Any specific topics or questions for LOCBA talk?

[schreckstoff]

Wondering what folks are interested in hearing about or discussing at LOCBA Mtg on Mar 1. 
 

I thought there might be interest in the 2020 angler-provided diet data, & how those trends  compare to past diet trends. I’m always interested in blathering about Whitefish & Cisco spawning research, any preyfish stuff, or food web topic, or the different survey methods we are hoping to test.

 

PM or reply if you have ideas,

bw

 

 

[Legacy]

27 minutes ago, schreckstoff said:

Wondering what folks are interested in hearing about or discussing at LOCBA Mtg on Mar 1. 
 

I thought there might be interest in the 2020 angler-provided diet data, & how those trends  compare to past diet trends. I’m always interested in blathering about Whitefish & Cisco spawning research, any preyfish stuff, or food web topic, or the different survey methods we are hoping to test.

 

PM or reply if you have ideas,

bw

 

 

 

You must have read my mind... I was actually going to message you about posting something! Thanks for all you do sir!

[Yankee Troller]

I'm interested in understanding how certain baitfish provide more, or better, nutrients to prey than others. For example, if Smelt are more nutritious that Alewife what can we do to provide better spawning habitats, or increase Smelt survival in the Lake. Smelt rule the roost in Lake Erie from what I understand, and we're just downstream from that. I'm also interested in how Smelt and Alewife interact with each other. Where do they live in comparison? Can we have both as a sustainable baitfish option, or is it one or the other?

 

Other topics :

1. How do we educate Salmon to eat Bloaters
2. Caledonia

[GAMBLER]

35 minutes ago, Yankee Troller said:

I'm interested in understanding how certain baitfish provide more, or better, nutrients to prey than others. For example, if Smelt are more nutritious that Alewife what can we do to provide better spawning habitats, or increase Smelt survival in the Lake. Smelt rule the roost in Lake Erie from what I understand, and we're just downstream from that. I'm also interested in how Smelt and Alewife interact with each other. Where do they live in comparison? Can we have both as a sustainable baitfish option, or is it one or the other?

 

Other topics :

1. How do we educate Salmon to eat Bloaters
2. Caledonia

Cant have a good meeting without Caledonia coming up!  

[Capt Vince Pierleoni]

Sorry I can't make this one. This guy has a wealth of knowledge and experience and is very passionate about what he does. He willingly will go shoulder and knee deep in slime. 

As long as no one brings up wild Lake trout and Sturgeon recruitment he will stay on topics requested and not go off on tangents! 

One topic you may consider for the attendees Schreck, is do we need to be concerned with the current administrations effort to clean up the Great Lakes going too far(and affecting the food chain) leaving us with sterile, fishless water?

I know that Dr Tanner was against the Feds imposing their management wishes upon the States and their individual goals and strategies, is this something to keep an eye on?   

[Missdemeanor]

Cant have a good meeting without Caledonia coming up!  

Nope!

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[HB2]

How about a new state of the art hatchery ? 

[Missdemeanor]

How about a new state of the art hatchery ? 

It's funny... That would make the most sense... But we all know how that goes.

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[schreckstoff]

Rainbow Smelt & their comparisons & interactions with Alewife, an excellent topic! definitely appropriate given recent Smelt increases observed in Niagara Riv region.

 

Always happy to talk about nutrients and fishery productivity.

 

Salmon eating Bloater is also interesting, and I have to imagine they are already doing that well given the low Bloater #s in the trawls. I have a hypothesis that Chinook diets are more reflective of silvery prey fish relative abundance, no matter which species they are. If Bloater eventually make up say 2-5 % of the overall LO pelagic preyfish biomass then they’ll make up 2-5% of King diets. Looking at Kings in the Dakota lakes (Oahe, Sakakawea) shows how well they can do on Smelt and Cisco as forage.
 

All excellent topics, thanks! Feel free to bring up others. I might not be able to get to all of them in one talk but I’ll do whatever I can to address them at some point.

 

Bw

 

Swega harbor nearly ice-free. I’ll check the ramp on Friday and report on its condition.

[Missdemeanor]

Brian... It's great to see someone who is knowledgeable and passionate about the Lake biomass. Thank you for your work you do and also thank you for taking time to talk to us fisherman.

Sent from my VS996 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[Yankee Troller]

Another question I had is about the strain that certain species put on the Alewife population. In tough years, like most of the lake experienced last season, A LOT of Lake Trout get taken out of the system. At what point does this decrease in bottom vacuums help us to get those Alewife numbers rebounding? Does it even help?

[HB2]

Well it seems to me it would be nice to get something tangeble out of this. Something that could actually improve the fishery and safeguard something that could be catastrophic at another hatchery . 

 

All the answers about bait , etc are good , but improvements and building upon what we now have would be awesome . 

 

Not just for LO , but the western and central NY fishery in general . 

[Legacy]

5 minutes ago, HB2 said:

Well it seems to me it would be nice to get something tangeble out of this. Something that could actually improve the fishery and safeguard something that could be catastrophic at another hatchery . 

 

All the answers about bait , etc are good , but improvements and building upon what we now have would be awesome . 

 

Not just for LO , but the western and central NY fishery in general . 

 

So the April LOCBA meeting we will have Chris Legard and Steve Hurst as guest speakers and would certainly be a good place to mention that.

[HB2]

And furthermore , I would like to see , if possible , the hatchery in very close proximity to a university that offers fishery biology . They could help with all aspects from start to finish of  raising  and research on this . Possibly an  entire great lakes program . 

 

Kind of like the U of R and Strong hospital . 

 

If this can happen , do it right for the long term . 

Edited February 23, 2022 by HB2

[cdq]

On 2/23/2022 at 4:43 AM, schreckstoff said:

Rainbow Smelt & their comparisons & interactions with Alewife, an excellent topic! definitely appropriate given recent Smelt increases observed in Niagara Riv region.

 

Always happy to talk about nutrients and fishery productivity.

 

Salmon eating Bloater is also interesting, and I have to imagine they are already doing that well given the low Bloater #s in the trawls. I have a hypothesis that Chinook diets are more reflective of silvery prey fish relative abundance, no matter which species they are. If Bloater eventually make up say 2-5 % of the overall LO pelagic preyfish biomass then they’ll make up 2-5% of King diets. Looking at Kings in the Dakota lakes (Oahe, Sakakawea) shows how well they can do on Smelt and Cisco as forage.
 

All excellent topics, thanks! Feel free to bring up others. I might not be able to get to all of them in one talk but I’ll do whatever I can to address them at some point.

 

Bw

 

Swega harbor nearly ice-free. I’ll check the ramp on Friday and report on its condition.

Hi Brian, you know I am always up for an alewife condition talk! Or a good PSD talk.

 

I think a good topic to talk about is alewife PSD, I would think we’d talk about more as a relative size distribution maybe based off of year class statistics because there isn’t gablehouse lengths for alewife (at least that I know of). Always love native coregonid talks.

[Gill-T]

With north wind came pack ice into Olcott Harbor. With last weeks thaw, the black invaders came back. It won’t be long now boys!

Edited February 28, 2022 by Gill-T