Emerald Shiner Research info

Below is the general result of an experiment done on Emerald Shiners in relation to Lake Erie. Remember this is one experiment, so the results shouldn't be taken as proof positive, just a probable effect of the recent larger algae blooms. The experiment was done in 2018.

Undergraduate Honors Thesis by Harrison S. Fried

"Since survival is directly affected by Ucrit and aerobic capacity (Brett 1964), the results of
this study suggest possible deleterious effects of turbidity on fitness. Emerald Shiner exhibited
significantly lower swimming performance in algal turbidity compared to clear-water. Such a
decrease in swimming ability suggests that algal turbidity particles had a negative impact on
Emerald Shiner. One possibility is that mucous build-up on the gills in response to algal particles
inhibited aerobic respiration

My study suggests that algal turbidity has strong effects on the swimming ability of
Emerald Shiner, filling in a previous gap in knowledge on the effects of turbidity on Emerald
Shiner swimming performance. In fact, a significant decline in swimming ability from clear to
algal conditions, as shown by my study, may insinuate a bleak prognosis for the Emerald Shiner
in Lake Erie. As algal blooms in the western basin of Lake Erie recur each year (Steffen et al.,
2014), Emerald Shiners will repeatedly experience conditions detrimental to survival and
physiological fitness. "

https://kb.osu.edu/bitstream/handle/...=1&isAllowed=y

That is very enlightening study West Basin. Thank you for sharing. Hope we can see if other scientists feel this could be reasons the shiners are struggling.

I hate to hear that. Maybe that's the reason they have been so elusive. I wonder if they ever did a study on goldie's it would be nice to compare the two.

I didn't include it in the original post, in order to keep it as brief as possible. Golden Shiners were included in the study. The results were that Golden Shiners weren't effected as much as Emerald Shiners. The study is pretty heavy on scientific method and lingo (as usual), but you can scroll through it and get to the results and the comparison of Emerald and Golden shiners.

This is a little hard to believe, there have been a lot worse blooms in the 60's and 70's for a longer periods and there was no issue with emerald numbers then.

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Originally Posted by Ducker

This is a little hard to believe, there have been a lot worse blooms in the 60's and 70's for a longer periods and there was no issue with emerald numbers then.

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But wasn't the fish population lower then, than now? If the Shiners aren't as agile, they are easier prey for Walleyes and such and there is much more pressure on them already because of the high population of predators.

Good comments, as they make the point the Lake is a very dynamic system with so many factors effecting any given part of the ecosystem. I don't know what the emerald shiner populations were back in the 60's and early 70's. We do know the walleye population is much larger the last few years than it was back then. This is why we do research. To do our best to put all the pieces together and figure out how and why the Lake ecosystem works. The more you understand about the ecosystem, the better you can understand walleye fishing and learn how to catch more fish.