Spiny water flea campaign in works

[alfredo]

NORTH BAY -- Boaters are being asked to take the spiny water flea invasion seriously, so they don't spread to places like Trout Lake.

The Ministry of Natural Resources issued a media release this week stating the flea, which gorge on zoo plankton, is already firmly entrenched in Lake Nipissing, Lake Temagami and almost 60 other inland lakes.

The Greater Nipissing Stewardship Council was at the waterfront this week to show how boaters can clean and disinfect their vessels and equipment to stop the spread of invasive species, including Black Crappie, Round Goby and fish diseases.

Jean-Marc Filion, who has been studying the impact of the fleas in Lake Nipissing for more than a decade, said draining the bilge is just one step because the fleas can survive for days hidden inside crevices where drops of water remain.

Filion recommends adding a cap of bleach to a bucket of water and refilling the bilge to help kill the ones that cling behind.

Anglers are also urged to empty bait buckets on land or in the garbage and bag aquatic plants for the trash. Boats, waders, ropes and gear should also be cleaned with a hot water rinse, high-pressure spray or left in the sun to kill all hitch-hiking organisms.

"Always buy your bait where you fish," the council said in a media release.

Filion said Lake Nipissing's spiny water flea is changing the food chain from top to bottom.

It will likely be among the topics discussed today during a summit about Lake Nipissing's future hosted by Nipissing First Nation and City of North Bay at Nipissing University.

Filion said the best thing to do when a lake's ecosystem is in a state of flux is to monitor the various elements to track impacts.

His Lake Nipissing Partners in Conservation study last year documented the near collapse of the zoo plankton population.


"We found out that by the end of June, there were so many fleas in the lake, almost all of the zoo plankton was consumed," he said, leaving only enough in the deeper, darker sections to repopulate.

He said small fish, such as new perch hatch, are left with almost nothing to eat, so they have begun eating snails and may fly nymphs.

The lack of a big shad fly emergence from Lake Nipissing in recent years could be a resulting impact, Filion said.

"It may be due to other creatures (which normally feed on zoo plankton) targeting whatever food supply was left," he said, noting even the spiny water flea population dies off when there's not enough zoo plankton left.

"We're left with a semi-aquatic desert of small life," he said, with perch having to eat what's left of the spiny water flea to get through July.

"They used to eat minnows," Filion said, suggesting the MNR study the minnow population in Lake Nipissing to see if it's struggling.

"This is probably the largest lake effect (caused by spiny water flea) in all of North America," he said.

Scientists tracking the fleas suggesting the local experience is the most severe they've come across, he said.

Filion said walleye, which used to eat minnows and small perch exclusively, are shifting their diet to smelt and small herring, while in the central part of the lake they're eating spiny water fleas.

He said minnow spawn in the latter part of June when zoo plankton, a primary source of food, has already been decimated by the fleas.

[Longshank]

They are a problem wherever they show up.....

I see them in more and more smaller inland trout lakes..for last decade and fishing has gone downhill.

thanks for the update.

[Brooktrout]

Interesting article... I did my undergrad thesis on the spiny water flea and had an opportunity to carry it on to a Masters... but a paycheck seemed much more inviting at the time. .

The lake I was studying had in previous years a huge population explosion of fleas, and then it crashed in early August. (A small lake trout lake between Huntsville and Dwight) When I collect my data for the 4th year of the study, we discovered that the flea population grew much slower throughout the summer and maintained an equilibrium throughout the summer without the population crash.

I actually didn't look at other species to compare their biomass relative to the fleas because I didn't have historical data to work with, however, in hindsight, this would have proved extremely interesting.

[Longshank]

Brooktrout.

I hope I get the opportunity to talk with you about this face to face one day.......

that's the area I was talking about.............and south of Dorset as well.

That flea is bad enough, but I find the 'fish hook "flea even worse.

LOL, even if we don't talk about fleas......ha ha ha, I'm sure we would have plenty of fishing talk anyhow!

[Brooktrout]

'Shank - absolutely! I'm sure we will meet up either on Lake O, or Simcoe at some point.