Population Genomics and Relationship Analysis of Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) from the Nelson and Hayes Watersheds in Manitoba.

Louis Bernatchez (Supervisor)

My previous research provided an evolutionary framework to understand mating behaviors and fishing-induced evolution on three exploited species found in the waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence (lobsters, snow crabs and redfish). The projects focused on mating economics and combined theoretical aspects and methods from various biology disciplines namely behaviour, ecology, evolution and genetics. Understanding the various forces shaping the mating system of animals is thus intimately link to their conservation. I find this very motivating and challenging from a conservation perspective and think it's central to understand the life-history adaptations of animals.

I joined Louis’s laboratory in autumn 2012 for a postdoc. The project is on the population genetic of lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) in the Nelson and Hayes rivers in Manitoba. Today, across most of its historical range in Canada, the lake sturgeon is considered endangered by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC).

The study objectives

• to develop SNP markers using Genotype-by-Sequencing (GBS) that would improve population differentiation to allow assignment analysis to be performed;
• to reconstruct sibship of the strong 3-4 year class;
• to provide the baseline genetic data to help in the planning of recovery strategies that may involve stocking.