Calibrating acceleration transmitters to quantify the seasonal energetic costs of activity in lake trout.

Bioenergetics models are powerful tools used to address a range of questions in fish biology. However, these models are rarely informed by free-swimming activity data, introducing error. To quantify the costs of activity in free-swimming fish, calibrations produced from standardized laboratory trials can be applied to estimate energy expenditure from sensor data for specific tags and species.

Application of telemetry-based fish habitat models to predict spatial habitat availability and inform ecological restoration.

Conservation decisions surrounding which fish habitats managers choose to protect and restore are informed by fish habitat models. As acoustic telemetry has allowed for improvements in our ability to directly measure fish positions year-round, so too have there been opportunities to refine and apply fish habitat models. In an area with considerable anthropogenic disturbance, Hamilton Harbour in the Laurentian Great Lakes, we used telemetry-based fish habitat models to identify key habitat variables, compare habitat associations among seasons, and spatially identify the presence distribution of six fish species.

Using heart rate and acceleration biologgers to estimate winter activity costs in free-swimming largemouth bass.

Winter is a critical period for largemouth bass (Micropterus nigricans) with winter severity and duration limiting their population growth at northern latitudes. Unfortunately, we have an incomplete understanding of their winter behaviour and energy use in the wild. More winter-focused research is needed to better understand their annual energy budget, improve bioenergetics models, and establish baselines to assess the impacts of climate warming; however, winter research is challenging due to ice cover.

Accelerometer-based swimming metabolism of smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu).

Bioenergetics is informative for a range of fundamental and applied resource management questions, but findings are often constrained by a lack of ecological realism due to the challenges of remotely estimating key parameters such as metabolic rate. To enable field applications, we conducted a calibration study with smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu, 0.7-2 kg) surgically implanted with accelerometer transmitters and exposed to a ramp-U swimming protocol in a swim tunnel respirometer across a range of water temperatures (6, 12, 18, and 24°C).