When did alewife get to the Great Lakes?

When did alewife get to the Great Lakes?

The alewife is a saltwater species that is native to the Atlantic Coast. It was seen in Lake Ontario in the 1870s, and it spread to the rest of the Great Lakes after 1931 through the Welland Canal. Its abundance peaked in the 1950s as the lake trout populations decreased.

How did exotic species get into the Great Lakes?

Thirty percent of invasive species in the Great Lakes have been introduced through ship ballast water. In the early 1990s, the U.S. Coast Guard began requiring ships to exchange their ballast water, or seal their ballast tanks for the duration of their stay.

Are alewives native to Lake Michigan?

But alewives are an invasive species that harm lake trout, a native fish that biologists have been trying and failing to re-establish for decades.

Why are alewife numbers dropping in the Great Lakes?

Why? Alewife are not particularly suited to the cold winters and springs often experienced in the Great Lakes, so their numbers have always fluctuated. Since the early 2000’s the species has faced a new threat in the form of invasive quagga mussels, which are out-competing alewife for the nutrients both depend on.

Is alewife edible?

Sure, you can eat them during lean times, and maybe the old hands will wax poetic about smoked and salted alewife, but nowadays the fish are likely to be used for pet food, fertilizer or lobster bait. Alewives were once a prominent-albeit seasonal-member of the native fish community in Atlantic coastal watersheds.

How did fish get into the Great Lakes?

Just as an island may once have been connected by a land bridge, so lakes may originally have been part of river systems that dried up. When waterbirds come to lakes to feed, fish eggs might get stuck to their feathers, hitching a ride to a new home.

Are there leeches in Lake Erie?

DeVanna Fussell said that while leeches may be common in Lake Erie and most often – when encountered – seen on freshwater drum, they are parasitic invertebrates. Leeches are opportunistic, and now there are just more walleye for them to attach to,” DeVanna Fussell said.

How did alewife get in Lake Michigan?

Most scientists believe the drop has been due to a combination of factors, including invasive zebra and quagga mussels which remove plankton from the lake and reduce the amount of food available for other organisms, as well as predation on forage fish by salmon and trout.

Can you eat alewife?

Why were salmon introduced into the Great Lakes?

He wanted to establish a recreational fishing industry and thought the alewives would be great prey for salmon. He’d learned about coho salmon while working in Colorado and thought they’d fit the bill. Coho and kokanee salmon were introduced by Colorado state officials.

Are alewife edible?

Are there alewives in the Great Lakes?

Origin and dispersal of the alewife, Alosa pseudoharengus, and the gizzard shad, Dorosoma cepedianum, in the Great Lakes . Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 86:97-111. Stahlnecker, J.F. 2000. Production of juvenile alewives ( Alosa pseudoharengus) at two adult alewife stocking rates in two Maine lakes .

Where did the Alewife come from?

The alewife, a pelagic planktivore native to the Atlantic Ocean, entered the Great Lakes through canals. First seen in Lake Ontario in 1873, and bypassing Niagara Falls through the Welland Canal, the species became widespread in the basin by 1960.

When was the Alewife introduced to Lake Michigan?

The species was first reported from Lake Erie in 1931, Lake Huron in 1933, Lake Michigan in 1949, and Lake Superior in 1954. The alewife was intentionally stocked in inland waters. The population in the New River, West Virginia, resulted from stockings in Claytor Lake, New River, Virginia (Jenkins and Burkhead 1994).

What is the impact of the introduction of Alewife to lakes?

Impact of Introduction: Presence of the alewife could restructure a lake’s food web, leaving less food for native species (USEPA 2008).