Annual and Monthly Variation in Species Composition and Catches of Fishes from the Tabusintac River Estuary in the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence

Abstract

A total of 7130 fish from 13 taxa were collected during summer and autumn, 2002-2005 using box traps at two sites in the Tabusintac River Estuary, New Brunswick, Canada. The objective was to determine seasonal change in species composition and catches, and to access change in annual returns of Atlantic Salmon, an important recreational fishery during autumn on the Tabusintac, Miramichi and neighboring rivers. Taxa richness and composition varied annually and from trap to trap. Richness ranged from 8-10 taxa annually and catches were usually highest in the trap closest to the ocean despite its slightly smaller size. Taxa contributing greater than one percent of the total catch during the four years of sampling included six diadromous taxa: Blueback Herring and Alewife (41.65%), Striped Bass (21.54%), Atlantic Salmon (3.98%), Tomcod (2.95%), Brook Trout (1.05%), American Eel (5.27%); one freshwater species, White Sucker (11.96%); one marine species, Winter Flounder and one resident estuarine species, Smooth Flounder which together account for 11.19% of the total catch. The remaining five species (American Smelt, Northern Pipefish, White Perch, Cunner, Sea Lamprey) contributed 0.39% of the total catch. The fish fauna 14-15 km up the Tabusintac River was not species rich, due in large part to the limited sampling time each year and due to fishing with just one sampling gear, a stationary box trap. Additional species would have been collected if smaller mesh sampling gear were used. Comparisons were made with other studies and the phenology of the dominant species on the Tabusintac and Miramichi River Estuaries during the ice free season is established. Most catches appear to be related to pre-or post-spawning movements of anadromous fishes.

Spatial and temporal variation in fish assemblages in three small unpolluted estuarine rivers and associated lagoons in Kouchibouguac National Park, southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada

“…The miramichi study covered a larger area, included both shallow and deep water, involved a variety of sampling equipment, and took place throughout the year, all of which resulted in greater species richness. Golden Shiner (Notemigonus crysoleucas) and Northern Pipefish (Syngnathus fuscus) were two rare species taken in our study that were not reported by hanson and Courtenay (1995) but were reported previously from estuarine waters of the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence (Needler 1940 [as Siphostoma fuscum]; Robinson et al 2001;herrell and methven 2009). otherwise, all fish species collected in our study have been reported previously from shallow coastal waters of the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence (Beach 1988;Robinson et al 2001;Joseph et al 2006).…”

“…The relatively small number of species (20) captured by seining and the high catches of just a few species (seven species represent 98% of the fishes caught) in our study are typical of fish assemblages in temperate estuaries off eastern Canada and New England (Lazzari et al 1999;methven et al 2001;Joseph et al 2006;Thériault et al 2006;herrell and methven 2009;Furey and Sulikowski 2011;Teather et al 2012). Species richness in shallow waters such as those sampled by beach seine off Atlantic Canada south of Newfoundland and Labrador is typically less than 25, with most fish species belonging to the Fundulidae, Gasterosteidae, Gadidae, Pleuronectidae, Clupeidae, Cottidae, and osmeridae.…”

Factoring scales of spatial and temporal variation in fish abundance in a subtropical estuary

“…Most studies of abundance dynamics of estuarine fishes have focused on seasonal (e.g. Chao et al 1985, Ambrose & Meffert 1999, Gordo & Cabral 2001, Upchurch & Wenner 2008, Herrell & Methven 2009, Love et al 2009, Plavan et al 2010 and, to a lesser extent, inter-annual scales of variation (e.g. Power et al 2000, Garcia et al 2004a, Martinho et al 2009, Reum et al 2011.…”