Study 236101 - 1

ATTACHMENT A

Michigan Department of Natural Resources Renewed: 2009-2010

Study 236101New Study: 2003-2004

Name of Study:Development and implementation of conservation genetic initiatives for Michigan inland and Great Lakes fisheries and aquatic wildlife species

A.Problem:Michigan’s inland and Great Lakes waters support a diverse and economically and ecologically important fisheries resource base. State commercial and sports fisheries rely on the production from wild systems, and increasingly on fish produced by aquiculture programs. Agency stewardship that is directed at maintaining healthy wild stocks and implementing successful enhancement activities underlies the need for a comprehensive and effective genetics policy and research program.Aquatic habitats are also important to other aquatic wildlife species of conservation concern including reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates.There are fundamental deficiencies in knowledge of the ecology, recruitment, degree of population structuring, and effects of landscape features on the viability of aquatic wildlife species.

  1. Objectives: To develop and enhance a research, education, and outreach/service program aimed at providing information on historical, current, and projected future levels of genetic diversity for Great Lakes and inland aquatic wildlife species in Michigan waters, and of the impacts of management and other anthropogenic effects on diversity and sustainability.
  2. Justification: Much of the historical biological diversity represented by Michigan’s inland and Great Lakes fisheries or by populations of other aquatic wildlife species has been altered and/or lost by loss and fragmentation of habitat, introductions of non-indigenous species, exploitation from commercial and sporting user groups, and by transplantation and supplementation. Often, except for readily apparent declines in species diversity or population size, little is known of the consequences of these perturbations. Due to limitations posed by accessibility, low numbers and wide dispersion, direct assessments of population parameters or the effects of management are often difficult to make. In the absence of direct observational data, genetic markers and population genetics theory can be powerful research tools.

Management of fisheries and other aquatic wildlife resources has often been directed towards goals of maintaining total population numbers. However, there is a need to reconcile goals of meeting and maintaining specific criteria for numerical abundance with long-term goals of restoring and maintaining sustainable biodiversity. Management efforts should be based on biologically sound criteria founded on a greater fundamental understanding of the complexity of historical diversity and the genetic diversity of extant populations and of the factors that define spatial genetic stock relationships among populations. Further, long-term management goals for fisheries and for other aquatic wildlife species should include directives to maintain genetic diversity (and inferentially evolutionary adaptability). As such, issues related to production, transportation and mixing of individuals from different populations, and the choice of donor stocks to use in supplementation should be based on fundamental genetics principles.

D.Expected Results and Benefits:The Fisheries Division of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources will have access to professional advice, technical and laboratory resources, and genetic tools such as markers and analyses and interpretation of data, so as to better understand the consequences of management and exploitation on genetic diversity of populations of aquatic wildlife.Management planning will be better informed so that genetic conservation can become a more routine objective of resource management and protection programs.

E.Status: Management directed towards long-term sustainability of aquatic wildlife resources should in part be based on a fundamental understanding of population genetics and of biodiversity. The Fisheries Division of the Michigan DNR recognized the need to apply genetic principles in the areas of fisheries research and management. The PERM Geneticist and his staff have provided valuable data and interpretation that have been instrumental in redesign of state-wide hatchery programs and in developing state-wide information on fish stock structure and effects of hatchery supplementation on genetic diversity of natural populations. This proposal seeks to build upon existing partnerships between agency and PERM personnel.

F. Procedure:

Job 1.Review literature and unpublished studies on genetics of Great Lakes and inland fish and other aquatic wildlife as well as population and community dynamics, regional hatchery practices, stocking levels and locations and rates of exploitation that relate to levels and partitioning of genetic variation for species in Michigan waters. Synthesize literature for use in ongoing genetic assessment activities.

Job 2.Expand the PERM research genetics program into new areas complementary to the existing funded research programs with an emphasis on native aquatic wildlife species of conservation and economic concern. Seek additional funding from a variety of partners to enhance and diversify the research program.

Job 3.Provide service to Michigan DNR Fisheries Division, other partners of the PERM program including Michigan State University, state, federal, tribal, NGOs, and the broader scientific community with activities such as program reviews, review of journal articles and grant proposals, counseling in areas of population ecology and genetics as related to policy, effects of management practices, broodstock development and management.Serve on committees, provide editorial services, participate in academic governance and in activities of professional societies.

Job 4.Provide training and other educational opportunities for staff or students from Michigan DNR Fisheries Division, other partners of the PERM program including MichiganStateUniversity, and the broader scientific community in a variety of areas related to fisheries genetics in the form of formal courses, short-courses, workshops, seminars, and training programs. Such activities should have pre-service, in-service, and public outreach components.

Job 5.Supervise graduate research assistants, post-doctoral associates and technical staff whose work is supported by funds obtained from sources other than Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

Job 6.Prepare annual report and as appropriate communicate program results in the form of peer-reviewed publications, reports, popular articles, and presentations.

G.Schedule:

Year / Work planned
2007-08 / Job 1. / Review literature.
Job 2. / Expand research program.
Job 3. / Provide service.
Job 4. / Provide training, education and outreach.
Job 5. / Supervise non-MDNR funded assistants.
Job 6. / Prepare annual report and communicate results.
2008-09 / Job 1. / Review literature.
Job 2. / Expand research program.
Job 3. / Provide service.
Job 4. / Provide training, education and outreach.
Job 5. / Supervise non-MDNR funded assistants.
Job 6. / Prepare annual report and communicate results.
2009-10 / Job 1. / Review literature.
Job 2. / Expand research program.
Job 3. / Provide service.
Job 4. / Provide training, education and outreach.
Job 5. / Supervise non-MDNR funded assistants.
Job 6. / Prepare annual report and communicate results.
2010-11 / Job 1. / Review literature.
Job 2. / Expand research program.
Job 3. / Provide service.
Job 4. / Provide training, education and outreach.
Job 5. / Supervise non-MDNR funded assistants.
Job 6. / Prepare annual report and communicate results.
2011-12 / Job 1. / Review literature.
Job 2. / Expand research program.
Job 3. / Provide service.
Job 4. / Provide training, education and outreach.
Job 5. / Supervise non-MDNR funded assistants.
Job 6. / Prepare annual report and communicate results.

H. Geographic Location:Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, MichiganStateUniversity, East Lansing, MI

I.Personnel:Principal Investigator: Kim T. Scribner, Associate Professor, Dept. of Fisheries and Wildlife, MSU/PERM.