Currently available scholarships
PhD scholarship - Links between smelt and trout production
Title: Factors controlling common smelt abundance and trout production in the Rotorua lakes, New Zealand
Funding agency: Environment Bay of Plenty
Supervisors: Brendan Hicks, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Waikato Rob Pitkethley, Eastern Region Fish and Game Council David Rowe, NIWA, Hamilton
Term: 1 Feb 2009-31 Jan 2012
Stipend: $NZ25,000 per annum plus fees
Common smelt (Retropinna retropinna) support the iconic fishery for rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in the Rotorua lakes. As part of efforts to improve water quality in Lake Rotoita, Environment Bay of Plenty (EBOP) proposes to build a wall to divert water flowing from Lake Rotorua into Lake Rotoiti through the Ohau Channel. The effect of this wall would be to direct most of the water from Lake Rotorua directly down the Kaituna River rather than into the main basin of Lake Rotoiti. One potential risk of wall construction is interruption of the recruitment of common smelt to Lake Rotoiti. Common smelt are known to move between the lakes, and Lake Rotorua might be a major source of the smelt in Lake Rotoiti. Conversely, Lake Rotoiti may be a major source of smelt for the Ohau Channel and Lake Rotorua. A reduction in smelt recruitment in these waters would reduce trout production, and thus affect the trout fishery detrimentally. Trout growth and smelt size, and presumably abundance, are known to fluctuate from year to year, but the smelt dynamics, factors controlling them, and links between smelt and trout production are poorly understood.
The aims of this PhD research are to investigate smelt dynamics and the links between the production of smelt and trout. The central questions are what limits smelt abundance, size, and recruitment, and how this is linked to trout production. The principal site for the research will be Lake Rotoiti, with a contingency to extend the research to Lake Rotorua should the separate otolith microchemistry project indicate a strong linkage between smelt in the two lakes.
The objectives of the proposed PhD research are:
- To determine the dynamics of the abundance of common smelt.
- To determine the relationship between smelt production and trout production.
- To determine the factors that control smelt production
- To recommend how enhance smelt populations and mitigate against potential detrimental effects of the wall installation.
Please send your CV and academic transcript to: b.hicks@waikato.ac.nz
Associate Professor Brendan Hicks
Centre for Biodiversity and Ecology Research,
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Waikato,
Private Bag 3105, Hamilton 3240, New Zealand
http://cber.bio.waikato.ac.nz/hicks.shtml
