Research Notes

A critical knowledge gap in efforts to conserve and restore cisco has been cisco taxonomy. New research using genomic tools to clarify cisco population structure and taxonomy is yielding exciting information that challenges the current understanding of the Great Lakes cisco family tree.

For years, the Chinook collected valuable data on the Great Lakes fishery, such as the impact of sea lampreys and the effectiveness of stocking programs. Its replacement, named after Dr. Howard Tanner, was funded in part by a grant from the GLFT.

Thanks to a recent GLFT project, fisheries managers now have two computer models, developed by a team of researchers who wondered if they could find a better way to determine relative recruitments of spawning populations in a mixed environment.

In order to understand Thiamine Deficiency Complex—which contributes to premature death in lake trout—researchers looked into whether certain fish genes produce thiaminase de novo, or at a cellular level.

A team of researchers hypothesized that river plumes would provide an excellent place for larval yellow perch, round gobies, and alewives to grow. Learn how they tested their hypotheses.

In 2014, the GLFT convened an aquatic connectivity workshop to identify the types of decision-support tools that resource managers and regulators need and would use to guide decisions on where to improve fish passage or remove dams in the Great Lakes basin.

The GLFT funded a research project to (1) better understand the state’s more naturalized Chinook salmon population, (2) assess potential differences between naturalized and hatchery-stocked fish, and (3) use the results to inform decisions about cultivating self-sustaining stocks of desirable introduced species.

The Stream Fish Population Trend Viewer was developed to serve as a simple, centralized location for users to get up-to-date information on regional and local fish trends. The map-based displays were designed to be interactive, allowing users to pick the fish species they want to view, instead of going through biologists at the MDNR Fisheries Division.

Dr. Riseng worked with a team to develop the Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat Framework, a database used to classify habitats for different species within the Great Lakes basin. It is currently in its last year, with plans to maintain the database going forward.