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Monthly and daily abundance of fish captured by near-shore trawling and seining at sites in Indiana waters of Lake Michigan, near Michigan City, Indiana in 1973

Fish were collected at 1 and 5 m stations along three transects in Lake Michigan near Michigan City, Indiana. The five major species captured by trawling and/or seining between June and October, 1973 included: yellow perch, Perca flavescens; rainbow smelt, Osmerus mordax; alewife, Alosa pseudoharengus; spottail shiner, Notropis hudsonius; and trout-perch, Percopsis omiscomaycus.The alewife and spottail shiner were major species collected by seining, comprising 94.5% and 4.9% of the catch, respectively. The majority of individuals captured were young-of-the-year (yoy), especially alewives taken predominantly during the daytime.The bottom trawl captured a greater number of species than the seine. Catch-per-unit-effort (cpe) of most species was greatest in night trawling.The yellow perch comprised 16% of the total trawl catch. Spawning adults predominated in June and July with a deep water migration of this species beginning in August. The yoy first appeared in the catch in August.Rainbow smelt represented 24% of the total trawl catch. Adults were present in June catches and yoy were first captured in July. Off-shore movement was underway by October.Alewives comprised 13% of the total trawl catch. Spawning adults were taken in greatest numbers during June and July with a slight off-shore movement beginning in August. Young fish were first captured in the trawl in August.The most abundant species captured with the trawl was the spottail shiner comprising 27% of the total catch. Larger fish were well represented in the catch from June through August with a strong off-shore movement in October. Young fish were first captured in August.Trout-perch represented 16% of the total trawl catch. Catches were restricted to adults and no yoy were captured except in September at one sample site. Off-shore migration of trout-perch had begun by October.There were significant similarities in cpe and size distribution of fish captured at Dunes and Kintzele Ditch transects. In general, catches at the Michigan City transect were lower and size distribution was less consistent compared to the other transect catches.Ball State UniversityMuncie, IN 47306

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/181158
Date03 June 2011
CreatorsWillis, Terry B.
ContributorsMcComish, Thomas S.
Source SetsBall State University
Detected LanguageEnglish
Formatx, 133 leaves ; 28 cm.
SourceVirtual Press
Coveragen-us-in

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