AMERICAN EEL IN EAST RIVER, CHESTER NOVA SCOTIA 2018 · 2020. 9. 11. · AMERICAN EEL IN EAST...

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AMERICAN EEL IN EAST RIVER, CHESTER NOVA SCOTIA 2018 Traps were placed in several locations throughout the East River, Chester watershed between August 30 to October 28, 2018. Three tagging sites were set upstream, while a single recapture site was located below. A total of 975 eel were caught at the tagging sites, of which 849 were tagged. The recapture site caught 937 eels, of which 38 were recaptured eels. The presence of A. crassus, the invasive swim bladder parasite, was found in 22 of the 26 sacrificed eels. Electrofishing was conducted at three sites within the watershed in late June, where many juvenile eel were observed. Danielle Pernette-Wentzell Bluenose Coastal Action Foundation

Transcript of AMERICAN EEL IN EAST RIVER, CHESTER NOVA SCOTIA 2018 · 2020. 9. 11. · AMERICAN EEL IN EAST...

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AMERICANEELINEASTRIVER,CHESTER

NOVASCOTIA2018

TrapswereplacedinseverallocationsthroughouttheEastRiver, Chesterwatershed between August 30 to October28,2018. Threetaggingsitesweresetupstream,whileasinglerecapturesitewaslocatedbelow.Atotalof975eelwere caught at the tagging sites, of which 849 weretagged. The recapturesite caught937 eels, ofwhich 38were recaptured eels. The presence of A. crassus, theinvasiveswimbladderparasite,wasfoundin22ofthe26sacrificedeels.ElectrofishingwasconductedatthreesiteswithinthewatershedinlateJune,wheremanyjuvenileeelwereobserved.

DaniellePernette-WentzellBluenoseCoastalActionFoundation

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Contents Introduction.................................................................................................................................................2

BluenoseCoastalActionFoundation.......................................................................................................2

StudyArea...............................................................................................................................................2

OverviewofActivities..................................................................................................................................4

Mark-RecaptureActivities.......................................................................................................................4

BiologicalSampling..................................................................................................................................7

Electrofishing...........................................................................................................................................7

ActivitiesandResults...................................................................................................................................8

CanaanRiver............................................................................................................................................8

LittleWhitfordLake.................................................................................................................................8

WhistlerLake...........................................................................................................................................9

MainBranchRecaptureSite..................................................................................................................10

Electrofishing.........................................................................................................................................12

BiologicalSampling................................................................................................................................13

Results&Discussion..................................................................................................................................14

IndustryEngagement,PublicEducation&OutreachEfforts.....................................................................17

Acknowledgements...................................................................................................................................17

Figures and Tables

Figure1MapofNovaScotiawithemphasisontheEastRiver,Chesterwatershedarea...........................3Figure2ProtectedareasinandaroundtheEastRiver,Chesterwatershed(NSLandsandForestry2017)......................................................................................................................................................................3Figure3MapofEastRiver,Chesterwatershedshowingtraplocations.....................................................6Figure4Measuringsilvereellengthintrough............................................................................................6Figure5Americansilverphaseeel,demonstratingsilvercolouringandblackneuromastsalonglateralline...............................................................................................................................................................6Figure6PITtaggingasilvereel(2017photo)..............................................................................................7Figure7SideviewofCanaanhoopnetandwing(September5,2018).....................................................8Figure8UpstreamviewofCanaanhoopnetandwing(September5,2018).............................................8Figure9UpstreamviewofLittleWhitfordwiretrapandwings(September5,2018)................................9Figure10LittleWhitfordwiretrapinhighwater,justbeforeitwasremovedfortheseason(October28,2018)............................................................................................................................................................9Figure11WhistlerLakeOutflow(September5,2018).Hoopnettotheleft,fykenetontheright.........10Figure12WhistlerLakeOutflowfollowingheavyrainandflooding(October29,2018).NetsremovedOctober28.................................................................................................................................................10

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Figure13Right:Fykenetattheendofthepenstockchannel.Left:Hoopnetinmainflow(August30,2018)..........................................................................................................................................................11Figure14Viewupstreamoffykenet(August30,2018)...........................................................................11Figure15Highwaterlevelsattherecapturesite(October4,2018)........................................................11Figure16Continuedhighwaterattherecapturesite.Trapsweretemporarilyremoved(October16,2018)..........................................................................................................................................................11Figure17EastRiver,Chesterelectrofishingsites(Slaunwhite,GIS2018).................................................12Figure18Dissectionofafemalesilvereel2018.......................................................................................13Figure19SwimbladderinfectedwithA.crassus(2017photo)................................................................13Figure202018SilvereelrunofallEastRiver,Chestersitescombinedandrainfallevents.RainfalldataretrievedfromECCC..................................................................................................................................14Figure212018Silvereelrunpersite........................................................................................................15

Table1Summaryof2018catch.CR=count,release;E=escape;M=tagged;R=recaptured;andS=sacrificed....................................................................................................................................................14Table2Summaryof2018recaptureseel..................................................................................................16

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Introduction Bluenose Coastal Action Foundation Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) conducted an annual elver abundance study on the East River,Chester,beginningin1996,butduetolackofgovernmentresourcesthestudyceasedin2002.In2008,ajointventureprojectwasformedbetweenDFO,BluenoseCoastalActionFoundation(CoastalAction),and the Canadian Committee for a Sustainable Eel Fishery Inc. (CCSEF) to continue the elver studyannually. In addition to the elver study, a yellow eelmark and recapture potting study occurred inOaklandLake,MahoneBayfrom2008to2014.OaklandLakehasonlyoneoutlet,andanannualsilvereelstudyhasoccurredinOaklandStreamfrom2009to2017(excluding2010).Asecondsilvereelstudywas initiated in theEastRiver,Chester in2014, andhas continuedannually, althoughvarying slightlyfromyeartoyear.ThestudiesprovidedatatoDFOwhichisusedto:developandmaintainindicesofeeland elver status; understand any effects of fishing on eel production; understand biologicalcharacteristic of elver and silver eel over run time; understand the age class structure of eel in thesystem;andidentifytheprevalenceandabundanceofAnguillicoloidescrassus,otherwiseknownastheswimbladderparasite.AlthoughthesedataarespecifictothecoastofNovaScotia,theresultsmaybereflected and applied elsewhere, as American eel are thought to be panmictic and have a widegeographicalrange.

Study Area TheEastRiver,Chesterdrains intoMahoneBay,with itswatershed located in theMunicipalityof theDistrictofChester(Figure1).Thewatershedincludesseverallakes,marshes,andbrooksandhasatotaldrainage area of 134 km². The headwaters of the watershed include Connaught and Timber Lakes,whicharealsothelargestbodiesofwaterinthesystem.Americaneelarethepredominantspeciesintheriversystem,whileWhitesuckerandBrooktroutarealsoquiteprevalent.TheEastRiver,ChesterwashistoricallyusedbytheBowater-MerseyCo.Ltdfordrivinglogsandhadmanydamsandsluicewaysremovedovertheyears,althoughsomestructuresandremnantsremain. Thereareseveralprotectedareas in and around the watershed, including the Long Lake Nature Reserve and the South PanukeWildernessArea(Figure2).

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Figure1MapofNovaScotiawithemphasisontheEastRiver,Chesterwatershedarea.

Figure2ProtectedareasinandaroundtheEastRiver,Chesterwatershed(NSLandsandForestry2017).

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Overview of Activities Mark-Recapture Activities Threetaggingsitesandonerecapturesitewerechosenwithinthewatershed.Thetaggingsiteswereineachofthetwobranchesflowingintothemainriver–onetaggingsiteintheCanaanbranchandtwotaggingsitesintheEastbranch.

All sites remained the same as in 2017. The CanaanRiver sitewas just above the confluence of theCanaanRiverandtheWhistlerLakeoutflow,whereahoopnetwithwingswasplaced.TheEastbranchtagging sites included hoop and fyke nets at theWhistler Lake outflow and a wire trap at the LittleWhitfordLakeoutflow.AhoopnetwasalsousedtemporarilybelowthewiretrapatLittleWhitford.

Torecapturetaggedeel,afykenetwasinstalledinasmallchannelofthemainriverbranch,belowtheconfluence of the Canaan and East branches into themain river. Due to the size of the East River,Chester watershed, and a predicted large number ofmigrating eel, this site was chosen assuming itwouldcatchareasonablepercentageofmigratingeel.Asecondhoopnetwastemporarilyplacedinthemainbranch,justabovethefykenet,toincreasecatchability.

Thetrapsitesweremapped(Figure3),andtheapproximatedistancesbetweeneachtrapsiteandtherecapturesitewereestimated,usingArcGIS(GraphicInformationSystems). TheapproximatedistancebetweenCanaanRiver,LittleWhitfordLake,andWhistlerLaketotherecapturesiteis3.64km,4.22km,and3.34km,respectively.Therecapturesiteisapproximately0.88kmfromtheheadoftide.

Trapswere continuouslymaintained andmodified aswater levels fluctuated throughout the season.Water levels rosemultiple times during the season, at times becoming unsafe for staff to undertakeproject activities. The traps were removed on October 16, and replaced October 21, due to safetyconcernsforstaffandgear. ThetrapswereremovedfortheseasononOctober28,dueto increasingwaterlevelsandsubstantialforecastedrain.

Due to time restraints, the priority at all trap sites was to gather length measurements and phase(colouring)ofeach individualeel. Everyeelcapturedwasmeasuredto length (inmillimetres)usingameasuringtrough(Figure4).Bycatchwasrecordedatallsites;however,nomeasurementsofbycatchweretaken.Phase,orcolour,wasdeterminedusingqualitativecolouringcriteriabasedonresearchforEuropeaneel1.Thelaterallineofeacheelwasvisuallyexaminedfortwocriteria:theformationofblackneuromasts1-2cmapartalongthe lateral lineandthevisualcolouroftheeel. Eelwere identifiedassilverwith the presence of at least one black neuromast and a silver appearance in colour from theventralsurfacetothelateralline(Figure5).Ifnoblackneuromastswerepresent,orthecolouringwasyellowtogreen,and/ordidnotcontinuetothelateralline,theeelwasrecordedasyellow.Ifonlyoneofthesilveringcriteriawaspresent,theeelwasrecordedassilvering.

1AnthonyAcou,PaulineBoury,PascalLaffaille,AlainJeanCrivelli,EricFeunteun."TowardsastandardizedcharacterizationofpotentiallymigratingEuropeansilvereel(Anguillaanguilla,L.)."Arch.Hydrobiol.(2005):237-255.

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Figure3MapofEastRiver,Chesterwatershedshowingtraplocations.

Figure4Measuringsilvereellengthintrough.

Figure5Americansilverphaseeel,demonstratingsilvercolouringandblackneuromastsalonglateralline.

AmericaneelcapturedatthethreeupstreamsitesweremarkedwithaPassiveIntegratedTransponder(PIT)tag.EachindividualeelwasscannedtoensuretherewasnotanexistingPITtag,asoccasionallyeelfind theirway intoa trapmore thanonce. ThePIT tagwasplaced in frontof thedorsal fin,midwaybetween the lateral line and dorsal surface (Figure 6). Every eel caught at the recapture site wasscannedtodetermineifithadbeentaggedupstream.

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Figure6PITtaggingasilvereel(2017photo).

Biological Sampling American eel caught in themain branch recapture site were randomly selected to be collected andsacrificed foradditionalbiological sampling. Every thirdeel caughtwascollectedandeuthanized inabed of ice before being frozen. A random sample was expected to be representative of the lengthfrequency distribution of the run. In addition, any eel visibly injured, by mink or otherwise, werecollectedasadditionalsacrificesamples. Asmallsampleof26eelwascollected,duetothenatureoftherunandnumbersofdailycatchesdroppingquickly.

Electrofishing Electrofishing was anticipated to occur over six sites throughout the East River, Chester watershed.However, the ability to electrofish was hindered due to the hot and humidweather throughout thesummer,andthetimingofwhenelectrofishingispermitted.Threesiteswereelectrofishedin2018;onesiteintheCanaanRiver,onesiteintheEastBrach,andonesiteinthemainbranchoftheEastRiver.

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Activities and Results Canaan River Ahoopnetwasplacednearthebankoftheriver,withalongwingextendinghalfthewidthoftheriver(Figure7and8).ThetrapwasplacedonAugust30,andwasoperationuntilOctober3,whenheavyrainandhigh-waterlevelsforcedthetraptoberemoved. TheCanaanbranchisparticularlysusceptibletoquicklyincreasingwaterlevels.ThetrapwasreplacedOctober21,oncethewaterlevelreceded.NoeelwerecapturedafterOctober3,andthetrapwasremovedfortheseasononOctober29.Atotalof223eelwerecaughtattheCanaansite;218weretagged.

Figure7SideviewofCanaanhoopnetandwing(September5,2018).

Figure8UpstreamviewofCanaanhoopnetandwing(September5,2018).

Little Whitford Lake AwiretrapwasplacedintheoutflowofLittleWhitfordLake(Figure9)onAugust30,andremovedonOctober28,duetohighwater(Figure10).Thetrapconsistedofalarge,rectangularframewitharampandextendedfunneltocatchandretaineelintheholdingarea.Apieceofmaterialwasaddedtothefunnel to decrease the chances of eel escapement. A wing was installed on either side of the trapentrancetoguideeelintothetrap.Eelwerescoopedoutwithanetandsampledontheriverbank.AnadditionalhoopnetwasplacedbelowthewiretraponSeptember26,whenwaterlevelswerelow,todetermineifeelwerebypassingthewiretrap.ThenumberofeelbypassingwasverylowandthenetwasremovedonSeptember28.Atotalof62eelwerecapturedinLittleWhitford;51weretagged.

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Figure9UpstreamviewofLittleWhitfordwiretrapandwings(September5,2018).

Figure10LittleWhitfordwiretrapinhighwater,justbeforeitwasremovedfortheseason(October28,2018).

Whistler Lake TheoutflowofWhistlerLakeiswidewithasmallbraidinthemiddleoftheoutflow,taperingtoafunnelbeneathabridgeandopeningintoapool.Inthesamelocationas2016and2017,asmallrectangularfykenetwasplacedbelowthebeaverdamintheoutflowofWhistlerLakefromAugust30toOctober28,2018 (Figure11and12). Anadditionalhoopnetwithwingswasadded to the far-left sideof theoutflow(riverright).Trapswereemptiedintoholdingbagsandbroughttotheriverbanktobesampled.

Thissiteobtainedthehighestcatches,withatotalof689eelcaptured;580weretagged.AnoticeablerunoccurredonOctober2,wheretheremainingPITtagswereapplied.AfterOctober2,eelcapturedwerecounted,measured,andreleasedwithoutPITtags.

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Figure11WhistlerLakeOutflow(September5,2018).Hoopnettotheleft,fykenetontheright.

Figure12WhistlerLakeOutflowfollowingheavyrainandflooding(October29,2018).NetsremovedOctober28.

Main Branch Recapture Site Therecapturetrapwassetupinthesamelocationasinpreviousyears,inasmallchannelofthemainriverbelow theconfluenceof theEastandCanaanbranches (Figure13and14). The fykenetwas inplacefromAugust30toOctober28,2018.TheadditionalhoopnetremainedinplacefromAugust30toOctober3,whenwaterlevelsincreased.

A total of 933 eelwere caught at the recapture site, including 38 tagged eel. Most of the eel cameduringarunonOctober3(fishingthenightofOctober2),aftersubstantialrain.Duringthisevent,673eelwerecaptured(255eelwerecaught inthehoopnetand418werecaught inthefykenet);27eelwererecaptured.TrapswerecheckedagainthenightofOctober3,where37eelwerecaught,includingthree recaptures. Of the three recaptured eel, two had been tagged earlier that same day, both atWhistler. An additional six eel were caught in the recapture net the following morning, includinganotherrecapturethatwastaggedatCanaanthedaybefore. Numberstaperedoffquicklyandneverpickedupagainfollowingthisrainevent.

Duetohighandrisingwaterlevels(Figures15and16),trapswereremovedfortheseasononOctober28.

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Figure13Right:Fykenetattheendofthepenstockchannel.Left:Hoopnetinmainflow(August30,2018).

Figure14Viewupstreamoffykenet(August30,2018).

Figure 15Highwater levels at the recapture site (October 4,2018).

Figure 16 Continuedhighwater at the recapture site. Trapsweretemporarilyremoved(October16,2018).

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Electrofishing ThreesitesthroughoutthewatershedwereelectrofishedinJune.ThesiteswerechosenbasedonpastDFOelectrofishingsurveysites,locationinthewatershed,andaccessibility.TheCanaansite(EstCh015)was100mlong,whilethetwoothersiteswereshorterduetophysicalimpedimentssuchaswaterfallsordepth. Themainbranch (EstCh014) sitewas72m long,while theEastbranchsite (EstCh009)wasonly30m.

Figure17EastRiver,Chesterelectrofishingsites(Slaunwhite,GIS2018).

Amultiplepassmethodwasused,whichincludedthreerepeatedpassesthroughthearea,followingthetimeframeof the firstpass. Fish capturedwereheld inbucketsorholdingbagsuntil all passeswerecomplete,andthensampledandreleased.

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Fish species observed include American eel, White sucker, Mummichog, Chub sp., and Brook trout.Hundredsofelverswereobservedinthemainbranchsiteduringtheelectrofishingpasses.

Each sitewasanticipated tobeelectrofishedseveral times throughout the season;however,weatherand water conditions did not cooperate. As hot and humid conditions persisted throughout thesummer, water temperatures rose to a point where it was no longer safe to conduct electrofishingactivitiesforvariousfishspecies.

Biological Sampling Ofthe26sacrificedeel,sizesrangedfrom310mmto545mm. Eachsamplewasmeasuredagainforlengthandweighed.Additionalmeasurementssuchaseyediameterandfinlengthweretakenbeforethebodycavitywasopened(Figure18).Internally,thegonadswerecollectedandweighed,andtheeelweredeterminedasmaleorfemale. Themajority,17,weremale,whileeightwerefemale. Onewasnotsexedbutpresumedmalebasedonlength.Theswimbladderswereexaminedforparasitepresenceandprevalence(Figure19).Allbutfoureelwerefoundtohaveatleastoneparasitepresent,butoftenmore. Inseveralcases,theparasitepresenceexceeded10parasites. Otolithswerecollectedfromallsamplesandwillbeprocessedforaging.

Figure18Dissectionofafemalesilvereel2018.

Figure19SwimbladderinfectedwithA.crassus(2017photo).

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Results & Discussion The2018fieldseasonwassuccessful,taggingatotalof849eel,surpassingthetargetof500.Mostofthe tagging was conducted at Whistler Lake, but many eel were tagged at both Canaan and LittleWhitfordaswell.Occasionallyeelescapedandweresimplyrecordedassuch(E).OncePITtagsranout,eelwerecountedandreleased(CR)(Table1).

Table1Summaryof2018catch.CR=count,release;E=escape;M=tagged;R=recaptured;andS=sacrificed.

Location CR E M R S TotalCanaan 2 3 218 223

LittleWhitford 10 1 51 62

Whistler 99 10 580 1 690

Recapture 854 19 38 26 937

Total 965 33 849 39 26 1912

ThedailycatcheswereslowandsteadyuntiltemperaturescooledoffandsignificantraineventsbeganinearlyOctober. A runoccurredonOctober2and3, catchinga totalof970eel. Numbersdroppedquickly following the run, anddidnotpickup significantly, although significant rain events continued(Figure20).

Figure202018SilvereelrunofallEastRiver,Chestersitescombinedandrainfallevents.RainfalldataretrievedfromECCC.

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ThelargestnumbersofeelwerecaughtatWhistlerandtherecapturesite.ThesmallestnumberofeelwascapturedatLittleWhitford(Figure21).

Figure212018Silvereelrunpersite.

Migrationtimebetweensitesvariedgreatlyforindividualeel,withaslittleasafewhoursandasmuchas weeks between tagging and recapturing. A total of 19 eel that were tagged at Whistler wererecapturedinthemainbranch;17wererecapturedfromtheCanaan.OnlytwowererecapturedfromLittleWhitford(Table2).

Usingthesamesitesandgearfrompreviousyearsallowedforknowledgegainedoverpreviousyearstobeusedandallowedtheteamtobemoreproactiveinpreventinganyissues.Thefieldteamusedtheirjudgement to determinewhenwater levels becameunsafe inwhich towork, gearwas removed andreplacedwhenconditionsweredeemedsafeagain.

Basedonpersonalobservations,theswimbladderparasitemaybebecomingmoreprevalentintheEastRiver,Chestersystem.

050100150200250300350400450500550600650700

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Table2Summaryof2018recaptureseel.

Recapture Date(Checked)Tagged

LocationTagged Date(Fishing)Recaptured

TagNumber

1 13-Sep-2018 Canaan 26-Sep-2018 982411171583

2 12-Sep-2018 Canaan 26-Sep-2018 982411171453

3 9-Sep-2018 Whistler 28-Sep-2018 982411171440

4 27-Sep-2018 Canaan 28-Sep-2018 982411171661

5 19-Sep-2018 Canaan 28-Sep-2018 982411171571

6 22-Sep-2018 Whistler 1-Oct-2018 982411171517

7 19-Sep-2018 Whistler 2-Oct-2018 982411171598

8 28-Sep-2018 Canaan 2-Oct-2018 982411171771

9 19-Sep-2018 Canaan 2-Oct-2018 982411171520

10 22-Sep-2018 Whistler 2-Oct-2018 982411171538

11 1-Oct-2018 Canaan 2-Oct-2018 982126051256722

12 12-Sep-2018 LittleWhitford 2-Oct-2018 982411171471

13 28-Sep-2018 Canaan 2-Oct-2018 982411171735

14 10-Sep-2018 Whistler 2-Oct-2018 982411171416

15 27-Sep-2018 Whistler 2-Oct-2018 982411171606

16 29-Sep-2018 Canaan 2-Oct-2018 982126051256751

17 28-Sep-2018 Canaan 2-Oct-2018 982411171760

18 9-Sep-2018 Whistler 2-Oct-2018 982411171504

19 28-Sep-2018 Whistler 2-Oct-2018 982411171630

20 29-Sep-2018 Canaan 2-Oct-2018 982126051256738

21 14-Sep-2018 Whistler 2-Oct-2018 982411171590

22 12-Sep-2018 Canaan 2-Oct-2018 982411171425

23 28-Sep-2018 Whistler 2-Oct-2018 982411171737

24 14-Sep-2018 Whistler 2-Oct-2018 982411171526

25 12-Sep-2018 Whistler 2-Oct-2018 982411171448

26 27-Sep-2018 Whistler 2-Oct-2018 982411171667

27 29-Sep-2018 Whistler 2-Oct-2018 982126051256579

28 29-Sep-2018 Whistler 2-Oct-2018 982126051256617

29 1-Oct-2018 Canaan 2-Oct-2018 982126051256668

30 27-Sep-2018 LittleWhitford 2-Oct-2018 982411171694

31 29-Sep-2018 Whistler 2-Oct-2018 982126051256625

32 12-Sep-2018 Canaan 2-Oct-2018 982411171474

33 19-Sep-2018 Whistler 2-Oct-2018 982411171555

34 30-Sep-2018 Canaan 3-Oct-2018 982126051256689

35 3-Oct-2018 Whistler 3-Oct-2018 982126051256759

36 3-Oct-2018 Whistler 3-Oct-2018 982126051256757

37 3-Oct-2018 Canaan 3-Oct-2018 982126051256995

38 3-Oct-2018 Canaan 12-Oct-2018 982126051256940

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Industry Engagement, Public Education & Outreach Efforts Thefollowingengagementandoutreachactivitiestookplaceaspartoftheproject.

• Ameetingwasheldprior to the start of the field season todiscussprojectobjectives. DFO-Science provided instruction on data collection and methodology. Commercial elver fisherswereinvolvedintheset-up,construction,andmaintenanceoffieldgearandparticipatedintheperiodic checking of traps throughout the field season. In addition, commercial elver fishersprovidedapersonfromtheirteamtoassistwithandmaintaintrapsonaregularbasis.

• ApresentationwasdeliveredattheWorldOcean’sDayeventinLunenburg,inpartnershipwithformerCanadianSenator,WilfredMoore,at theLunenburgSchoolofArts. Additionaleventsattended where project information was shared included: Shubenacadie Wildlife Park KidsBiodiversity Day; Michelin Seniors Expo; Michelin Health and Safety Fair; and LiverpoolPrivateerDays.

• Social media posts specifically about the project field work reached over 400 people – theBluenose Coastal Action Foundation Facebook page received over 40,000 reaches, andhundreds of views. Coastal Action’swebsite had over 138,000 hits in 2018,with over 6,200visitorsandover1,100visitstoAmericaneelprojectinformation.

• Posterswith informationabout theprojectand the lifecycleof theAmericaneelwereplacednexttoallfivetrapsitestoinformpassersby.

Acknowledgements CoastalActionwould like to acknowledgeand thankeveryonewho contributed to the study in2018.Wayne,Genna,andYvonneCareyandtheirteamatAtlanticElverFisheryalongwithDr.RodBradfordwithDFOScience,MaritimesRegion.