Telemetry-derived seasonal fish-habitat associations and spatial use in the Hamilton Harbour Area of Concern in western Lake Ontario / by Sarah M. Larocque, Christine M. Boston, Jill L. Brooks, Jacob W.... : Fs97-6/3593E-PDF

"Understanding fish habitat associations can help direct fish habitat management, particularly in degraded systems that require habitat restoration. In the Laurentian Great Lakes, Hamilton Harbour is an Area of Concern and it is necessary to verify the type of habitat that fish are using to focus future fish habitat remediation efforts. We determined general seasonal and spawning-window spatial and habitat use of 11 species in Hamilton Harbour using acoustic telemetry data collected from 2016 to 2020. There were both species-specific associations within the harbour and commonalities among the tagged fish community. Most species used roughly similar habitats in Hamilton Harbour as identified in the literature. Spatially, the west end of Hamilton Harbour was important for all species in at least one season, and fishes generally used shallower depths in spring and summer, and deeper depths in fall and winter. Several species moved into Lake Ontario during the late summer but most returned to the harbour to overwinter. Results of this study can be used to inform future restoration efforts in Hamilton Harbour and other degraded areas to help improve impaired fish habitat and populations. Future works could attempt to apply more in-depth habitat selection models to further identify specific habitat features limiting population recovery"--Abstract, page vi.

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