Bibliothèque Électronique Lac Saint-Pierre

An estimation of American eel escapement from the Upper St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario in 1996 and 1997

Verreault, G. et Dumont, P. (2003). An estimation of American eel escapement from the Upper St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario in 1996 and 1997. American Fisheries Society Symposium , 2003 (33). pp. 243-251.

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Résumé

In North America, a high but decreasing proportion of American eel landings has historically come from the St. Lawrence River (SLR) system. Available information indicates that the SLR stock is composed almost exclusively of females and that Lake Ontario, the only Great Lake where the species is commonly found, is an important zone of settlement for juvenile eel. From this growing habitat, eels eventually migrate to the estuary and back to the Atlantic Ocean for spawning. This stock is successively exposed to three major sources of mortality : two large hydroelectric projects, Moses-Saunders (built between 1954 and 1958) and Beauharnois-Les Cèdres (gradually equipped between 1912 and 1961), and a commercial fishery from Lake Saint-Pierre to the upper St. Lawrence Estuary. Estimates of mortality rates caused by these three factors and the number of migrating eels in the estuary were combined with a new analysis of available data on eel organic chemical contamination, which can be used to identify the geographic origin of the catch. These data allowed the first evaluation of eel escapement from the upper St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario. In 1996 and 1997, less than half a million eels were estimated to have left this sector. In the first 500-km between Lake Ontario and the lower Estuary, eels were subjected to an estimated cumulative anthropogenic mortality of 53 %. Three quarters of this loss was caused by fish passage through turbines. Impacts of these sources of mortality on eel escapement in the SLR system are discussed. © Copyright by the American Fisheries Society 2003.

Type de document: Article scientifique
Statut du texte intégral: Autre
Mots-clés libres: American eel, St. Lawrence river, Lake Ontario, Commercial fishery, Lake St-Pierre
Sujets: 4. Faune > 4.2. Poisson
7. Usages > 7.1. Pêche
Date de dépôt: 24 août 2016 21:20
Dernière modification: 24 août 2016 21:20
URI: https://belsp.uqtr.ca/id/eprint/559

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