Impact of Climate Change on Lake Whitefish

Since 1980, populations of lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) have supported the most economically valuable and productive commercial fishery in the upper Laurentian Great Lakes (Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior; annual catch value = US$16.6 million).  Changes in regional climate variables are expected to increase surface temperatures of the Great Lakes by as much as 6 degrees C and result with substantially reduced ice cover. Additionally, the average wind speed over these lakes is expected to decline.  These changes are predicted to impact the ecology, productivity, and value of the lake whitefish fishery because the development of year class strength has been linked with these climatically influenced factors.  This research will provide the foundation for a decision support tool to optimize harvest management in a changing climate by examining the correlation of climate projections with the compensatory resilience of lake whitefish and their recruitment dynamics in the upper Great Lakes.  Specifically, this tool will integrate the impact of changes in climate on the ecology and population dynamics of this species in order to facilitate the management of this multi-jurisidictional fishery resource at a landscape-scale and assist in coordination of harvest strategies for this species in the face of changing global and regional climatic conditions.