Last spring, we featured UW grad student, Dan Oele’s work on northern pike in Green Bay. Dan was trying to answer the question, “Do pike return to the waters where they first emerged from eggs to spawn, or will any suitable stream do?”
Now, it appears he has an answer. And his results are good news for conservation efforts.
The Nature Conservancy’s “Cool Green Science” blog has more:
Research Results: If You Restore It, Will Pike Come?
by: Matt Miller, The Nature Conservancy
It’s well known that some migratory fish species, like salmon, are able to trace their way back to the stream where they were born. However, conservationists have no idea if this is the case for hundreds of other fish species.
Do pike return to spawn in the streams where they were born, a la salmon?
Not necessarily, at least in the Green Bay watershed. If there’s suitable habitat, pike will find it and spawn. That’s the central finding of research conducted by the University of Wisconsin’s Pete McIntyre and Dan Oele.
This result may sound like a let-down, but in reality it’s a relief for conservationists in the Green Bay area….read the rest of the blog on the “Cool Green Science” site.