Benjamin Erb and Dr. Andrew Hafs (Bemidji State University), Phil Talmage (MN Department of Natural Resources)
Summary
In this webinar, Dr. Marianne Bachand will explain how models have helped us to identify areas where fish habitats should be found. Then Benjamin Erb and Dr. Andrew Hafs from Bemidji State University, along with Phil Talmage, a fisheries biologist from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, will lead us through the work they are doing on Rainy Lake to verify spawning locations for Lake Whitefish and Walleye that were predicted by the models. Voyageurs National Park aquatic ecologist, Ryan Maki, will be on hand to answer questions, too.
As Ask an Expert viewers will have seen in the November 18 seminar (Exploring the Murky Depths: Bathymetry Studies on Rainy River), managers in the Namakan Lake, Rainy Lake and Rainy River boundary waters rely on a series of Integrated Socio-Economic and Environmental models to help us understand the broader ecological impacts of water management decisions related to levels and flows through this system. Among the ecological indicators these models examine are Lake Whitefish and Walleye, from spawning to maturity.
The models can tell us where we might expect to see fish spawn and where suitable habitats can be found for different life stages, as water levels changes with our management interventions. The International Joint Commission is currently sponsoring a multiyear collaborative study involving Dr. Hafs' team, fisheries biologists from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, technicians from Voyageurs National Park, and the modelling team from Environment and Climate Change Canada to verify whether the model's predicted fish spawning locations are correct, and to collect field data about fish habitats to better inform the models.
These are fascinating studies that have a major real world impact on keystone fish species in our watershed. We hope you'll be able to join us for this one-hour webinar, and as always, come prepared to ask questions and engage the presenters in discussion! Note that this session will be recorded for rebroadcast on the LOWWSF website.
About the Presenters:
Dr. Marianne Bachand - Marianne Bachand is the Project Coordinator for the Hydrodynamic and Ecohydraulic section of the National Hydrological Services at Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC). She earned her Ph.D. in plant biology from Université Laval in 2013, where she studied the resilience of boreal forests to deer overpopulation. After completing her Ph.D., she transitioned to ecohydraulic modelling during her postdoctoral work at ECCC. Since then, Dr. Bachand has developed numerous habitat models, including a wetland model used to evaluate the 2000 Rule Curves of the Rainy Lake and Namakan Reservoir System. Since 2016, she has expanded her efforts to create habitat and wetland models for various transboundary water bodies, including the Lake Champlain-Richelieu River Basin, St. Marys River, St. Lawrence River, and Lake Ontario. These models are instrumental in managing water levels, assessing the impacts of climate change, and evaluating flood mitigation strategies. In 2023, she returned to the Rainy region to enhance the models developed during the Rule Curves Study.
Dr. Andrew Hafs is a Professor of Aquatic Biology in the Department of Biology at Bemidji State University.
Benjamin Erb is a graduate student in Dr. Hafs' lab who started his studies in January 2024, focused on the Walleye and Lake Whitefish performance indicators discussed in today's webinar. As of today, he has worked with the Minnesota DNR, the Ontario MNR, the US National Park Service, and Environment & Climate Change Canada to complete one field season of Walleye and Lake Whitefish egg sampling for this project. Ben also graduated from Bemidji State University with his Bachelor’s Degree in Aquatic Biology in 2019.
Phil Talmage is the Area Fisheries Supervisor with the Division of Fish and Wildlife for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, based in International Falls, MN. Since 2023, Phil has served as the US co-chair of the Adaptive Management Committee for the International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Board.
Ryan Maki manages the Aquatic Ecology Program at Voyageurs National Park, where his team conducts water quality, mercury, and amphibian monitoring, analyzes the impacts of aquatic invasive species, and assesses how water level management affects the park’s aquatic ecosystem. Ryan has been working on lake level management issues in the Rainy Lake-Lake of the Woods watershed since arriving at Voyageurs National Park in 2004. Ryan was the inaugural US co-chair of the Adaptive Management Committee for the International Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed Board from 2020-2023.