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- Title
Response of non-native lake trout () to 15 years of harvest in Yellowstone Lake, Yellowstone National Park.
- Authors
Syslo, John M.; Guy, Christopher S.; Bigelow, Patricia E.; Doepke, Philip D.; Ertel, Brian D.; Koel, Todd M.
- Abstract
Introduced lake trout () threaten to extirpate native Yellowstone cutthroat trout () in the 34 000 ha Yellowstone Lake in Yellowstone National Park, USA. Suppression (and eventual eradication) of the lake trout population is deemed necessary for the conservation of Yellowstone cutthroat trout. A US National Park Service gill-netting program removed nearly 450 000 lake trout from Yellowstone Lake from 1995 through 2009. We examined temporal variation in individual growth, body condition, length and age at maturity, fecundity, mortality, and population models to assess the efficacy of the lake trout suppression program. Population metrics did not indicate overharvest despite more than a decade of fish removal. The current rate of population growth is positive; however, it is lower than it would be in the absence of lake trout suppression. Fishing effort needs to increase above observed levels to reduce population growth rate below replacement. Additionally, high sensitivity of population growth rate to reproductive vital rates indicates that increasing fishing mortality for sexually mature lake trout may increase the effectiveness of suppression. Lake trout suppression in Yellowstone Lake illustrates the complexities of trying to remove an apex predator to restore a relatively large remote lentic ecosystem with a simple fish assemblage.
- Subjects
YELLOWSTONE National Park; LAKE trout; FISH mortality; YELLOWSTONE cutthroat trout; UNITED States. National Park Service
- Publication
Canadian Journal of Fisheries & Aquatic Sciences, 2011, Vol 68, Issue 12, p2132
- ISSN
0706-652X
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1139/f2011-122