Demography of Native and Nonnative Lake Trout Populations: Informing Suppression or Restoration Management Actions

The lake trout Salvelinus namaycush is considered one of the most important species in Canada and northeastern USA and was important to human settlement of all the Laurentian Great Lakes.  The charismatic megafaunal characteristics of the lake trout lead to the introduction of the species outside its native range.  By the early twentieth century, lake trout had been stocked throughout much of North America.  Concurrent with the wide spread stocking of lake trout the species was collapsing elsewhere.  Currently, there is a dichotomy in lake trout management throughout its native and nonnative range.  Management in the native range is focused on recruitment bottlenecks, effects of climate change, and nonnative species; however, in the nonnative range of lake trout the focus is on suppression and the effects of lake trout on native salmonids.  Comparing population dynamics between populations within and outside the native range will help inform the varying management actions.  Comparisons indicate that many of the lake trout demographics outside their native range are similar to populations within their native range.  However, recently colonized lake trout populations often have characteristics that differ from more established populations within and outside the native range.