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RESULTS OF LAKE TROUT STOCKINGS IN FINLAND 1957–81

A. Mutenia
Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute
Ivalo, Finland

O. Simola
Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute
Taivalkoski, Finland

O. Tuunainen
The Federation of Finnish Recreational Fishermen's Associations
Helsinki, Finland

ABSTRACT

In 1955, lake trout eggs from Lake Superior were imported to Finland from the U.S.A. In addition to fish for stockings, the eggs were used to cultivate brood fish at the two fish farms of the Fisheries foundation. Stockings in lakes began in 1958 with two-year old juveniles. The Fisheries Foundation stocked circa 100 000 marked (Carlin tags) 2–3 year old, 17–22 cm long lake trout in eight different lakes as well as in the sea in various parts of Finland, especially in the lakes in Lapland. In the seventies, the Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute continued introductory stockings of lake trout.

Lake trout prefer cold water. For the most part they were stocked in large, deep clear lakes which have a large volume of hypolimnion in the summer.

The results of the trials indicate that lake trout should be stocked at a length of 20–25 cm in the spring or autumn when the water is cold. The best results were obtained in Lake Pallasjarvi in Lapland. The catch there was 237 kg/1 000 individuals stocked on 14 October 1966. Good results were also obtained in Lake Inari and Lake Iijarvi.

The only good results in small but deep and clear lakes (2 km2) were obtained in southern Finland. Brown water lakes in general gave poor results. Stockings in the sea and in brackish waters also gave poor results.

Stockings in Lake Inari (1 000 km2) were carried out over a period of ten years, with an average of 100 000 individuals/year of 2–3 year old juveniles. The present annual catch of lake trout is circa 10 000 kg. The fish weigh 1.0–1.5 kg, with the largest individuals weighing 6–7 kg. Most of the catch. is taken in nets.

Reproduction of lake trout has taken place in Lake Pallasjarvi and apparently in Lake Inari as well. Trout generally feed on vendace and whitefish.

Cultivation of lake trout brood fish and juveniles in the fish farms of northern Finland is easier than, for example, that of salmon or sea trout.

RESUME

En 1955, la Finlande a importé des Etats-Unis (Lac supérieur) des oeufs de truites de lac, non seulement à des fins de repeuplement, mais aussi pour élever des géniteurs dans les deux établissements piscicoles de la Fondation des pêches. Le repeuplement des lacs a commencé en 1957 avec des juvéniles de deux ans. La Fondation a déversé environ 100 000 truites marquées (marques Carlin) de 2–3 ans et de 17–22 cm dans huit lacs différents ainsi que dans la mer dans plusieurs parties de la Finlands, notamment en Laponie. Au cours des années soixante-dix, l'Institut finlandais de recherche sur les pêches et le gibier a poursuivi cet effort de repeuplement.

Ces truites préfèrent l'eau froide. La plupart d'entre elles ont été déversées dans de grands lacs, profonds et clairs, où l'hypolimnion est important en été.

Les résultats des essais montrent que le repeuplement devrait avoir lieu au printemps ou en automne, lorsque l'eau est froide, avec des truites de 20–25 cm. Les meilleurs résultats ont été obtenus dans la lac de Pallasjarvi (Laponie) avec des captures de 237 kg/1 000 individus mis à l'eau le 14 octobre 1966. Les résultats ont également été satisfaisants dans les lac d'Inari et d'Iijarvi.

En ce qui concerne les lacs de petites dimensions (2 km2) mais profonds et clàirs, on n'a obtenus de bons résultats que dans le sud de la Finlande. Les résultats ont en général été médiocres dans les lacs aux eaux brunes, dans la mer et dans les eaux saumâtres.

Le repeuplement du lac Inari (1 000 km2) a duré 10 ans à raison de 100 000 juvéniles de 2–3 ans chaque année en moyenne. Les captures de truites de lac sont actuellement de l'ordre de 10 000 kg par an. Ces truites pèsent de 1 à 1,5 kg (maximum: 6–7 kg). Elles sont le plus souvent capturées au filet.

La truite s'est reproduite dans le lac de Pallasjarvi et, semble-t-il, aussi dans le lac d'Inari. Elle se nourrit en général de vendace et de poisson blanc.

Des géniteurs et des juvéniles sont élevés dans les établissements piscicoles du nord de la Finlande; leur élevage est plus facile que celui du saumon ou de la truite de mer par exemple.

1. INTRODUCTION

Lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) spawn originating from a population in Lake Superior were imported into Finland from the U.S.A. in 1955. The spawn was used to rear broodfish as well as juveniles for stocking in two hatcheries belonging to the Finnish Fisheries Foundation. The foundation stocked nearly 100 000 individual, tagged (Carlin-tags), two-three year old, 17–22 cm long, lake trout in eight waters and in the sea in different parts of Finland, particularly in lakes in Lapland (see Nilsson and Dahlstrom, 1968). During the seventies, the Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute continued a programme of stockings aimed at the domestication of lake trout.

Lake trout is known to be a cold-water species and, therefore, the rearing of juveniles was begun in those two fish culture and research stations where spring water was used during the hottest part of the summer.

The rearing of broodfish commenced in the Porla Fish Culture and Research Station in Lohja, and until the mid-seventies, broodfish were also reared in the Hatsina Central Fish Culture and Research Station in Hollola in southern Finland. The majority of juveniles and broodfish are now reared in the State Central Fish Culture and Research Stations in northern Finland.

The rearing of broodfish and juveniles was successful in Porla and Hatsina, and the first stockings of two-summer old juveniles were carried out in the autumn of 1957. The objective of the lake trout stocking trials was to find out if this lake-spawning species could compensate for the destruction of predatory salminoid, river-spawning species, caused by construction in the rivers and by pollution. That same autumn, stockings of lake trout were also begun in the brackish waters of the Perameri, the northernmost end of the Gulf of Bothnia. These stockings, those made in Lake Pallasjarvi in the autumn of 1957 of untagged, two-summer old juveniles, and the stocking of two-year old juvenile lake trout in Lake Maarjarvi in Kisko gave optimistic returns. It was, therefore, decided that a programme of widespread stocking trials should be carried out.

An investigation of the results from the tagging of lake trout was carried out in support of this programme, to discover those characteristics which are most important for the survival of lake trout in Finland. In the evaluation of the tagging results for lake trout which are presented here, it has particularly been noted that often the relatively long distances over which fish have been transported have caused losses. A good example of this is at Lake Pallasjarvi, which has given one of the best catches of tagged lake trout but which has also been the site of one complete failure.

2. CHARACTERISTICS OF LAKE TROUT

The most promising characteristics of lake trout were the fact that it spawns in lakes, its long life and its relatively large final size. In addition, lake trout begins consuming fish as food at a noticeably smaller size than does domestic Finnish char and trout. This was felt to be significant in the management of the fish stock in regulated lakes because the regulation of the water level decreases benthic production and thus also the survival of migratory lake trout smolts beginning their river migration on the outward flow of water. In Finland, there have been reports of lake trout beginning to consume fish as food when they have attained a size of only circa 17 cm.

The fact that lake trout is a coldwater fish, particularly as an immature juvenile, was from the very beginning one of the limiting factors in the usefulness of lake trout in Finland. Positive results in Finland have been obtained in those exceptional, deep, clear lakes which, because of their large volume, have a relatively large, cold hypolimnion. Another limiting factor was that lake trout require very clear, almost transparent, water. In those deep lakes in which the cold hypolimnion was dark, i.e., in which light did not penetrate to the depth at which the lake trout lived, the results have generally been poor.

The taste of the flesh of lake trout is considered comparable to that of migratory trout but the flesh of individuals weighing under 0.5 kg is considered “watery”. This characteristic of small individuals would, on its own, be sufficient to keep people from fishing for undersized lake trout but because whitefish nets are generally used for fishing purposes in good lake trout waters, a very large percentage of the lake trout stock is undersized when caught. This is also partly caused by the slow initial growth of the species and its habit of moving extensively in the lakes.

3. CULTIVATION OF LAKE TROUT

The cultivation of lake trout in spring water is very successful. Growth depends on cultivation density and the volume of water. Lake trout juveniles utilize the volume of water in growing ponds better than brown trout juveniles. The size of lake trout juveniles has been as follows:

AgeLength
1 year6–9 cm 
2 years14–18 cm
3 years18–24 cm

The juveniles have been reared using dry feed developed for salmon. Cultivation in natural food ponds during the first summer generally failed due to the high temperature of the water in the ponds.

The production costs, excluding investments for construction, were the following:

AgeCost per individual
1 summer0.80 FIM
1 year1.00 FIM
2 years2.00 FIM
3 years3.00 FIM

Transportation and stocking costs were of the order of 10–20 percent of the production costs for juveniles, which costs must be added to the costs of production, as must the construction costs, which almost doubles the price above.

4. TAGGED STOCKINGS CARRIED OUT IN 1957–68

4.1 General

The slow growth of lake trout also arises from the long recovery time from stresses caused by tagging (Carlin tags) and a fish is often caught by the tag in a net while still undersized when it could have escaped through the mesh without the tag. Data on unmarked lake trout being caught has come from many lakes, which leads to the conclusion that tagging appears to decrease the size of the catch to a large extent and evidently also slows the rate of growth.

Lake trout juveniles which have been reared to tagging size may be stocked either in the spring or autumn, even late autumn, as the best tag-return result shows. This was obtained from a stocking made in Lake Pallasjarvi on 14 October 1966, where the catch was 43.3 (70.8) percent of stocked individuals, i.e., 237 (300 kg/1 000 stocked individuals). On the basis of the catch obtained, the stocking was judged economically very profitable.

The relatively promising catch results and the possibility that once domesticated, lake trout populations might become self-reproducing, argued for the continuation of widespread stocking trials, with the stocking sites limited to some extent, but in other respects following a well planned and sufficiently detailed programme.

4.2 Good lake results

The best results for stocked lake trout were obtained from Lake Iijarvi and Lake Inari, both in the Inari system, by the Fisheries Division of the Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute; and by the Finnish Fisheries Foundation in Lake Pallasjarvi in Muonio.

Good results were otherwise only obtained in deep, clear lakes: Keski-Pirinjarvi, Suvasvesi, Vuohijarvi and Iso Simijarvi. Lake also Simijarvi (1.9 km2) is a clear and very deep small lake. It and Lake Keski-Pirinjarvi in the Iijoki River system are the only small lakes in which lake trout have given positive results. For a number of years, lake trout has been the main species of fish stocked in lake Iso Simijarvi.

4.3 Inconclusive or poor lake results

There was a rather important group of experimental waters, with relatively clear water, but which did not stratify thermally every summer. Results of stocking in this type of lake were so bad that they could be considered more advantageous than stocking of another species only in those cases where the lake trout formed a naturally reproducing population.

In some regulated lakes (Hoytiainen, Juojarvi, Saarijarvi and Pyhajarvi) results have been inconclusive or poor, which indicates that lake trout cannot be used for compensation stocking in all clear, large, regulated lakes. The result in Lake Paijanne and in Lake Kallavesi was below 30 kg/1 000 stocked individuals; and in the deep Lakes Lammin Paajarvi and Toisvesi, the result was even worse. The result of 38 kg/1 000 stocked individuals in Lake Maarajarvi in Kiska, the null result obtained in Lake Vesijarvi in Lahti, and the above illustrations of the poor or inconclusive results obtained in relatively shallow, clear waters in regulated lakes, all strengthen the conception that lake trout can be adopted only in relatively rare cases for management of lakes in Finland, unless the species slowly adapts to Finnish conditions.

We have not yet studied the reasons for the differences in the results of stockings of lake trout stocked in similar lakes. Incidental data on the flexibility of feeding on a wide variety of fish (inter alia, vendace, stickleback, stunted whitefish and burbot juveniles) in the species indicates that the quality of the fish available as food is probably not a limiting factor to the success of lake trout. The extent to which differences in the depth at which lake trout and the prey species are found affect the results of stocking, has not been studied in Finland.

The null result obtained in the reservoirs of power plants located at the Petajakoski Falls in the Kemijoki River and at the Pahkakoski Falls in the Iijoki River, indicates that lake trout is not suitable in the management of reservoirs.

4.4 Results of sea stocking

The objective of stocking lake trout in the brackish waters of the Baltic Sea was to investigate whether lake trout would be suitable as a local marine fish to compensate for declining salmon and migratory sea trout stocks. In particular, the aim was to study whether this lake-spawning species would be able to reproduce in coastal waters and in the brackish water of river mouths. The first sea stockings of untagged lake trout were made in 1957, and the first stockings of tagged fish in 1965.

The lake trout stockings carried out in the bays and inlets and off the coast of the Gulf of Finland have given such poor results that the species should be considered unsuitable for Finnish marine conditions. Stockings made near Merenkurkku and in Perameri have resulted in returns of some tagged fish, on the basis of which, the catch is estimated to be so poor that the stocking of lake trout in the Gulf of Finland appears to be uneconomical; much better results can be obtained by stocking, inter alia, migratory sea trout.

The tagging trials carried out in the northern part of Perameri have produced very little yield in the stocking area. At least part of the lake trout stocked have migrated southward to the deeper waters of the central and southern parts of the Gulf of Finland but even here growth of lake trout, with few exceptions, has been slow (Sormunen, 1968).

5. SAMPLE LAKE: LAKE INARI

5.1 General

Lake Inari covers an area of 1 153 km2, is situated on the borderline between the sub-Arctic and the temperate zones (28°E; 68°N) at an altitude of 118 m above sea level, and is one of the northernmost great lakes in Finland and indeed in the world. It is covered by ice during the winter and open water in summer. Lake Inari has remained unpolluted because it lies far from industrialized areas and its drainage basin is very sparsely populated. However, the natural state of the water system has been changed by water-level regulation for power production.

Lake Inari is the central lake in the Paatsjoki River system and is a typical oligotrophic, barren lake.

5.2 Effect of water regulation on the char population in Lake Inari

The regulation of Lake Inari began in its present form in 1948 with the construction of the Paatsjoki River Hydropower Plant. The water level in Lake Inari is raised above its natural level and during the winter the rate of fall of the water surface is considerably greater than the natural rate. The maximum allowed amplitude of regulation is 2.36 m. The regulation has caused serious erosion, which has led to a decrease in littoral vegetation and bottom life, which has resulted in deterioration of habitats suitable for reproduction and feeding for the fish species in the lake. Fishing has declined in the years since the lake has been regulated, because the catches of many of the species in the lake have decreased sharply from the level of catches obtained before regulation. The development of catches of Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus (L.)) in Lake Inari, is shown in Table 3.

The char catch in 1977 was only 12 percent that of earlier char catches taken from the lake in its natural state. Factors in the decline in the size of the char population could not be retroactively determined in detail.

5.3 Management of char population

In order to compensate for the drastic decline in char catches, a new species of char, lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush (Walbaum)), has been stocked in Lake Inari since 1972. The legal obligation to restock is for an annual stocking of 250 000 one-summer old, or a monetary equivalent number of three-year old, Arctic char or lake trout juveniles. This obligation has been fulfilled in its entirety every year since 1976 (Toivonen et al., 1981).

For these stockings, lake trout juveniles have been transported to Lake Inari in 2.4 m3 tank trucks. At the lake, the juveniles are carried in transportation containers (2.0 m3) and stocked in the currents in backwaters or near the deep water of a strait. The fish were transported to North Inari (Vasikkaselka) and Central Inari (Kasarinselka). The stockings in river mouths and in West Inari (Ukonselka) were for net fishing for trout and whitefish combined.

In 1972–80 a total of some 500 000 two-three year old lake trout were stocked in Lake Inari. In 1972–79 another 500 000 one-summer or one-year old juveniles and 3.6 million lake trout fry were stocked.

The stockings have been monitored annually by tagging some of each year's juveniles with Carlin-type fish tags in north, central and west Inari. The compilation of the results of the tagging trials is still in progress.

During the time that stockings have been carried out, the factors that would have a decisive effect on the results have not been verified. The best results, however, have come from stockings made during the end of winter and the cool-water period at the beginning of summer and in the autumn. The stocking results improved with growth in the size of the fish stocked. More tagged than untagged fish were caught but the structure of the annual rate of tag-return depended on the type of fishing carried out in the stocking site, in this case net fishing. There were no limits on the mesh size of the nets. The rate of tag return with age is shown in Table 4.

The average growth and unadjusted catch are presented in Table 5.

From the typically good growth rate and the good catch per number of individuals stocked, it would appear that the new species has adjusted well. The results deteriorated as the number of stockings increased, as efforts to improve the profitability of fishing increased, and as a result of the lack of size limits on fishing. There were no minimum size requirements for lake trout.

On the basis of the stocking statistics and the tag return data from various districts, the estimated development of the lake trout catch in north, central and west Inari has been calculated. The results of this calculation are shown in Table 6.

Due to errors often associated with tag returns, the estimated catch based on tag returns is about half that of the actual catch recorded in the statistics.

According to the tag return data, lake trout has not migrated out of Lake Inari. Lake trout have not gone upriver or down the Paatajoki River. Migration does take place between the different inlets and the larger straits in Lake Inari. The future of lake trout in Lake Inari depends on the continuing abundance of its food species and on the development of fishing. The catch can be improved by transporting fish to areas in north Inari which are difficult to fish. With the development of fishing techniques and means of transportation, the choice of stocking site no longer sufficiently protects lake trout.

5.4 Exploitation of lake trout

Lake trout are primarily exploited by net fishing, which is concentrated in west and east Inari and in the larger straits of central Inari. In the same areas, stocking primarily with lake trout is carried out. The nets recorded as being used by professional fishermen and those fishing for home consumption were mainly of under 45-mm mesh. This means that lake trout are presently caught while still very small, as a secondary catch along with whitefish (Coregonus). The average size of lake trout caught in 1979 was 0.7 kg, with the largest individuals caught weighing about 5 kg.

The results of lake trout stockings have also been studied by compiling the annual fishing statistics for Lake Inari (Table 7).

Fishing techniques have not yet been developed for catching large lake trout, which would make it possible for lake trout to successfully spawn and reproduce naturally in Lake Inari before capture.

The lake trout catch has improved yearly and presently accounts for about 10 percent of the total catch taken from the lake. The fish caught are primarily consumed by the fishermen themselves at home, since only about 25 percent of the catch is sold in fish markets. The value of the lake trout catch was 15 percent of the value of the total catch from Lake Inari in 1979.

Net fishing specifically for lake trout is rare. Because stocking efforts have only recently begun, the number of young individuals in the population and in the catch is very large. With the passing of the years, we may expect that the size of the catch will increase; because lake trout grow slowly and live a long time. The profitability of lake trout stockings could be improved with better organized and regulated fishing.

6. REFERENCES

Airaksinen, E. and P. Heinonen, 1976 Inarinjarven tutkimus vuonna 1974. Vesihallituksen Tiedotus, 103:1–99

Hydrobiologinen vuosikirja 1976–77. 1980 Vesientutkimuslaitoksen Julkaisuja, 35:1–193

Nilsson, N.-A. and H. Dahlstrom, 1968 Harmaanieria (Lake trout). In Kalat, kalavesien hoito ja kalanviljely (Fish, management of fishing waters and fish culture), edited by G. Svardson et al. Helsinki. 302 p.

Sormunen, T., 1968 Kalataloussaation suorittamat harmaanierian (Salvelinus namaycush Walbaum) viljelyja istutustutkimukset. Suom.Kalastuslehti, 75(8):216–25

Toivonen, J., 1979 Veden saannostelyn vaikutus Inarijarven kalastukseen. Helsinki, 4 p. (mimeo)

Toivonen, J. et al., 1981 Verkkojen alimman silmakoon maarittaminen Inarijarven kalastuksessa. Riista-ja Kalatalouden Tutkimuslaltos Kalantutklmusosasto Tiedonantoja, 17:12–30

Table 1 Stockings of lake trout carried out by the Finnish Fisheries Foundation in 1957–68

Stocking siteNumber of individuals
Perameri17 991
Merenkurkku3 985
Gulf of Finland10 997
Tornionjoki River3 000
Kemijoki River11 259
Iijoki River15 668
Kokemaki River4 000
Lake Iso Simijarvi and Lake Maarjarvi
(municipalities of Pohja and Kisko)
972
Karjaajoki River50
Kymijoki River15 110
Vuoksi waterway15 815
 98 847

Table 2 Lake Inari: Salient hydrological data (Airaksinen and Heinonen, 1976; Hydrological Yearbook, 1980)

Surface area, km21 153
Amplitude of regulation, m2.36
Length of shoreline, km2 776
Maximum depth, m96
Thickness of ice, avg.cm. ps 1961–7578
Average date of complete ice cover, 1961–7530 Oct.
Average date of completely open water, 1961–753 June
Oxygen saturation value, %87–101
pH6.8–7.0

Table 3 Average annual char catch in Lake Inari, taken by professional fishermen and for home consumption, in tonnes (t) for various periods (Toivonen, 1979)

Period in yearsCatch in tonnes
1935–4020.5
1950–5515.3
1960–644.4
1966–703.3
19772.5

Table 4 The rate of tag-return (%) of three-year old tagged lake trout stocked in Lake Inari

 Growth periodTotal
%
12345678
Central Inari
28/6/723.34.110.87.41.70.50.3-28.1
25/8/724.67.811.83.40.50.30.2-28.5
28/4/733.510.311.97.23.31.80.30.338.6
21/6/733.59.211.68.24.50.80.40.138.9
21/6/733.16.87.86.03.80.90.50.329.2
North Inari
25/7/72-2.37.11.30.50.3--11.3
5/5/730.20.95.95.82.20.5--15.5
2/7/761.21.02.83.44.6---13.1

Table 5 Average weight in grammes (g) and catch as kg/1 000 stocked individuals of three-year old tagged lake trout stocked in Lake Inari; based on tag-return data

 Average weight in grammesCatch kg/1 000
ind.
Central Inari 
28/6/721152595208441 345---155
25/7/722254248611 0851 8664 250--205
18/4/731684027369801 4751 6112 335-290
21/6/731553866399481 3091 5462 266-276
21/6/731363756511 1531 3371 8101 4751 700229
North Inari
25/7/72-6059601 2902 225---109
5/5/732003547691 2281 6902 142--168
2/7/762701733445581 091---84

Table 6 The lake trout catch in Lake Inari; estimated on the basis of tag-returns and the actual catch as reported in fishing statistics

Stocking areaCatch/year (kg)
197519761977197819791980
Based on tag returns
West Inari
(Ukonselka)
1 9501 400750723676686
Central Inari
(Kasariselka)
7 9909 3857 8854 3632 9472 362
North Inari
(Vasikkaselka)
4582392933875971 788
Total10 39811 0248 9285 4734 2204 836
Statistically-known catch  6 9007 30010 20010 200

Table 7 Lake trout catch (t) of professional fishermen and those fishing for home consumption, and its share (%) of the total catch, in Lake Inari in 1977–80

YearLake trout catch (t)Percentage of total catch
19776.97.1
19787.37.9
197910.29.4
198010.29.6

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