Space use and residency patterns of largemouth bass relative to a freshwater protected area

Abstract

Fish movement patterns are an essential consideration for the design of effective freshwater protected areas (FPAs). The Rideau Waterway system (Ontario, Canada) is home to some of the oldest single-resource FPAs in Ontario (> 70 years active). Initially, these FPAs were intended to provide holistic protection to the heavily exploited largemouth bass, but since their establishment, little is known regarding their protective capacity. Using a passive acoustic telemetry network, we measured how site fidelity varied with body size and across seasons in largemouth bass within one Rideau Waterway FPA. Collectively, 50 bass were tracked for an average of 227 days, with some individuals tracked upwards of 744 days. Tagged fish spent on average 55% of their time at liberty within the FPA, with occupancy rates exceeding 85% for some individuals. Most of the tagged fish displayed cyclical movement behaviour between the FPA and non-protected areas, largely corresponding with known life-history stages. Largemouth bass occupancy was highest in the spring-summer seasons (i.e., reproductive period), with a sharp decline during the fall that sustained through the winter. FPA occupancy varied with body size, with large fish (> 430 mm) using the FPA more extensively. Our findings show that this Rideau Waterway FPA provides temporal protection from exploitation to a highly targeted sportfish, especially during their reproductive period, likely providing major conservation benefits. These findings also highlight the value of considering the habitat requirements of a species across life-stages to inform effective FPA design.

Movement, home range, and structural habitat use of the Largemouth Bass complex in two large Texas reservoirs

“…(2020) and Zolderdo et al. (2024) used thresholds of ≥5 and ≥10 relocations for LBC fish, respectively. Similarly, we limited our analyses to LBC individuals with 10 or more relocations.…”

An Interdisciplinary Approach to Evaluating Native and Invasive Fish Connectivity and Spatial Ecology in Canada’s Historic Rideau Canal Waterway

“…Further, only 40% of case studies showed FPAs positively affected fish diversity, with little consideration to the critical habitats required across a migratory fish's life (e.g., spawning and nursery areas, migratory corridors, feeding habitats; Bower et al 2014). While Zolderdo et al (2023) found that a fish sanctuary in Big Rideau Lake appears to offer spatial protections to largemouth bass during the open fishing season, no work has been conducted on other species. It would be especially useful to determine if FPAs in the RCW afford the same level of protection to migratory species, which are disproportionately threatened (Robinson et al 2009).…”