Fisheries, Subsistence, and Habitat
Publications Searchable Database
Search Again| Division: | Sport Fish |
| Title: | Stormy Lake northern pike distribution and movement study to inform future eradication efforts. |
| Author: | Massengill, R. |
| Year: | 2017 |
| Report ID: | Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Special Publication No. 17-17, Anchorage. |
| Abstract: | Thirty invasive northern pike (Esox lucius) with a fork length greater than 400 mm were implanted with radio transmitters to identify congregation sites, including potential spawning areas, in Stormy Lake (Nikiski, Alaska), an anadromous waterbody. Some radio transmitters were recovered from dead study fish and most were redeployed in new study fish resulting in an overall study population of 45 individual northern pike. Study fish were located during periodic tracking surveys over a 20-month period. Habitat parameters (water temperature, depth, distance from shore, and presence of vegetation) were recorded when possible at study-fish locations. Most study-fish congregations were found in close association with dense aquatic macrophytes in shallow water (less than 3 m). Congregation sites were typically clustered within large emergent vegetation beds that were utilized year-round. During the spawning season, many northern pike were detected near the lake outlet, raising concern that northern pike eggs or larvae could drift and pass through a mesh fish barrier near the outlet and invade the remainder of the Swanson River drainage where they are currently not found. Most northern pike dissected in this study were sexually mature at 400 mm FL but some males matured at smaller sizes; annual spawning is most likely for sexually mature fish. Of 12 study fish that were located during both the 2010 and 2011 spawning seasons, most repeated site occupancy at 1 or more areas across years, suggesting spawning site fidelity may occur in this population. |
| Keywords: | northern pike, Esox lucius, radio transmitters, Stormy Lake, Kenai Peninsula |