Growth and movement of brook charr in coastal Maine

Brook charr (Salvelinus fontinalis) are a popular sport fish and have experienced marked declines throughout their range.  The sea-run form of this species has experienced a parallel decline, the causes of which are poorly understood.  Growth and movement behaviors are known to interact and influence the survival and fitness of an individual.  Furthermore, growth variation in juveniles is linked to life history variation in adults.  We used biannual mark-recapture surveys and radio telemetry to track the movement and growth of brook charr at Cove Brook (Winterport, Maine) during 2008-2010.  Individuals were captured during biannual backpack electrofishing surveys.  Each charr was implanted with a 12.5 mm PIT tag for unique identification.  Overall, we marked >2000 individuals which resulted in >200 recapture events.  Fifteen adults were also implanted with radio tags and followed weekly for one year to examine seasonal movement patterns.  To complement our mark-recapture study, we conducted a thorough habitat survey to document habitat heterogeneity within the study area.  We documented a wide range of movement patterns and considerable variation in growth rates.  We compared growth rates with variation in habitat use and movement pattern.