Millions of salmonids are annually stocked in the Great Lakes to support and diversify sport fisheries and restore native fish populations. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began coded-wire tagging and adipose-fin clipping all lake trout Salvelinus namaycush stocked into Lakes Michigan and Huron in 2010; tagging of Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha and steelhead O. mykiss followed in 2011 and 2017, respectively. We review how the implementation of a mass marking program has facilitated large-scale monitoring of spatial and temporal patterns in salmonine distributions. Examples include (1) examining patterns and potential drivers of relative survival of Chinook salmon and lake trout, (2) estimates of seasonal shifts in species distributions, and (3) estimating wild recruitment annually to measure progress toward rehabilitation of lake trout and predatory impacts by Pacific salmon. Our overview will highlight how this program has addressed the challenges of data intensive fisheries monitoring on large spatial scales, and how it has helped answer applied research questions and inform decision-making. We also seek discussion on other ways to integrate physical and environmental processes into fisheries research in large freshwater systems like the Great Lakes. 

Authors:

Matthew Kornis, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Green Bay FWCO  (matthew_kornis@fws.gov)

Shannon Cressman, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Green Bay FWCO  (shannon_cressman@fws.gov)

Thomas Blowers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Green Bay FWCO  (thomas_blowers@fws.gov)

Allen Lane, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Green Bay FWCO  (allen_lane@fws.gov)

Sarah Mansfield, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Green Bay FWCO  (sarah_mansfield@fws.gov)

Kevin Pankow, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Green Bay FWCO  (kevin_pankow@fws.gov)

Anthony Rieth, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Green Bay FWCO  (anthony_rieth@fws.gov)

James Webster, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Green Bay FWCO  (james_webster@fws.gov)

Charles Bronte, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Green Bay FWCO  (charles_bronte@fws.gov)