Quantifying the importance of multiple nursery habitats to alewife population recruitment and resilience in Lake Michigan.

Grant: # 1860

Grant Amount: $299,329.36

Board Decision Year: 2019

Purdue University - Dept. of Forestry and Nat. Resources (West Lafayette)

Dept. of Forestry and Nat. Resources

Hook, Tomas ([email protected]) 765-496-6799

2019 Ecosystem Health and Sustainable Fish Populations: Ecological and Biological Research to Inform Management - Ecological and biological fisheries research to inform management

Project Details

Although the alewife stock has continued to decline in Lake Michigan, alewife continue to persist possibly due to the utilization of multiple nursery habitats. This project used field and laboratory studies to assess factors (i.e., hatch dates, prey availability, ultraviolet radiation, etc.) influencing larval alewife abundance, growth, and survival among nursery habitats. The research team also used isotopic analyses to determine past habitat utilization and track movements of juvenile alewife between habitats.