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Larval fish distribution in the St. Louis River estuary
Citation:
Ramage, H., Greg Peterson, C. Meredith, A. Trebitz, AND J. Hoffman. Larval fish distribution in the St. Louis River estuary. Minnesota Chapter of the American Fisheries Society, Duluth, MN, February 01 - 03, 2016.
Impact/Purpose:
not applicable
Description:
Our objective was to determine what study design, environmental, and habitat variables contribute to the distribution and abundance of larval fish in the St. Louis River estuary. Larval fish habitat associations are poorly understood in Great Lakes coastal wetlands, yet critical for improving detection programs for non-native fishes and also management and restoration of this essential fish nursery habitat. In 2013, a Generalized Random Tessellation Stratified (GRTS) spatial sampling design was used to select and then sample 124 sites in the estuary. A total of 11,241 larval fish, representing 29 species, were collected utilizing five gear types (beach seine, neuston net, towed sled, Tucker trawl, light trap). We found, based on gear-specific ordination analysis, that larval fish distributions had strong associations with environmental variables which reflect the ecosystem seasonality. Moreover, fish larvae had associations with water quality-related habitat variables. This study was the first estuary-scale larval fish survey of the St. Louis River estuary and provides a foundation for further research addressing aquatic invasive species detection as well as the effects of ongoing wetland restoration.