Research Document 2021/026

Recovery Potential Modelling of Pygmy Whitefish (Prosopium coulterii) in Canada (Great Lakes – Upper St. Lawrence populations)

By van der Lee, A.S. and Koops, M.A.

Abstract

The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) has assessed the Great Lakes–Upper St. Lawrence populations (DU 5) of Pygmy Whitefish (PWF, Prosopium coulterii) in Canada as Threatened. Here population modelling is presented to assess the impacts of harm and determine abundance and habitat recovery targets in support of a recovery potential assessment (RPA). This analysis demonstrated that PWF populations were most sensitive to perturbations to juvenile survival. Population viability analysis was used to identify potential recovery targets. Demographic sustainability, (i.e., a self-sustaining population over the long term) can be achieved with adult female population sizes of ~ 430 to 4,000 or ~ 8.4 to 75 kg of whole population age-1+ biomass depending on catastrophe frequency and desired persistence probability. The population would require up to ~ 21 km² of habitat.

Research Document 2021/026 (PDF, 1, 023 KB)

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