Growth and Survival Rate of Nearshore Fishes in Lake Michigan August 1, 2009 - July 31, 2010

Zooplankton communities at the three locations were very similar. Bosminidae were a main contributor to the small differences observed. Invertebrate communities in core samples differed slightly between locations; DR was most different from the other two locations. Analysis of 22 prey taxa in early summer diets showed clustering based on fish species only. Yellow perch, round goby and spottails had very different diets in June and July. Research described in this report focuses on Illinois waters of Lake Michigan and provides essential information for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) to better understand factors contributing to nearshore fish community assemblages in a spatial and habitat related context. Information presented herein expands limited data and directly aids fisheries management efforts. This report describes results obtained during 2009 field season and marks the second year of major changes to the project, which included changing sampling locations, expanding sampling sites to include different habitat types, and expanding sampling techniques to collect juvenile fish. Data analysis from field sampling conducted in 2010 is ongoing and lab processing is not complete. As such, a complete reporting of data collected during the 2009 sampling season is presented, covering data from Segments 12 and 13. Further, some objectives are based on long term data collection and insights will become clearer as results accrue through future sampling; therefore, results for each objective may not be specifically discussed in this report. Below, we present the study objectives and several research highlights.