The emerald shiner is a small fish that serves as a bait species for fishing. They are important forage for larger sport fish such as the yellow perch and walleye. The emerald shiner diet consists primarily of plankton and small insects. Emerald shiner populations in Lake Erie have been low in recent years, likely due in part to the expanding walleye population.
How is it scored?
Emerald shiner abundance was used as an indicator in the lake analysis. Emerald shiner abundance is estimated by SCANMAR trials, trawling effort distance, and catches from the August interagency trawling program for the Western basin. The emerald shiner abundance indicator was the 2018 data scored based on the long-term mean (1988–2017).
The emerald shiner abundance threshold used for the western Lake Erie basin analysis was the long term mean (1988–2017) abundance.