Patrick Wolf MSc Candidate, Tufts lab Acoustic Telemetry Provides New Insights on the Ecology of Smallmouth Bass in Eastern Lake Ontario Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu) are an integral freshwater predator with a wide
distribution in North America. Our understanding of Smallmouth Bass ecology is extensive but primarily based on research from smaller inland lakes, rivers, and reservoirs. Smallmouth Bass are native to the Great Lakes, but much less is known about their ecology in these large waterbodies. In Lake Ontario, there is an urgent need for additional research on this species due to suggested changes in their population status by provincial and state agencies. Smallmouth Bass in the Southern Great Lakes have also recently experienced large increases in angling pressure due to the region's growing popularity of bass tournaments. The main objective of the present study was to examine whether a novel acoustic telemetry approach could be used to obtain new information on the ecology of Smallmouth Bass in the eastern basin of Lake Ontario. This study showed that it was possible to continuously monitor an experimental group of Smallmouth Bass using acoustic telemetry from September 2020 to October 2021. These results provide new evidence that Smallmouth Bass exhibit local residency in large lake ecosystems to a much greater degree than previously understood. Observations from acoustic transmitters also showed changes in the seasonal ecology of resident fish. Wintering areas were not far from summer home ranges, but Smallmouth Bass occupied deeper depths and reduced their activity during the winter. Some of these results have important implications for assessing and managing Smallmouth Bass populations in the Great Lakes. Comments are closed.
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