A science and management partnership to restore coregonine diversity to the Laurentian Great Lakes

Similar to many freshwater ecosystems, the Laurentian Great Lakes of North America have undergone numerous anthro-pogenic stressors resulting in considerable loss of biodiversity and habitat. Among Great Lakes fishes, the coregonine sub-family has endured the most extensive declines, including extinction of several species (Coregonus johannae, C. alpenae, and C. kiyi orientalis) and at least 10 instances of local extirpations of other species (C. nigripinnis, C. reighardi, C. zenithicus, C. hoyi, and C. artedi) across all 5 lakes, much of which occurred prior to the 1960s owing to overfishing, interactions with non-indigenous species, and habitat loss. Despite these declines, no federal-, provincial-, or state-mandated actions were ever implemented to conserve coregonine diversity, potentially because so much of the coregonine declines occurred prior to the enactment of federal conservation legislation. Possible explanations for inaction since enactment of that legislation include insufficient data on biological vulnerability or threats, unresolved taxonomy, and limited support from the fishery management agencies and their stakeholders prior to the 2000s. In recent decades, however, several fishery management agencies have undertaken efforts to re-introduce coregonine diversity. These efforts helped lead to development of a science-based framework to restore coregonines that was universally endorsed by fishery managers representing eight U.S. states, four U.S. tribal organizations, and the province of ON, Canada, in May 2018. The basin-wide framework is based on principles of conservation biology and adaptive management. We describe details of its key steps, including planning, restoring, and evaluating, while also describing recent implementation efforts to develop methods, improve available resources, and enhance coordination across the basin. Although our paper describes a regional effort to restore native coregonines, our adaptive-management approach could be used by other multi-agency stakeholders seeking to conserve or restore native fishes.

Automated summary

Similar to many freshwater ecosystems, the Laurentian Great Lakes of North America have experienced significant decline in biodiversity and habitat due to various human activities. The coregonine sub-family, in particular, has suffered the most extensive declines, including extinctions of several species and local extirpations of others across the lakes. Despite these declines, little action was taken to conserve coregonine diversity, possibly due to lack of data, unresolved taxonomy, and limited support from fishery management agencies. In recent decades, however, efforts have been made to restore coregonine diversity, leading to the development of a science-based framework endorsed by multiple stakeholders in May 2018. The framework is based on conservation biology principles and adaptive management, and this paper describes its key steps and recent implementation efforts.