AEL faculty Drs. Stu Ludsin and Libby Marschall have two new publications on percids out this spring.

“Mixed-stock analysis using Rapture genotyping to evaluate stock-specific exploitation of a walleye population despite weak genetic structure,” was published with AEL alumnus Alex Chen; it will appear in the May edition of Evolutionary Applications. This study “provides important stock contribution estimates for Lake Erie fishery management and demonstrates the utility of genomic data to facilitate mixed-stock analysis in exploited fish populations have weak population structure or limited existing genetic resources.”

Euclide, P.T., T. MacDougall, J.M. Robinson, M.D. Faust, C.C. Wilson, K.Y. Chen, E.A. Marschall, W. Larson, and S. Ludsin. 2021. Mixed-stock analysis using Rapture genotyping to evaluate stock-specific exploitation of a walleye population despite weak genetic structure. Evolutionary Applications. 14(5): 1403-1420. doi.org/10.1111/eva.13209

“Ecosystem change as a driver of fish recruitment dynamics: A case study of two Lake Erie yellow perch populations,” was published with AEL alums Ben Marcek and Troy Farmer; it will appear in the June edition of Freshwater Biology. This study “demonstrates that ecosystem change can cause the relationships between environmental conditions and population processes…of aquatic organisms to vary through time and space.”

Marcek, B.J., T.M. Farmer, E.A. Marschall, G. Petris, and S. Ludsin. 2021. Ecosystem change as a driver of fish recruitment dynamics: A case study of two Lake Erie yellow perch populations. Freshwater Biology. 66(6): 1149-1168.  doi.org/10.1111/fwb.13707

Dave Dippold completed his time as a postdoc this month and has moved on to a position with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. We wish him all the best!

AEL postdoc Rich Budnik, along with Dr. Stu Ludsin, and Dr. Kenneth Frank of Queen’s University and Fisheries and Oceans Canada, hosted a two-day virtual workshop Monday, May 3 and Friday, May 7 to share information about and gain feedback on their Great Lakes Fishery Commission funded database project. AEL grad student Lyndsie Collis, research assistants Steven Gratz and Jenny Pfaff, and postdoc James Sinclair all helped with the workshop and project as well.

The Great Lakes Fish Recruitment and Ecosystem Database is unique in that it is being developed at a broader spatial and temporal scale and is geared towards helping researchers evaluate the direct and indirect effects of environmental change on Great Lakes fish communities and the fisheries they support. The goal of the workshop was to achieve agency and researcher buy-in for the database effort, and was an overall success! Great discussions helped to guide the best practices of database development moving forward, and participants now have a better grasp of the goals of the database.

We are always grateful to be able to share our knowledge with the community, and so we were thrilled when Bexley 5th grade teachers reached out to us to help their students better understand foodwebs. Dr. Ludsin along with AEL undergrad Luke Bobay and grad student Rachael Finigan presented to Bexley Elementary 5th grade classrooms over Zoom on April 21. The presentations were all well received, a great experience for the students and presenters alike!

We are so proud to announce that Zoe Almeida successfully defended her dissertation Friday, January 29. Her dissertation is titled, “Legacies of early-life experiences on individual, cohort, and population performance of Lake Erie Walleye.” Zoe will begin a postdoc position at Oregon State University with Dr. Jessica Miller and Dr. Ben Laurel, examining the effects of marine heat waves on juvenile Pacific cod.

A recording of her seminar can be found here (the formal presentation begins at about 6:15).

Postdocs Ben Marcek ended his time at the AEL this week.

Ben is moving on to a position as a Fish Biologist and Aquatic Invasive Species Branch Chief with the US Fish and Wildlife Service Carterville Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office in Carbondale, Illinois.

We are grateful for his contributions in his time at the AEL!

The Lake Erie and Inland Waters Annual Research Review took place virtually Thursday and Friday, December 17-18.

Dr. Stu Ludsin hosted the meeting with minimal technical difficulties, and we all learned about the great research taking place in Ohio. Folks from The Ohio State University, Ohio Division of Wildlife, University of Toledo, and CIGLR all presented. The presentations were supported by a variety of other schools and agencies including USGS Great Lakes Science Center, Fisheries Canada, Queen’s University, Great Lakes Fishery Commission, Michigan DNR, and NOAA-GLERL. See the AEL page for a list of talks.

David graduated yesterday at The Ohio State University Autumn Commencement. Congratulations David!

On November 17 PhD candidate David Dippold gave his exit seminar titled, Responses of an Exploited Fish Population to Environmental Change. For more information on his project, check his project page.