Re-Establishing Lake Trout in the Laurentian Great Lakes: The Past, Present, and Future

Lake Trout (Salvelinus namaycush) were native to the Laurentian Great Lakes and were widely distributed throughout lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, and Ontario, and the eastern basin of Lake Erie.  Prior to European colonization, Lake Trout were an important resource for aboriginal peoples living around the Great Lakes.  European colonization of the Laurentian Basin during the 18th and 19th centuries resulted in rapid expansion of Lake Trout fisheries.  Colonization also caused dramatic changes to landscapes, which ultimately had devastating and long-lasting effects on the ecology of watersheds.  Forestry and shipping were two destructive practices that, when combined with rapidly expanding commercial fisheries, drove Lake Trout populations into decline by the early 1900s.  Sea Lamprey (Petromyzon marinus), a voracious parasitic predator of fishes, invaded the Great Lakes via shipping channels and ultimately led to the demise of most Lake Trout populations during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  By the late 1950s, native Lake Trout were gone from lakes Ontario, Erie, and Michigan, nearly so from Lake Huron, and at low levels in most near-shore locations in Lake Superior.  During the mid-1900s, fishery management aimed to rehabilitate Great Lakes Lake Trout populations by controlling fishing mortality, mitigating habitat loss, rehabilitating native food webs, controlling non-native species, and conserving remnant lake trout stocks.  In this presentation, we review the history and current status of Lake Trout fisheries in the Great Lakes, their management, and efforts toward re-establishment.  We also discuss future management within the context of historical lessons learned.  Our specific objectives are to: (1) review the history of Lake Trout fisheries and their management in the Great Lakes; (2) describe new and ongoing management actions to achieve Lake Trout rehabilitation goals; and (3) review lessons learned and describe emerging research themes that support Lake Trout rehabilitation.