An assessment of the health and historical changes of the nearshore fish community of the St. Marys River

Environmental history of the St. Marys River

“…Loss of rapids habitat coupled with loss of the surrounding wetlands has certainly had an impact on the fisheries although no quantifiable estimates of the reduction in fish populations due to this habitat loss are available. More recent studies of fish communities in the river, including studies reported in this issue by Pratt and O'Connor (2011) and Schaeffer et al (2011) indicate that fish populations have remained stable over the past 25 years.…”

Ecological status of the St. Marys River: Foreword

“…Pratt and O'Connor (2011) examined nearshore fish communities and found that they are similar to what was present in the SMR up to 25 years ago. While invasive species are present, their impact does not appear to be significant.…”

Community stability within the St. Marys River fish community: Evidence from trawl surveys

“…But, they are insufficient for stock assessments (Schaeffer et al 2011, Schaeffer et al 2014. Furthermore, existing surveys focus exclusively on adult fish, thus, knowledge about trends in the juvenile prey fish community is lacking, and scarcity of those data has been identified as an important missing component needed for effective fisheries management (Gebhardt et al 2002, Pratt and O'Connor 2011, Schaeffer et al 2011.…”

“…The Liston Survey suggested that the SMR nearshore community was diverse and dominated by native species with relatively few invasive species. Their 1979-1983 results were compared with results of an electrofishing survey taken during 2006-2008 by Pratt and O'Connor (2011) who, while acknowledging that direct comparisons were not possible due to gear and location differences, concluded that the nearshore fish community had not changed appreciably over 23 years. However, while the electrofishing survey did a thorough job of documenting nearshore diversity, it was different enough from the Liston survey in that some uncertainty regarding mainchannel trends remained among resource managers, and especially among those concerned with invasives.…”