Predation and Production by Salmonine Fishes in Lake Michigan, 1978–88

Abstract

A marked decline of alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) in Lake Michigan during 1981–83 led to diet shifts by coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha) from feeding primarily on large alewife to eating proportionately more immature alewives and other prey. Diets of lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) did not change greatly during that period. Population biomass conversion efficiency averaged 24.5% for coho and 16.6% for lake trout. Chinook salmon suffered an apparent 20% decline in gross conversion efficiency of biomass (25.1 to 20.8%) and a 25% decline in average weight of sport-caught fish. We infer that chinook salmon growth was inhibited by insufficient forage available to them. A simulation of chinook salmon feeding on bloater (Coregonus hoyi) at 8 °C suggested that such behavior could lead to further declines in growth rates. Extension of modeling results to include approximations for brown trout (Salmo trutta) and rainbow trout (O. mykiss) revealed peaks in total annual salmonine predation of 71 000 t in 1983 and 76 000 t in 1987. The alewife was 70% of all prey eaten by salmonines in 1987–88. Lakewide gross production by salmonines was 15 300 t (or 0.27 g∙m−2) in 1987. Ratios of annual gross production to average monthly population biomass were 1.6 for chinook, 1.15 for coho, and only 0.6 for lake trout.