive Potential Index RP = 0 (None) RP = 1 (Low) RP = 2 (Moderate) RP = 3 (Average) RP = 4 (Good) RP = 5 (High) Little Chautauqua Creek Bell Creek Delaware Creek Lake Erie Muddy Creek Clear Creek 2nd Gulf Spooner Creek 1st Gulf Crooked Brook Derby Brook Half-Way Brook Canadaway Creek Dunkirk Coon Brook Thatcher Brook Grannis Creek Corell Creek S. Branch Cattaraugus Creek Nigh Creek Beaver Creek Chautauqua Creek Waterman Brook Connoisarauley Creek Westfield

  19. Summary • Total of 30 streams sampled for potential YOY steelhead production since 2001 • Majority of streams have low potential for steelhead production; 13 streams have shown a moderate potential or higher • Of these, 5 streams (Spooner Creek, Derby Brook, Little Chautauqua Creek, Chautauqua Creek, N. Branch Clear Creek) were judged to have good - high potential for steelhead production; 3 average (Clear Creek, Coon Brook, Connoisarauley Creek)

  20. Study of Stocked Steelhead: Post-Stocking Emigration And Predator Diets

  21. AEFL Vagrancy of Hatchery-Stocked Steelhead Trout in Lake Erie Aquatic Ecology & Fisheries Lab Bowling Green State University Christopher T. Boehler, Jeffrey G. Miner, and John R. Farver Bowling Green State University AFS September 7, 2011

  22. NY streams - stocking origin OH PA NY MI Unknown Native Chautauqua Creek, NY (N = 67) Cattaraugus Creek, NY (N = 75) * ONLY 18% NY Fish

  23. Emigration and Predator Diets Study • Questions: • What is happening to our steelhead post-stocking? • Are predators in the lake affecting survival and subsequent returns of adults? Could predation on smolts be a cause of the recent downturn in the fishery? • What is the emigration pattern of steelhead following stocking? • Study: • Used Chautauqua and Canadaway Creeks. • Emigration: 2 sites in each stream for stream electrofishing; one near the stocking locations and the other near mouth of stream. Each site was sampled prior to stocking, and then weekly thereafter through May. • Predation: gill nets off creek mouths following major steelhead emigration. 2 times – once in April following stocking and once in May

  24. Emigration and Predator Diets PreliminaryResults • Sampling prior to stocking found no juvenile steelhead in Canadaway Creek but a good number of steelhead smolts at the mouth of Chautauqua Creek, presumably transients from an earlier steelhead stocking in Pennsylvania waters • Stocked steelhead did not appear to mass exit the stream following stocking but spread out and trickled out slowly. High numbers of steelhead appeared to remain upstream near the stocking location • Steelhead remaining near the upstream stocking spot over a month post-stocking did not appear to be in as good physical condition as steelhead that were sampled near the stream mouths • Predation on stocked steelhead smolts did not appear to be a major source of mortality. Walleye and smallmouth bass were the most common predators encountered during gill net sets off the creek mouths, and no steelhead smolts were found in the stomachs of either of these species.

  25. Size at Smolting • Literature suggests that minimum size at smolting is 150-160mm (5.9-6.3” inches); stocked steelhead smaller than this will not smolt and remain in the stream for a year or longer, and thus are subject to high mortality rates with little chance of providing benefits to the fishery • Studies on Pacific coast (Chrisp and Bjornn 1978; Bjornnet al. 1979) and in Michigan (Seelbach 1987) have determined that percent smolting and percent adult returns are insignificant when the average stocked size of steelhead is less than 160 mm (6.3 inches) • Conversely, those percentages increase dramatically when average size at stocking increases above this minimum threshold and peak at an average size of 200 mm (7.9 inches) and 6.0 fish/lb.

  26. Size at Stocking • Average length = 125mm (5.0 inches) • % fish > 150mm = 13.4%

  27. Preliminary Conclusions • Size at stocking indicates that NY stocked steelhead are small and may not contribute much to the Lake Erie fishery • These findings are consistent with the results of the otolith microchemistry research done by BGSU that found NY stocked fish contributed only around 18% to the NY fishery • Conversely, PA and OH stocked steelhead are stocked much larger and have a high contribution to the NY steelhead fishery • Domestic rainbows, which we annually stocked around 40,000 from 1979-2001, likely had a huge influence on our fishery because of their large size at stocking (8.0-8.5”) and high survival rate

  28. Sea Lamprey Nest Count Survey Density (nests/mile)

  29. Habitat Improvement Projects

  30. QUESTIONS?

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