Evaluating Lake Whitefish Reintroduction in St. Froid Lake, Winterville, Maine

Lake whitefish is a native fish that has experienced population declines throughout Maine.  Lake whitefish in St. Froid Lake, Winterville, Maine, experienced extirpation in the early 1900s.  Between the years of 2003-2010, a reintroduction program stocked approximately 2000 Clear Lake strain lake whitefish annually.  Cohorts were batch marked with unique fin clips. Clear Lake was selected as the donor water because it still appears to still harbor a robust lake whitefish population.  This research will assess the growth and movements of reintroduced lake whitefish in St. Froid Lake.  Ultimately comparisons will be made to the donor water body, Clear Lake. Starting in 2010, 20 lake whitefish were captured in St. Froid Lake, Maine, implanted with acoustic transmitters, and monitored with an array of acoustic receivers.  In addition, an acoustic array has been maintained in Clear Lake since 2004, where fish implanted in 2009 continue to be monitored.  Tagged fish will afford year round depth and temperature use data.  Concurrent movement datasets from St. Froid and Clear Lakes will be analyzed.  To examine lake whitefish growth patterns, fish were captured using trap net and gillnet methods.  Sagittal otoliths were then extracted for age and growth analysis.  Preliminary findings will be presented.