Don't eat the small mouth bass

Pauky · **Posted:** Mon Dec 15, 2003 5:40 pm

For you small mouth bass fishermen, or at least those who like to eat them, you should think about caution and/or moderation in bass consumption. An interesting articlecame out linking PCB's to smallies through a new food chain.

Wall-I-Guy · **Posted:** Tue Dec 16, 2003 2:12 am

Good article Pauky...hopefully those that eat the Smallies out of Lake Ontario will take note..

JohnE · **Posted:** Tue Dec 16, 2003 8:58 am

I wonder if the walleye also eat round goby? Has anybody seen this?

PCB's and other dioxins > eaten by zebra mussel > eaten by the round goby > in turn eaten by walleye > anybody for shore lunch?

JohnE

Guest · **Posted:** Tue Dec 16, 2003 9:10 am

John,

Yes they do! I already spoke with someone who checks the stomachs for walleye and perch that he catches in Lake Erie and he's found gobies in both of them. I wouldn't be surprised, though. Gobies are slower moving fish and any predator can catch them. I wouldn't be surprised if any predator fish goes after them except the salmonids.

Pauky · **Posted:** Tue Dec 16, 2003 9:11 am

John,

The above post is mine. I didn't log in.

Captain Hank · **Posted:** Tue Dec 16, 2003 5:00 pm

Pauky,

smallmouth bass are very close to the top of the food chain in the Great Lakes. With their extreme appetite for all living, edible food (including Gobies), it is no wonder that the larger smallies have high levels of contaminants.

Just to clarify (JohnE), zebra mussles do not "eat" PCB's and other dioxins - they are living filters that feed on phytoplankton and other suspended plant life. Their level of PCB's accumulate as a result of eating a contaminated food source.

Also (JohnE), I do not think that round gobies eat zebra mussles. In fact, I don't know of a single predator that does (carp?) - that is why they have spread with so little resistance. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Finally, since walleye are at the top of the Lake Erie food chain, they will have very diverse food sources - baitfish, crawfish, leeches, gobies, frogs, etc... Generally, though, a Lake Erie walleye's main food source is suspended baitfish such as alewives, shad, sculpin and smelt - not round gobies. Interestingly, Lake Erie's walleye population is one of the cleanest (contaminants) and healthiest in Ontario.

Captain Hank

JohnE · **Posted:** Tue Dec 16, 2003 8:23 pm

Captain Hank,

The information that I was refering to was the article that Pauky noted. Did you read it?
JohnE

Captain Hank · **Posted:** Wed Dec 17, 2003 10:35 am

JohnE,

at the time of posting my last response, I had not read the article. I have now, though. I didn't mean any disrespect to you with my last posting. In fact I gained some insight after reading it.

I wonder, however, if the researcher is referring to gobies eating the zebra mussles at an early stage of their development (not as the shelled 'adult' zebra mussles that we see covering the lake bottom).

The article is not clear to me re: how PCB's enter the food chain. Initially it states that the zebra mussles accumulate PCB's by consuming contaminated food (which is what I stated previously) . Later in the article, the main researcher states that the zebra mussles accumulate PCB's directly from the soil.

Regardless, PCB's which were said to be 'unharmful' as long as they remained undisturbed on the lake bottom are now entering the food web through the zebra mussles and gobies. Quite scary.

Captain Hank

Pauky · **Posted:** Wed Dec 17, 2003 6:03 pm

Quote:

Also (JohnE), I do not think that round gobies eat zebra mussles. In fact, I don't know of a single predator that does (carp?) - that is why they have spread with so little resistance. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I didn't know it either, but gobies do eat zebra mussels as do fresh water drum and I believe sturgeon are sucking up a few here and there. So the mussel does have some enemies, but not enough.

I just finished reading the "State of the Great Lakes 2003" portion of Lake Erie and the round goby has created a new path for contaminant and energy transfer to the top food chain. The gobies have become "a major prey item for many bottom dwelling fish predators, including smallmouth bass, yellow perch, walleye, and freshwater drum" (emphasis mine). I find it disappointing that this new path has been established because those clean perch, walleye, and other fish everyone is catching in Lake Erie will eventually change.

Capt. Hank,

I'm confused as to how the goby is eating the zebra mussel. It must be either when it is very young and small (and PCB consumption must be small as a result) or it is someone eating open zebra mussels, like if they die. I haven't found any documentation indicating how they actually eat them.

Guest · **Posted:** Thu Dec 18, 2003 8:00 pm

Check this out guys...may shed some light.. http://glrc.org/transcript.php3?story_id=2123

Guest · **Posted:** Thu Dec 18, 2003 8:01 pm

Check this out guys...may shed some light.. http://glrc.org/transcript.php3?story_id=2123

Oops..see now it's the same article...

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Don't eat the small mouth bass

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