Gizzard shad were illegally introduced to Claytor Lake in the late 1980s and soon established a thriving population. This study assessed 1) the degree to which gizzard shad were utilized by piscivores (pelagic - striped bass Morone saxatilis, hybrid striped bass M. chrysops x M. saxatilis, and walleye Stizostedion vitreum, and three littoral black basses Micropterus spp.), 2) the availability of gizzard shad as potential prey as determined from age and growth analysis, and 3) the performance (growth rates, relative weight, and relative abundance) of piscivores before versus after gizzard shad establishment. Gizzard shad were more highly utilized by pelagic predators (especially striped bass and their hybrids) than black basses. Rapid growth of gizzard shad (mean back-calculated length at age-1 = 155 mm TL) meant that almost all morphologically available shad were age-0. The reliance on one edible age class of gizzard shad resulted in an unstable food supply as evidenced by much greater striped bass shad consumption in Summer 1998 (63 % by weight) when age-0 shad were more abundant than in Summer 1997 (7 % by weight). Striped bass was the only species to exhibit faster growth rates and mean relative weight (Wr) values in the 1990s versus pre-shad years. Walleye (except age-1) and black bass growth rates declined, and mean Wr values either remained consistent or declined. Largemouth bass and walleye were the only sportfish to show increases in relative abundance. Benefits of gizzard shad as a forage fish appear to be limited to striped bass and its hybrid species. It is possible that gizzard shad have had, directly or indirectly, an adverse impact on the black basses of Claytor Lake, but explanatory analysis of these relationships was beyond the scope of this study. / Master of Science

Capelin (Mallotus villosus) is the key forage fish in the north Atlantic. A short-term anomalous event in Newfoundland waters in the early 1990’s caused many changes to their biology, including excursions into alternate (subtidal) spawning habitats. Subtidal spawning sites have drastically different environmental conditions than the beach sites that they have been using since at least the 1940’s. This thesis examines various aspects of the reproductive biology of capelin to understand the mechanisms underlying the use of two environmentally divergent spawning habitats. Local adaptation in early life history stages was examined by raising artificially fertilized capelin eggs across three temperatures that capelin are likely to encounter at both spawning habitats. At cool to medium temperatures, larvae experienced higher hatching success, were larger at hatching and had more nutritional reserves relative to warm temperature conditions. There was no evidence of local adaptation, providing the first support for a facultative spawning strategy. The influence of global warming temperatures may be buffered through the utilization of either spawning habitat provided it is within this thermal optimum. A comparative analysis of adult body shape and condition between the two habitats provided further evidence that spawning habitat use in a given year is facultative. Patterns in fecundity drastically changed for capelin since it was last examined prior to the 1990’s. In addition to lower average population fecundity, a wide range of fecundities was also observed across all length-classes. I show that the strong relationship between length and fecundity in capelin has broken down in recent years, making easily collected size measurements an inappropriate proxy for the reproductive potential of this fish. Within-female variation in offspring size and developmental duration was higher when compared to among-female variation. This supports diversified bet-hedging in capelin, a strategy that would allow capelin to spawn in thermally available habitats without experiencing reproductive failure in exceedingly warm or cold years. It is likely that high variation in traits allow capelin to utilize alternate spawning habitats, ensuring that at least some larvae survive.

Capelin (Mallotus villosus) is the key forage fish in the north Atlantic. A short-term anomalous event in Newfoundland waters in the early 1990’s caused many changes to their biology, including excursions into alternate (subtidal) spawning habitats. Subtidal spawning sites have drastically different environmental conditions than the beach sites that they have been using since at least the 1940’s. This thesis examines various aspects of the reproductive biology of capelin to understand the mechanisms underlying the use of two environmentally divergent spawning habitats. Local adaptation in early life history stages was examined by raising artificially fertilized capelin eggs across three temperatures that capelin are likely to encounter at both spawning habitats. At cool to medium temperatures, larvae experienced higher hatching success, were larger at hatching and had more nutritional reserves relative to warm temperature conditions. There was no evidence of local adaptation, providing the first support for a facultative spawning strategy. The influence of global warming temperatures may be buffered through the utilization of either spawning habitat provided it is within this thermal optimum. A comparative analysis of adult body shape and condition between the two habitats provided further evidence that spawning habitat use in a given year is facultative. Patterns in fecundity drastically changed for capelin since it was last examined prior to the 1990’s. In addition to lower average population fecundity, a wide range of fecundities was also observed across all length-classes. I show that the strong relationship between length and fecundity in capelin has broken down in recent years, making easily collected size measurements an inappropriate proxy for the reproductive potential of this fish. Within-female variation in offspring size and developmental duration was higher when compared to among-female variation. This supports diversified bet-hedging in capelin, a strategy that would allow capelin to spawn in thermally available habitats without experiencing reproductive failure in exceedingly warm or cold years. It is likely that high variation in traits allow capelin to utilize alternate spawning habitats, ensuring that at least some larvae survive.

Archaeological fisheries information represented in fish scales provides relative abundance and age-at-harvest data that can assist in understanding a range of culturally vital Indigenous fisheries. In this thesis, I undertake fish scale analysis (squamatology) to explore fish scale preservation in twelve coastal archaeological sites from two First Nations’ territories in coastal British Columbia (Wuikinuxv and Tseshaht). These data demonstrate that fish scales are more readily preserved in coastal archaeological deposits than is currently appreciated and can refine species-level identification of culturally significant Indigenous fisheries including forage fish and salmon. Fish scales can additionally generate baseline data on age-at-harvest in Pacific herring and when considered alongside other fisheries records provide relative abundance records for forage fisheries in Wuikinuxv territory that span the last 3000 years. This study additionally temporally anchors eulachon fishing along the Wannock River by at least 3000 years ago extending upon previous archaeological assessments by over 2000 years. I apply the concept of two-eyed seeing, as envisaged by Mi’kmaw elder Dr. Albert Marshall, to recognize the strengths of Indigenous and Western perspectives in developing decolonial practices for sharing archaeological fisheries data with community-based fisheries managers. Two-eyed seeing highlights the strength of archaeological data as deep time records of Indigenous fisheries that can be anchored by Indigenous knowledge including cultural stewardship and fishing practices. In this case study, I provide baseline fisheries data co-derived from archaeological and Indigenous knowledges including deep time accounts of relative abundance and traditional harvest methods that community-based managers may wish to use on their terms to pursue future activities of restoration, renewal, and affirmation of traditional fishing practices. / Graduate / 2022-05-14

The Peruvian anchoveta fishery was for nearly 60 years characterized by the unsustainable dynamics of open access resource pools. This thesis investigates whether the 2009 Peruvian Legislative Decree 1084 on Individual Vessel Quotas (IVQ's) is an effective response to the industrial overcapacity and race-to-fish problems that threatened the environment before its implementation. It employs Common-Pool Resource theory to assess the impact of the new IVQ scheme on collective dynamics, and Ribot and Peluso's access theory (2009) to elucidate evolving power relations in the fishery. In this framework, DL1084 is evaluated as a regulatory instrument, as a lens on fisheries governance in Peru, and as a source of insight into how environmental impact serves in developing regulations of natural resource exploitation. A triangulated mixed-method design is employed: (1) a two-stream literature review of fisheries management and of the fishery's political ecology; (2) a quantitative analysis of daily state-published landings reports; and (3) seven in-depth intensive interviews with key actors in the fishery, conducted in Peru over two field-trips of approximately 2 months in total. Results indicate that although IVQ's supported existing trends towards large-scale economic efficiency and altered extreme competitive strategies previously associated with open access, fishing companies have built larger ships, favour bigger catches and still concentrate fishing effort around a given annual peak. Meanwhile, capacity has again increased in the unregulated artisanal fishery sector. DL1084 appears to reflect a broader process of growing private sector involvement in managing the fishery, made official by its institutionalization of market self-regulation. Ultimately, it evidences deep structure and capacity limitations in the state's ability to govern marine resources. The law was nevertheless seen as a landmark for the environmental legal process in Peru and an opportunity for reform. This thesis suggests that studying such legislations can provide insight into state identity and the evolving relationship between a nation and its geography. / Durante casi 60 años, la pesquería peruana de anchoveta estaba caracterizada por las dinámicas insostenibles de la explotación de recursos de propiedad común en situación de acceso abierto. Esta tesis investiga si el Decreto Legislativo Peruano 1084 (DL1084) sobre Límites Máximos de Captura por Embarcación (LMCE) es una respuesta efectiva a los problemas de sobrecapacidad industrial y de carrera por el recurso que amenazaban el ambiente antes de su aplicación en 2009. Se basa en la teoría de los Recursos de Propiedad Común (Common-Pool Resource theory) para evaluar el impacto del nuevo modelo de gestión por LMCE sobre las dinámicas colectivas, y en la teoría del Acceso de Ribot y Peluso (2009) para trazar la evolución de las relaciones de poder en la pesquería. En este marco, el DL1084 es evaluado como herramienta regulatoria, como lente sobre la gobernanza pesquera en el Perú y como reflejo del proceso por el cual el impacto ambiental sirve como base para el desarrollo de regulaciones sobre el acceso a recursos naturales. Sigue un diseño triangulado de métodos combinados: (1) una revisión de literatura en dos ramas de la gestión de pesquería como campo general y de la ecología política de la pesquería de anchoveta; (2) un análisis cuantitativo de los informes diarios de desembarques publicados por el estado (IMARPE); y (3) siete entrevistas intensivas de fondo con actores claves en la pesquería, realizadas en Perú durante dos visitas de aproximadamente dos meses en total. Los resultados indican que a pesar de que los LMCE soportaron una tendencia existente hacia una eficiencia económica de mayor escala y alteraron las estrategias competitivas extremas asociadas con el acceso abierto, las empresas pesqueras han construido embarcaciones más grandes, favorecen capturas de mayor tamaño y todavía concentran su esfuerzo pesquero alrededor de un pico anual de abundancia. En paralelo, ha aumentado la capacidad de captura en el sector artesanal, el cual no cuenta con límites de captura. El DL1084 aparece como parte de un proceso más general de creciente involucramiento del sector privado en el manejo de la pesquería, haciéndolo oficial por su misma institucionalización de la autorregulación del mercado. Por último, pone en evidencia profundas limitaciones de estructura y de capacidad en el estado en cuanto a cómo gobierna los recursos marinos. La ley ha sin embargo sido vista como un precedente importante para el proceso legislativo ambiental en el Perú así como una oportunidad para impulsar otras reformas. Esta tesis sugiere que el estudio de tales legislaciones puede ofrecer una mirada sobre los procesos de formación de la identidad de un estado y sobre la evolución de la relación entre una nación y su geografía.

The Kittlitz's murrelet (Brachyramphus brevirostris) is a rare member of the seabird family Alcidae that breeds in coastal areas of Alaska and Beringian Russia. The species belongs to the genus Brachyramphus, an unusual seabird taxon in which all three extant species nest non-colonially, situating their nests up to 75 km inland from coastal marine waters. This nesting strategy is different from that of most seabird species, which tend to nest colonially on remote islands or sea cliffs, where terrestrial predators are generally absent or cannot easily access nests. Within the genus Brachyramphus, Kittlitz's murrelet is notable because a majority of the global population appears to nest on the surface of the ground in rocky alpine habitat near inland or tidewater glaciers, foraging in adjacent marine waters influenced by glacial outflows. The unusual nesting habits of Kittlitz's murrelet have made the study of its nesting ecology difficult, and gaps therefore exist in our understanding of the species' breeding biology. Kittlitz's murrelet populations have declined substantially in core areas of its range, causing the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service to designate the species as a candidate for protection under the Endangered Species Act. A better understanding of Kittlitz's murrelet nesting ecology is crucial for determining potential causes of these declines and for future management of the species. To this end, I studied Kittlitz's murrelet breeding ecology and nest site selection during 2008-2011 on Kodiak Island, Alaska, in an unglaciated area that was recently found to have large numbers of accessible nests. I and my colleagues found 53 active Kittlitz's murrelet nests in inland scree-dominated habitats and placed remote, motion-sensing cameras at 33 nests. Adults exchanged incubation duties at the nest every 24 or 48 h, almost exclusively during early morning twilight. Following hatching of eggs, parents provisioned their single nestling with an average of 3.9 to 4.8 fish per day, depending on the year. Parental visits to the nest during chick-rearing occurred primarily after sunrise in the early to mid-morning hours, and during evening twilight. Fish were delivered singly to the chick, and Pacific sand lance (Ammodytes hexapterus), a high-lipid forage fish, accounted for about 92% of all identifiable chick meal deliveries. Chick growth rates were high relative to confamilial species, consistent with the high quality of chick diets; the logistic growth rate constant (K) was 0.291, greater than that for any other semi-precocial alcid. Chicks fledged an average of 24.8 d after hatching and asymptotic chick body mass averaged about 135.5 g, approximately 58% of adult body mass. Age at fledging, asymptotic chick body mass (% adult mass), and the number of meal deliveries required to fledge a chick were all lower than or as low as any other species of semi-precocial alcid. The average estimated nest survival rate during 2008-2011 was 0.093 (95% CI = 0.01–0.30), which is extremely low compared to other species in the family Alcidae, and is almost certainly insufficient to sustain a stable population. The primary causes of nest failure were depredation (47% of total nest fates), mostly by red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), and unexplained nestling mortality on the nest (21% of nest fates). Saxitoxin and/or pathogenic endoparasite burdens were observed in five of six necropsied chick carcasses, suggesting possible causes for chick mortality not directly attributable to predation. Habitat characteristics of Kittlitz's murrelet nest sites differed significantly from unused sites at several scales. At a small scale (within 5 m of the nest), nest sites had a lower percent coverage of vegetation and higher percent coverage of intermediate-sized rocks (5–30 cm diameter), compared to randomly selected unused sites. Nest sites were also located on steeper, more north-facing slopes compared to randomly selected sites. Nest sites also had a lower percent coverage of vegetation than randomly-selected sites at larger scales (within 25 m and 50 m of the nest site). Nest sites were located significantly farther from the edge of densely-vegetated habitats than random sites. There was no evidence that nest sites were different from randomly-selected sites in terms of elevation, proximity to ridgelines, or proximity to the open ocean, although a low degree of variation within the study area for these habitat characteristics may have precluded detection of potential differences. Nest survival rates did not co-vary with slope, percent vegetation coverage, distance from vegetated edges, or percent cover of intermediate-sized rocks; however, this result may be an artifact of a limited sample size. The results of this thesis will provide managers with a better understanding of the factors that may limit Kittlitz's murrelet nesting success, such as nest predation and forage fish availability, as well as factors that may influence the quality and distribution of Kittlitz’s murrelet nesting habitat in the future, given on-going and progressive climate change. / Graduation date: 2013