Growth and Survival Rate of Nearshore Fishes in Lake Michigan August 1, 2011 to July 31, 2012

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 2011 field season and marks the fourth year of major changes to the project, which included changing sampling locations, expanding sampling sites to include differenthabitat types, and expanding sampling techniques to collect juvenile fish. Data analysis from field sampling conducted in 2012 is ongoing and lab processing is not complete. As such, a complete reporting of data collected during the 2011 sampling season is presented, covering data from Segments 14 and 15. 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. We present the study objectives and several research highlights.