The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MiDNR), Alpena Fisheries Research Station, is employing a new aging technique that may be better able to determine age quickly using the maxillary bone of lake trout as opposed to relying solely on more traditional methods.   This new method can be performed with a high level of accuracy and rapidly enough that fish could be grouped into the appropriate age class prior to homogenization into composites according to the Great Lakes Fish Monitoring and Surveillance Program's (GLFMSP) Standard Operating Procedures (SOP).  Additionally, the maxillary bone is particularly useful for this application because its removal is non-intrusive (thus not significantly affecting whole-body contaminant results) and suitable for ageing long-lived, slow growing lake trout.  The GLFMSP and the MiDNR are confirming this aging technique by determining fish age, through the new method and a traditional method, from two independent labs. Fish age will be used to help explain the changes in fish tissue concentration for some legacy contaminants in Lake Huron lake trout collected as part of the long term GLFMSP. Results of this collaboration may alter the standard collection procedures for the GLFMSP into the future for Lake Huron and / or other Great Lakes to better reflect the environmental condition.

Contaminant concentration of Great Lakes lake trout: Are they affected by changes in growth as a function of the changing food web

248th National Meeting (2014)

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