Spawning Distributions of Lake Erie Yellow Perch and Potential Impacts on Year Class Strength

The goal of this project was to characterize the distribution, movement, and spawning of yellow perch and predict cohort strength. Weekly sampling with bottom trawls (Spring 2006-2010) throughout yellow perch spawning allowed us to resolve when and where yellow perch spawn in the central basin of Lake Erie. Nearshore movement and aggregations were common across sites, although timing (onset of nearshore movement and extent of nearshore aggregation) varied based on differing abiotic conditions. Diet sampling was also  conducted to determine if movement was related to foraging. Upon examination of age-0 indices, poor year-classes were associated with an early spawn and increased spawn duration (28 days to get from 5-9^o C) while good year-classes were associated with a later spawn and shorter spawn duration (22 days). Overall, we found that yellow perch year-class strength can be modelled from winter severity and the start date of the spawn. These findings provide additional information regarding population estimates as well as fishing regulations.