Tag Archives: Wildlife

Lake Trout Moving “Below the Surface” of Lake Champlain

We at ECHO are fortunate to have a wonderful resource in the UVM Rubenstein Ecosystem Science Laboratory housed with us at the Leahy Center for Lake Champlain.  The “Rube” as its called, is the home of some of the most current research on the Lake and its Basin– all done by a dedicated, interested, and sharing group of UVM faculty, students, and staff.  Among them is Dr. Ellen Marsden, who has been studying lake trout in Lake Champlain for a long time.  As you may already know from our video about Champ, Dr. Marsden has a knack for communicating scientific concepts concisely and in an accessible manner.  Sometimes a moving picture can tell us what words cannot.  For instance, she and her graduate student, Bret Ladago, built a underwater Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) that is capturing remarkable footage of lake trout staging for spawning in shallow reef habitats in Lake Champlain (for the best viewing, maximize the view):

In this one, several lake trout are “shoaling” — staying in one area where they may later spawn.  Several trout in this small group have adult sea lampreyattached to them; some show wounds from previous parasitism by sea lamprey.  To my eyes, the proportion of fish with either sea lamprey attached or wounds is dramatic; yet overall I only can get a really good look at perhaps a dozen individual lake trout.

In this one, a much larger number of fish are moving past the ROV while “schooling.”  Again, there are signs of sea lamprey parasitism on a portion of these fish.  In this case, I can see that there are many more fish in the area and I can examine many more fish for signs of parasitism by sea lamprey than in the previous footage.

This amazing footage provides never-before-seen glimpses into the appearance and behavior of Lake Champlain’s lake trout.  But yet it is important to understand that these are glimpses- just a very small snapshots of the large population of lake trout.  For example, the shoaling video alone could make us believe that despite our efforts to control the numbers of sea lamprey in the Lake, a majority of fish show signs of parasitism.  The second video may lead us to temper that view somewhat.  More footage might reveal other impressions.  How do we know what the true rate of parasitism of lake trout by sea lamprey is?  Are efforts to control sea lamprey changing this over time?

While the video footage is certainly engaging, its not the best tool for estimating rates of sea lamprey parasitism.  For example, because we cannot always see both sides of the trout, we do not know if individual trout may be seen multiple times.  Furthermore, there appears to be behavioral differences between the sets of footage which might indicate that the fish we see may not be average or typical members of the population.

Fisheries science provides the tools we need to answer these questions.  By actually capturing and examining hundreds of large lake trout in a standardized way, the Lake Champlain Fish and Wildlife Management Cooperative has collected data year after year to provide answers.   According to their data (presented here from Lake Champlain Basin Program’s 2012 State of the Lake Report), rates of wounding on both lake trout and atlantic salmon by parasitic sea lamprey have been declining since 2007:

Taken from: http://sol.lcbp.org/biodiversity_impact-sea-lamprey-on-salmon-trout.html

For 2011 around 40% of large lake trout had scars from infestation of sea lamprey.  Ideally, this rate will continue to drop over time and achieve the 25% target rate set by fisheries managers for lake trout.

There are many reasons that we should care about the health of lake trout populations in Lake Champlain.  As large, deep water fish-eating predators, they exist with Atlantic Salmon as one of the top predators in the Lake, playing a role in maintaining the structure of the Lake’s food web.  By virtue of their size and habitat, they are part of the economic draw to the Lake, supporting the business of fishing guides, equipment sales, and fishing license sales.  Some of these dollars get invested back into conservation activities of our state and federal governments.  Additional public dollars support management activities to control the numbers of immature sea lamprey growing up in local streams and rivers and to rear young lake trout for stocking.  Last but not least, as these videos attest, they are graceful, resilient, and beautiful members of our Lake community.

For more information about lake trout in Lake Champlain, check out this story from UVM’s University Communications series, or visit Dr. Marsden’s website.

Birds Everywhere!

Birds Everywhere!

by Eric_LaMontagne

Photo: Neil Phillips, Flickr

We all know that Lake Champlain has a huge variety of fish species, including some that can be found nowhere else in Vermont.

This time of year though, fish aren’t the only thing that are plentiful: thousands of birds descend on our lake for their annual migration.

According to the Lake Champlain Basin Program (www.lcbp.org), 318 species of birds live, breed, or use Lake Champlain as a resting point along their migration routes. Fourteen of those are listed as endangered or threatened by New York, Vermont, or the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

Both New York and Vermont have some well managed areas that make for great bird watching. The NY DEC has the Lake Champlain Marshes Bird Conservation Area which includes six Management Areas along the western shore of Lake Champlain. These areas are located at Kings Bay, Montys Bay, Wickham Marsh, Ausable Marsh, Putts Creek, and East Bay. Each area has a wide variety of habitat which will ensure a broad selection of species. For a map of these areas, seehttp://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/31955.html

Vermont is home to several conservation areas as well. The Dead Creek WMA is specifically managed for migrating birds, and is a great place to see dozens of species of birds. Other great locations to check out include the Sandbar WMA in Milton, East Creek WMA in Orwell, and The Narrows WMA in West Haven. Visit www.vtfishandwildlife.com for more listings.

If you’re planning on heading out on a birding trip, consider taking a look at the Lake Champlain Birding Trail brochure. It is a good guide to get you started, regardless which side of the lake you want to explore. Find it athttp://www.lakechamplainregion.com/files/public/LkChampBirding.pdf.

Muskellunge Are Back!!!!!!

Lake Champlain is the only lake in New England to which muskellunge (muskie)are native.
According to the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, the largest Muskellunge caught and recorded in Vermont was a 38.22 lbs fish taken on September 9, 2005 from the Missisquoi River by Chris Beebe.
Vermont Fish & Wildlife – Fish Transport Vehicle

 

This year ECHO Lake Aquarium & Science Center partnered with Vermont Fish & Wildlife to acquire several juvenile muskie to display in an exhibit in the near future. 
The muskie originated from eggs taken from wild brood stock collected in April, 2012 on Lake Chautauqua in western New York State. 
New York Department of Environmental Conservation’s Chautauqua Hatchery, located  on Lake Chautauqua in Mayville NY, hatched the eggs and grew them to 4 inches for release.  
Currently, the few juveniles at ECHO are 6 ½ months old, but many thousands more were released into Lake Champlain on August 22, 2012.
Juvenile Muskie Ready for Release

 

The released muskie are expected to attain 10 to 12 inches before winter sets in and their growth slows. 

In the hatchery, they have been fed exclusively a formulated pellet diet, but once they switch over to live prey in the lake, their growth rates will be very high. 

In the last 4 years, Vermont Fish & Wildlife have stocked a total of 25,000 of these fish into the lower Missisquoi River and Missisquoi Bay in an attempt to restore a viable muskellunge population to Lake Champlain.   

Here are the actual stocking numbers provided by the Vermont Fish & Wildlife:
Year             #of fish      
2008            250
2009           10,000
2010           0
2011           5,300
2012           8,800
We invite you to come visit the Upper Animal Care (UAC) window on the top floor at ECHO where we have 2 juvenile muskie on display. Come watch them grow!

The Next Invasive SpeciesThreat to Lake Champlain

This report from the Albany Times-Union looks at the asian clam, an invasive species that has established itself in Lake George. Officials there fear they are losing the battle to the asian clam and discuss the impact that this will have on Lake George.

Since Lake George empties into Lake Champlain via the Lachute River in Ticonderoga, the asian clam seems destined to be the next invasive threat to Lake Champlain.

Invasive clams appear to be winning in Lake George

Lake George is now infested by a species that could reduce tourism, business activity and property values

By Brian Nearing     Updated 7:18 a.m., Monday, September 24, 2012

A map showing where on the lake Asian clams have been found is seen on a screen during a meeting of the Asian Clam task force on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012 at The Lake George Association headquarters in Lake George, NY. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union) Photo: Paul Buckowski

A map showing where on the lake Asian clams have been found is seen on a screen during a meeting of the Asian Clam task force on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012 at The Lake George Association headquarters in Lake George, NY. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

LAKE GEORGE — Two years and $1.5 million later, efforts to rid the Queen of American Lakes of a harmful invasive clam seem to have failed. With fast-breeding Asian clams now spreading, the best hope is to keep their numbers in check — a costly fight that could last for years — and wait for a breakthrough eradication technique.

That was the grim assessment last week by the lake’s Asian Clam Rapid Response Task Force, a group of state, municipal, civic and environmental groups that has spearheaded work to eradicate clam beds by smothering them under weighted underwater mats.

The setback in the battle against the clams comes as the Lake George Park Commission, the state agency in charge of protecting the lake, also is racing to create a plan to reduce the risk of future aquatic invaders being brought in by recreational boaters, who likely transported the Asian clam from other infested water bodies in bilge water or bait wells. Widespread clam infestation in the lake could mean diminished tourism, business and property values. Clams have already caused some of those problems in Lake Tahoe, on the California-Nevada border, where beds now cover several hundred acres.

Thriving in sunlit, shallow, sandy lake bottoms, the tiny mollusks pose a major threat to the lake’s legendary gin-clear waters, which drive vibrant tourism, boating and recreational fishing industries.

Large clam colonies can foul beach waters because their excretions fuel massive algae blooms. Fast-breeding hermaphrodites, clams can quickly multiply into the millions and, when dead, wash up on beaches, where their razor-sharp shells make walking dangerous.

In Lake George, two years’ use of underwater mats — as well as underwater suctioning — in four places totaling 15 acres along the lake’s southwest side from the village of Lake George near Million Dollar Beach to the town of Bolton has not wiped out the clams, which remain entrenched and in some cases are even more numerous, according to surveys done this month.

A view of some Asian clams in a container at the Lake George Association headquarters seen here on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012 in Lake George, NY. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Just this month, Asian clams were found in four new spots, including for the first time on the lake’s eastern and northern shores in Shelving Rock Bay in Fort Ann and Lake Forest in Hague, respectively. The other new clam colonies were found near the Golden Sands resort near Diamond Point and Route 9L near Paulist Fathers Road. Those combined spots total at least two acres.

“We have had disappointing results with some of our mats. Eradication of the clams now seems clearly out of the question.

It is technologically beyond our ability to eliminate it,” said Dave Wick, executive director of the park commission and a task force member, on Thursday. Lake George is the only lake in the state with its own state agency.

“We have to shift from a strategy of eradication to one of long-term management of the clam,” said Walter Lender, director of the Lake George Association, a not-for-profit group that has helped fund the work so far.

Over concerns about future invasives, the commission is considering a mandatory inspection system for the thousands of boats that are launched on the lake each summer. A plan will likely be decided upon this fall.

Wick said it would likely cost $1 million to put down mats this fall on all eight known infested locations — but the task force now has only about $140,000 available.

That will be devoted to putting mats at the four new locations, which are relatively small.

“What is at risk is the economy and the ecology of the lake, upon which the economy is based,” said Alexander Gabriels, a task force member and former Bolton town supervisor.

The town-owned Norowal Marina on Route 9N is one of the lake’s busiest public boat launches, as well as one of the original infested areas. Clams remain there in high numbers despite two years of using mats and are just 200 yards south of the town’s Veterans Beach. Norowal Marina also is directly across the lake from Shelving Rock Bay, a popular site that each summer draws hundreds of boaters for Log Bay Day.

A view looking north from the south end of Lake George on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012 in Lake George, NY. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

“We have paid for this all so far with public dollars,” said Wick. “We will have to start looking at the million-dollar businesses along the lake.”

Eric Siy, director of the Fund for Lake George, another lake advocacy group, said, “We are in an all-hands-on deck, all-checkbooks-on-the-table situation.”

At the Georgian Resort in the village of Lake George, clam-smothering mats have been used for the last two years without success. The venerable 159-room resort needs a healthy lake, marketing manager Dick Carlson said.”What you don’t want in this business is negative publicity that might encourage people to stay away.”

Carlson said he understands the need to pay for invasive species control, and suggested that Warren County could set aside part of its 4 percent hotel bed tax. “We would have to look into it, but I am sure that we would be able to contribute something toward it,” he said.

Wick said the commission was rebuffed when it sought financial support from the state and the Department of Environmental Conservation. “The state does not have any money for us, at least in the next six months,” he said.

The DEC press office referred questions to Ed Woltman, head of its Bureau of Fisheries, who said he could not speak to state funding issues.

Woltman said the state favors “outreach and education” of recreational boaters on the importance of keeping boats cleaned, drained and dry.

A sign is posted on an information board near a boat launch on the south end of Lake George informs boaters to help prevent the spread of invasive species seen here on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012 in Lake George, NY. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

DEC maintains four public boat launches on the lake – at Mossy Point in Ticonderoga, Million Dollar Beach in Lake George, Rogers Rock in Hague and Northwest Bay in Bolton. Woltman said creating a network of boat-cleaning stations, which use high-pressure hot water to blast away invasives, would be logistically difficult.

In 2009, Lake Tahoe set up a mandatory boat cleaning system, partially supported by federal funds and partially by registration stickers required for boaters.Woltman said the state is concerned about future invasives and wants to see what kind of prevention plan the park commission creates.

Since 2008, volunteers from the Lake George Association have checked more than 24,000 boats being put in or being taken out of the lake, said Emily DeBolt, education director. Of those, 378 boats carried an invasive species.

“Invasive species are on the march. The state needs to pay attention to this,” said Gabriels.

bnearing@timesunion.com • 518-454-5094 • @Bnearing10

Learn more about invasive species > Click here

More about the asian clam

New Weapon to Combat Sea Lamprey in Lake Champlain

New York State officials are very encouraged about the first results from this newest tool in the fight against Lake Champlain’s sea lamprey pests according to this article from the Glens Falls Post-Star.

This specialized boat and sprayer uses sonar to locate lamprey ammocetes, then targets them with a safer and more specific lampricide than has been used in the past; additionally treatment can be performed during windy conditions.

High-tech methods used to kill invasive lampreys

Biologists have a new weapon against a fish-killing pest in Lake Champlain, and initial results have left state officials optimistic it will greatly assist efforts to protect sport fish in the lake.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has purchased a specialized boat equipped with a sprayer that allows fisheries experts to more accurately target areas where sea lamprey young are living, said Bill Schoch, the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s regional fisheries manager.

The boat has side-scanning sonar to allow scientists to find the lamprey young, called ammocetes, the pesticide is designed to kill.

“They can find ammocetes with much better accuracy than before,” Schoch said.

The new boat can also be used in windy conditions that in the past have foiled treatment efforts, Schoch said.

“It treats faster and more accurately and can work in rougher weather,” Schoch said. “It’s a remarkable improvement.”

Calls to the Fish and Wildlife Service office in Burlington, Vt., were not returned last week.

Lampreys are voracious predators, attaching themselves to fish and boring through their scales to consume their blood and bodily fluids.

Treatments targeting them have proven effective in curtailing the population. Fish wound rates have dropped from more than 60 per 100 fish to 15 per 100 fish.

The new boat and equipment were used late last month to treat the Saranac River delta, a major lamprey breeding ground, and the result was hundreds of thousands of dead lamprey young, officials said.

The machine also allows the use of a different pesticide that targets only lampreys. A chemical called Bayluscide was used at the Saranac River delta site, when in the past a different chemical called TFM was used, which was applied by a spreader or pump.

Use of TFM has been controversial because the chemical may kill other organisms.

For now, the new computerized equipment can only be used to treat lake deltas and not tributaries, where other treatments using TFM will continue to be done, Schoch said.

In all, two deltas and five brooks are scheduled to be treated this fall, but treatments have been delayed by low water.

Mount Hope Brook in Whitehall, which feeds South Bay, is scheduled for treatment early next month, while treatment of other tributaries further north and on the Vermont side is set into late October.

Mill Brook in Essex County is the only other tributary in the region scheduled to be treated this year. The Poultney River was treated last year but will not be treated this year.

Mount Hope Brook was scheduled to be treated last year, but the water was too high in the wake of Tropical Storm Irene and other rain events.

Click Here to learn more about Lake Champlain sea lampreys