Assessment of Differences in Performance of Two Lake Trout Stocking Strategies in Lake Champlain Using Lipid Analysis
Conference Year
2023
Abstract
Juvenile lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) in Lake Champlain are stocked at age-0 in fall as Lake Champlain (LC) strain and at age-1 in spring as Seneca Lake (SL) strain, or are naturally produced. I compared performance among these three groups based on their lipid content and used genetic analyses to identify the strain of stocked individuals. Average lipid content is highest in wild juveniles, but SL strain fish average higher lipid content than LC strain individuals. Stocking of the SL strain ended in 2021 which could lead to population declines considering SL strain fish perform better than LC strain fish.
Primary Faculty Mentor Name
Ellen Marsden
Secondary Mentor Name
Matthew Futia
Graduate Student Mentors
Ben Marcy-Quay
Status
Undergraduate
Student College
Rubenstein School of Environmental and Natural Resources
Program/Major
Wildlife and Fisheries Biology
Primary Research Category
Life Sciences
Assessment of Differences in Performance of Two Lake Trout Stocking Strategies in Lake Champlain Using Lipid Analysis
Juvenile lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) in Lake Champlain are stocked at age-0 in fall as Lake Champlain (LC) strain and at age-1 in spring as Seneca Lake (SL) strain, or are naturally produced. I compared performance among these three groups based on their lipid content and used genetic analyses to identify the strain of stocked individuals. Average lipid content is highest in wild juveniles, but SL strain fish average higher lipid content than LC strain individuals. Stocking of the SL strain ended in 2021 which could lead to population declines considering SL strain fish perform better than LC strain fish.