CRAPPIE STUDY HELPS WITH FISHERIES MANAGEMENT
MacKenzie Hauger completed her Masters of Biological Science at the University of Manitoba over the last few years. Why is that of interest? To complete her Masters, she decided to do research on our black crappie populations. This information is critical to make informed management decision on this great sport fish.
In the summer of 2018, she finished Phase 1 of her research, finishing Phase 2 the next summer. The completed study was designed to get a handle on the crappie population in the province of Manitoba. Crappie have become one of the most popular species to fish for Manitoba.
In Phase 1 she conducted creel studies and aging on some of the well known black crappie lakes in the Whiteshell. Once that was completed, she expanded her research to find other pockets of these game fish in the same area.
In the expansion of field work in Phase 2, did you find other viable populations of black crappie?
In total we found viable populations in seven lakes within the Whiteshell Provincial Park, although I am sure there are several other lakes within the park that also contain Black Crappie populations, which we were not able to study within our time frame.
Has all your data been forwarded to fisheries managers?
All the data I have collected has been given to the Manitoba Conservation and Climate Enforcement. It is my hope that with all the information provided they will be able to make the most informed decisions on how to manage the Black Crappie fishery within the Whiteshell.
What do you think was the most impactful part of the research?
Although there were many important aspects studied during this project, I would consider one of the most significant findings to be the growth rate and age of the Black Crappie. Specifically, these Black Crappie showed slow growth rates and increased age, meaning they are considered a longer-lived fish in comparison to more southern populations. These characteristics can have tremendous effects on the overall population dynamics of a fishery.
How does our black crappie population look in terms of health and productivity?
The purpose of this project was to establish data regarding population characteristics of Black Crappie at the most northern extent of their distribution. It is apparent that Black Crappie in the Whiteshell Provincial Park have established thriving populations that contribute to a popular fishery. Continual monitoring of age, growth, body condition, and stock density will be key for sustaining a healthy Black Crappie population in the Whiteshell Provincial Park system.
How was the data collected?
There were really two parts to our data collection. One part included tagging Black Crappie in a series of interconnected lakes (North Cross Lake, South Cross Lake, and Caddy Lake) to monitor movement and usage of the tunnels throughout the system. We placed 300 tags in North Cross Lake, 275 in South Cross Lake and 58 in Caddy Lake. We have had 17 reports of anglers catching tagged Crappie in those areas. Of those 17 reports, 2 of them have been fish that have traveled between lakes, so this shows us some evidence of movement between the lakes so far, but we will continue to monitor that. Each tag contains a unique ID number on one side and our email address on the other side to report your tagged fish.
AGE AND GROWTH DATA
The other part of our data collection was looking at the age and growth of the Black Crappies in various lake systems. So far, we have data collected on a total of 1,011 individuals. We found that they typically ranged in length from 48mm to 393mm and in age from 1 to 13 years old. We are seeing differences in length and age classes between lakes.
UPDATED INFORMATION
Jay Siemens just released a video on YouTube that highlights some of the the work that MacKenzie accomplished.