Gary Whelan

A Hierarchical Spatial Framework and Database for the National River Fish Habitat Condition Assessment

Abstract Fisheries management programs, such as the National Fish Habitat Action Plan (NFHAP), urgently need a nationwide spatial framework and database for health assessment and policy development to protect and improve riverine systems. To meet this need, we developed a spatial framework and database using National Hydrography Dataset Plus (I-.100,000-scale); http://www.horizon-systems.com/nhdplus). This framework uses interconfluence river reaches and their local and network catchments as fundamental spatial river units and a series of ecological and political spatial descriptors as hierarchy structures to allow users to extract or analyze information at spatial scales that they define. This database consists of variables describing channel characteristics, network position/connectivity, climate, elevation, gradient, and size. It contains a series of catchment-natural and human-induced factors that are known to influence river characteristics. Our framework and database assembles au river reaches and t...

Spread of the Emerging Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia Virus Strain, Genotype IVb, in Michigan, USA

In 2003, viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) emerged in the Laurentian Great Lakes causing serious losses in a number of ecologically and recreationally important fish species. Within six years, despite concerted managerial preventive measures, the virus spread into the five Great Lakes and to a number of inland waterbodies. In response to this emerging threat, cooperative efforts between the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MI DNR), the Michigan State University Aquatic Animal Health Laboratory (MSU-AAHL), and the United States Department of Agriculture-Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services (USDA-APHIS) were focused on performing a series of general and VHSV-targeted surveillances to determine the extent of virus trafficking in the State of Michigan. Herein we describe six years (2005–2010) of testing, covering hundreds of sites throughout Michigan’s Upper and Lower Peninsulas. A total of 96,228 fish representing 73 species were checked for lesions suggestive of VHSV and their internal organs tested for the presence of VHSV using susceptible cell lines. Of the 1,823 cases tested, 30 cases from 19 fish species tested positive for VHSV by tissue culture and were confirmed by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Gene sequence analyses of all VHSV isolates retrieved in Michigan demonstrated that they belong to the emerging sublineage “b” of the North American VHSV genotype IV. These findings underscore the complexity of VHSV ecology in the Great Lakes basin and the critical need for rigorous legislation and regulatory guidelines in order to reduce the virus spread within and outside of the Laurentian Great Lakes watershed.

Applications of Genetic Data to Improve Management and Conservation of River Fishes and Their Habitats

Environmental variation and landscape features affect ecological processes in fluvial systems; however, assessing effects at management-relevant temporal and spatial scales is challenging. Genetic data can be used with landscape models and traditional ecological assessment data to identify biodiversity hotspots, predict ecosystem responses to anthropogenic effects, and detect impairments to underlying processes. We show that by combining taxonomic, demographic, and genetic data of species in complex riverscapes, managers can better understand the spatial and temporal scales over which environmental processes and disturbance influence biodiversity. We describe how population genetic models using empirical or simulated genetic data quantify effects of environmental processes affecting species diversity and distribution. Our summary shows that aquatic assessment initiatives that use standardized data sets to direct management actions can benefit from integration of genetic data to improve the predictability ...

Epidemiological investigation of Renibacterium salmoninarum in three Oncorhynchus spp. in Michigan from 2001 to 2010.

Bacterial kidney disease (BKD) has caused mortalities and chronic infections in wild and farm-raised salmonids throughout the world. In the Laurentian Great Lakes of North America, BKD was associated with several large-scale mortality events of Oncorhynchus spp. throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In response to these mortality events, the state of Michigan implemented several enhanced biosecurity measures to limit the occurrence of BKD in state-operated hatcheries and gamete-collection weirs. The objectives of this study were to assess if infection levels (prevalence and intensity) of Renibacterium salmoninarum, the causative agent of BKD, have changed in broodstock and pre-stocking fingerlings of three feral Oncorhynchus spp. (Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha), coho salmon (O. kisutch), and steelhead (O. mykiss)) over a decade, following the implementation of the enhanced biosecurity measures. Between 2001 and 2010, a total of 3,530 broodstock salmonids collected from lakes Huron and Michigan tributaries during spawning runs and 4,294 propagated pre-stocking salmonid fingerlings collected from three state of Michigan fish hatcheries were tested for the presence of R. salmoninarum antigens using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Substantial declines in the overall prevalence of the bacterium were detected in each of the examined broodstocks. Most propagated pre-stocking fingerlings also exhibited substantial declines in R. salmoninarum prevalence. Prevalence was typically higher in Chinook salmon from Lake Michigan than from Lake Huron; prevalence was also generally higher in the Hinchenbrooke strain of coho salmon than in the Michigan-adapted strain. For most strains and stocks examined, intensity of R. salmoninarum infection was found to have declined. Although there were declines in the potential for shedding the bacteria for both male and female Chinook and coho salmon, overall shedding rates were generally low (<15%) except for Hinchenbrooke coho salmon strain, which had shedding prevalences in excess of 50% at the beginning of the study. This study provides evidence that enhanced biosecurity measures at culture facilities and collection sites are capable of severely curtailing disease infection in wild populations even at the scale of Lake Michigan fisheries.

High prevalence of buccal ulcerations in largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides (Centrarchidae) from Michigan inland lakes associated with Myzobdella lugubris Leidy 1851 (Annelida: Hirudinea)

Widespread mouth ulcerations were observed in largemouth bass collected from eight inland lakes in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan during the summer months of 2002 and 2003. These ulcerations were associated with, and most likely caused by, leech parasitism. Through the use of morphological dichotomous keys, it was determined that all leeches collected are of one species: Myzobdella lugubris. Among the eight lakes examined, Lake Orion and Devils Lake had the highest prevalence of leech parasitism (34% and 29%, respectively) and mouth ulcerations (53% and 68%, respectively). Statistical analyses demonstrated that leech and ulcer prevalence varied significantly from one lake to the other. Additionally, it was determined that the relationship between the prevalence of ulcers and the prevalence of leech attachment is significant, indicating that leech parasitism is most likely the cause of ulceration. The ulcers exhibited deep hemorrhagic centers and raised irregular edges. Affected areas lost their epithelial lining and submucosa, with masses of bacteria colonizing the damaged tissues. Since largemouth bass is a popular global sportfish and critical to the food web of inland lakes, there are concerns that the presence of leeches, damaged buccal mucosa, and general unsightliness may negatively affect this important sportfishery.

Experimental infection studies demonstrate the high susceptibility of the salmonid, lake herring, Coregonus artedi (Le Sueur), to the Great Lakes strain of viral haemorrhagic septicaemia virus (genotype IVb).

1 Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA 2 Comparative Medicine and Integrative Biology Program, College of Veterinary Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA 3 Department of Pathobiology and Diagnostic Investigation, College of Veterinary Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA 4 Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Fisheries Division, Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery, Mattawan, MI, USA 5 Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Fisheries Division, Lansing, MI, USA

Introduction to a Special Section: Hatcheries and Management of Aquatic Resources (HaMAR)—Considerations for Use of Hatcheries and Hatchery-Origin Fish

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Phosphorus Budget and Remediation Plan for Big Platte Lake, Michigan

This paper presents a phosphorus budget and modeling case study for Big Platte Lake Michigan and the Platte River watershed. These analyses are a necessary component of a credible total maximum daily load (TMDL) for Big Platte Lake and may be more broadly applicable to similar systems and other water quality management issues. A calibrated Better Assessment Science Integrating Point and Nonpoint Sources (BASINS) model is used to simulate total phosphorus loads from the watershed. A nonsteady state lake model is developed to predict total phosphorus concentrations in both the water column and the sediments. Temperature and dissolved oxygen models are used to predict the anoxic periods in the lake hypolimnion to facilitate calculation of the internal phosphorus loading due to sediment release. Following calibration, the models were used to determine allowable total phosphorus loads for Big Platte Lake for typical hydraulic conditions. Current measured total phosphorus loads exceed model calculated allowable...

Importance of Understanding Landscape Biases in USGS Gage Locations: Implications and Solutions for Managers

ABSTRACTFlow and water temperature are fundamental properties of stream ecosystems upon which many freshwater resource management decisions are based. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) gages are the most important source of streamflow and water temperature data available nationwide, but the degree to which gages represent landscape attributes of the larger population of streams has not been thoroughly evaluated. We identified substantial biases for seven landscape attributes in one or more regions across the conterminous United States. Streams with small watersheds (<10 km2) and at high elevations were often underrepresented, and biases were greater for water temperature gages and in arid regions. Biases can fundamentally alter management decisions and at a minimum this potential for error must be acknowledged accurately and transparently. We highlight three strategies that seek to reduce bias or limit errors arising from bias and illustrate how one strategy, supplementing USGS data, can greatly reduce bias.

AFS Completes Assessment, Issues New Guidance Regarding Hatchery Operation and the Use of Hatchery-Origin Fish

workshop, collectively referred to as “Propagated Fishes in Resource Management (PFIRM).” Each of the previous cycles yielded a proceedings book (Fish Culture in Fisheries Management [Stroud 1986], Uses and Effects of Cultured Fishes in Aquatic Ecosystems [Schramm and Piper 1995], and Propagated Fishes in Resource Management [Nickum et al. 2004]), and most recently a guidance document, “Considerations for the Use of Propagated Fishes in Resource Management.” The so-called “PFIRM Considerations” guide, published by AFS in 2005 (Mudrak and Carmichael 2005), provided resource managers with general recommendations for decision making and bilitation, and restoration programs.