Steven Cooke

Carleton University · Department of Biology

Biodiversity loss is one of the most serious challenges facing humanity and planetary well-being. Even for iconic species of great cultural and symbolic value, we are largely failing to preserve them and the habitats upon which they depend. This article analyzes one such troubling case, the precipitous decline of wild steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss...

Recreational anglers have access to a diverse range of rod and line strengths that enable them to choose equipment that can enhance their ability to effectively target and capture specific fish of a given body size. However, anglers may not always select the appropriate gear type for the targeted species. Here, we assessed the effect of gear setup...

Aim Salmonids are some of the best studied species with respect to their pathobiome, and at the northern range limit, there is potential for pathogens to expand with both climate change and increased fish farming in the north. Location We sampled sea‐run brown trout from throughout Norway for gill tissue and conducted both pooled and individual sc...

Canada’s provinces and territories govern species at risk across most of Canada, with the federal Species at Risk Act generally covering only aquatic species, migratory birds, and species living on federal land. More than a decade after a 2012 report by the environmental law charity Ecojustice on species at risk protection in Canada, we use the sam...

Effective governance is crucial for the success of conservation projects aimed at protecting wildlife populations and supporting human well‐being. However, few large‐scale, comprehensive syntheses have been conducted on the effects of different environmental governance types on conservation outcomes (i.e., biological and ecological effectiveness or...

The movement ecology of Bull Trout (Salvelinus confluentus) in watersheds at the northern geographic range extent is not well understood. We implanted 54 Bull Trout with acoustic transmitters in the Prairie Creek watershed, Northwest Territories, Canada and tracked fish from July 2011 to October 2012 using 19 stationary hydrophones. Bull Trout move...

Arctic biodiversity is under threat from both climate induced environmental change and anthropogenic activity. However, the rapid rate of change and the challenging conditions for studying Arctic environments mean that many research questions must be answered before we can strategically allocate resources for management. Addressing threats to biodi...

Recreational fisheries involve an intimate connection between people, individual fish, and the environment. Recreational fishers and their health crucially depend on healthy fish and ecosystems. Similarly, fish and ecosystems can be impacted by the activities of people including recreational fishers. Thus, amplified by the global interest in recrea...

Tagging fishes with internal or external electronic tracking devices (acoustic, radio, satellite, or archival tags) is invaluable to behavioural, ecological, and welfare research, but may have adverse effects on the animals studied. While short‐term responses to tagging (e.g., days to weeks) have often been investigated, less information is availab...

This candid perspective written by scholars from diverse disciplinary backgrounds is intended to advance conversations about the realities of peer review and its inherent limitations. Trust in a process or institution is built slowly and can be destroyed quickly. Trust in the peer review process for scholarly outputs (i.e., journal articles) is bei...

In applied research, there is an expectation that knowledge generators will produce information that can be acted upon by knowledge end users (i.e., actionable knowledge); however, this is not always the case, resulting in a knowledge-action gap. Currently, there is no literature directly targeted at fisheries knowledge generators (e.g., researcher...

Bioenergetics models are powerful tools used to address a range of questions in fish biology. However, these models are rarely informed by free‐swimming activity data, introducing error. To quantify the costs of activity in free‐swimming fish, calibrations produced from standardized laboratory trials can be applied to estimate energy expenditure fr...

Smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) spawn on gravel and cobble in the littoral zone of lakes that may become degraded by the presence of fine sediments and decomposing organic matter. Substrate size and composition have been identified as important variables for nest site selection by male smallmouth bass. We tested whether ‘cleaning’ substrate...

Conservation decisions surrounding which fish habitats managers choose to protect and restore are informed by fish habitat models. As acoustic telemetry has allowed for improvements in our ability to directly measure fish positions year‐round, so too have there been opportunities to refine and apply fish habitat models. In an area with considerable...

A major challenge in contemporary aquatic environmental management is anticipating and responding to increasing social-ecological uncertainty and shifts in the health of managed species. Signals indicate that many wild North American Pacific salmon populations are in or at risk of decline, but the mechanisms affecting salmon resilience are not clea...

Benefits to wildlife communities stemming from the protection of a single species have been documented in terrestrial and marine systems but remain understudied within the context of freshwater‐protected areas (FPAs). We used five long‐standing (>80 years) FPAs in three lakes in eastern Ontario, Canada, which were initially established to protect n...

Biodiversity continues to decline in Canada despite significant efforts to halt losses. There is increasing recognition that direct drivers of biodiversity loss, such as resource exploitation and pollution, are perpetuated in part by conflicting goals and values across economic, social, political, and technological sectors, and inequity on many sca...

Around the globe, ecological restoration projects are being undertaken to mitigate anthropogenic impacts and recover lost biodiversity; however, evaluations of efficacy can lack robustness or, more often, are not completed at all. In this perspective piece, to demonstrate the utility of acoustic telemetry to assess ecological restoration in aquatic...

The structural complexity of aquatic habitats is often reduced by the installation of retaining walls designed to stabilize shorelines and decrease erosion. Alternative armoring techniques such as wall panels that imitate natural habitat complexity are being developed, but they require knowledge of how different structural elements are used by fish...

Evidence assessment—identifying, evaluating, and synthesizing data and findings from previous studies—is important to inform environmental decision-making but can be slow and resource intensive. Users seeking more efficient approaches have developed a wide range of definitions and methods for Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA), raising concerns about...

Catch-and-release angling exposes fish to challenges that may result in sub-lethal effects or mortality. Lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) undergo high rates of release because of size-based harvest regulations or voluntary angler behaviour. Here, we examine short-term impairment in lake trout angled during the summer (n = 74) and fall spawning per...

Assisted migration is increasingly being considered as a potential climate change adaptation tactic even though it also comes with potential risk to ecosystems and society. When implementing conservation actions that involve risk, it is prudent to have policies and guidelines to ensure that such actions are conducted in ways that conform to regiona...

The management of oceans and coasts needs to be informed by the best available knowledge. One way to support that is through interactive knowledge exchange (KE). Over the last decade, KE strategies have been shared with the marine research community, however, it is unclear whether this has led to recent (i.e., since 2015) progress. Through a system...

The management and conservation of fisheries and aquatic resources are inherently applied activities. Therefore, when knowledge generated from research and monitoring, or knowledge that is held by practitioners and other actors (e.g., Indigenous elders, fishers), fails to inform those applied decisions, the persistent gap between knowledge and acti...

How often males and females need to mate to maximize their fitness is a source of sexual conflict in animals. Sexual conflict over mating frequency can lead to antagonistic coevolution in which males employ tactics to coerce females into mating, while females resist or evade mating attempts by males. Here, we report on a novel burying behavior obse...

Invasive freshwater aquatic plants can have adverse ecological effects on the systems to which they are introduced, changing ecosystem function, threatening native plant species and causing billions of dollars in damage to infrastructure. Additionally, once established, invasive aquatic plants are often difficult to eradicate or control. Given the...

Female Pacific salmon often experience higher mortality than males during their once-in-a-lifetime up-river spawning migration, particularly when exposed to secondary stressors (e.g. high temperatures). However, the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. One hypothesis is that female Pacific salmon hearts are more oxygen-limited than males and are l...

Acoustic telemetry has emerged as an important tool for studying the movement and behavior of aquatic animals. Predation‐sensing acoustic transmitters combine the functions of typical acoustic transmitters with the added ability to identify the predation of tagged animals. The objective of this paper was to assess the performance of a newly miniatu...

Recreational angling of nesting largemouth bass (Micropterus nigricans) and smallmouth bass (M. dolomieu) can greatly increase nest abandonment, and in the northern clines of their range, decrease recruitment. This is the case in eastern Ontario, where high levels of non-compliance and difficult to enforce regulations have impacted black bass (Micr...

Atlantic salmon populations face a number of significant, human-driven threats such as overfishing and thermal stress from anthropogenically-accelerated climate change. A considerable body of research has been devoted to such large-scale threats as well as catch-and-release fishing, while the potential impacts of other recreational activities on At...

In the Laurentian Great Lakes, the issue of barrier removal is complicated by the presence of non‐native species below barriers. A fish tracking study was conducted to guide efforts for barrier remediation decisions for the restoration of fish populations with a focus on Walleye ( Scander vitreus ) and Lake Sturgeon ( Acipenser fulvescens ) in the...

Inland recreational fishing is primarily considered a leisure-driven activity in freshwaters, yet its harvest can contribute to food systems. Here we estimate that the harvest from inland recreational fishing equates to just over one-tenth of all reported inland fisheries catch globally. The estimated total consumptive use value of inland recreatio...

The kelt phase of anadromous iteroparous salmonid life history remains mysterious, particularly aspects of their habitat use and factors influencing survival. Atlantic salmon and sea‐run brown trout were captured in the estuary during their return migration to the Vosso River, Norway, tagged with acoustic transmitters, and tracked in the watershed...

Amphibians and fishes play a central role in shaping the structure and function of freshwater environments. These organisms have a limited capacity to disperse across different habitats and the thermal buffer offered by freshwater systems is small. Understanding determinants and patterns of their physiological sensitivity across life history is, th...

Counter‐wildlife crime (CWC) interventions—those that directly protect target wildlife from illegal harvest/persecution, detect and sanction rule‐breakers, and interdict and control illegal wildlife commodities—are widely applied to address biodiversity loss. This systematic map provides an overview of the literature on the effectiveness of CWC int...

The shy-bold behavioral continuum is an element of animal behavior which is often studied for its ecological relevance, particularly in the context of predation risk. How individuals respond to various predation cues is well studied at the individual level, but relatively little is known about how these responses can differ among closely related sp...

Fisheries science and practice are challenging and require learning, thinking, and sharing across boundaries. The idea of boundary crossing can be described as some form of multiple disciplinarity (e.g. interdisciplinarity, transdisciplinarity), yet that inherently implies that the boundaries crossed are purely disciplinary in nature. After working...

Catch-and-release angling is a popular recreational activity that has been shown to have impacts on fish welfare. Angler behaviour (e.g., choice of gear type, handling time) and environmental conditions (e.g., water temperature) during angling events have been documented to influence fish condition and post-release survival. This is particularly tr...

Animal migration has fascinated scientists and the public alike for centuries, yet migratory animals are facing diverse threats that could lead to their demise. The Anthropocene is characterised by the reality that humans are the dominant force on Earth, having manifold negative effects on biodiversity and ecosystem function. Considerable research...

Outdoor recreation brings countless benefits to humans. Understanding the inevitable human interactions with nature is essential for conserving the outdoors for years to come. Water‐based recreation in freshwater ecosystems is increasing in popularity, but freshwater biodiversity is in global decline. The aim of this review is to explore the intera...

Bioenergetics models for fishes are useful for understanding ecological processes (e.g., survivorship, growth, and reproduction) and can also inform fisheries management. Yet, current bioenergetics models are unable to ascertain direct energetic costs associated with standard and active metabolism for wild, free-swimming fishes. The use of telemetr...

There exists an extensive, diverse, and robust evidence base to support complex decisions that address the planetary biodiversity crisis. However, it is generally not sought or used by environmental decision-makers, who instead draw on intuition, experience, or opinion to inform important decisions. Thus, there is a need to examine evidence exchang...

Regulated waterways, interconnected by navigation barriers (locks and dams), are uniquely difficult to manage, given interest in enabling native species connectivity while minimizing invasions. Canada's historic Rideau Canal Waterway, a 202 km navigable route located in eastern Ontario and connected by 24 lockstations, embodies this challenge. The...

1. Counter-wildlife crime interventions ̶ those that directly protect target wildlife from illegal harvest/persecution, detect and sanction rule-breakers, and interdict and control illegal wildlife commodities ̶ are widely applied to address biodiversity loss. This systematic map provides an overview of the literature on the effectiveness of counte...

Objective There is an ongoing effort to enhance the welfare and survival of black bass Micropterus spp. released after angling tournaments. Live‐well additives are substances added to live‐well water that are intended to help fish recover during retention. Aside from claims made by manufacturers, little information is available on the additives' ef...

Objective Shark depredation, the full or partial consumption of a hooked fish by a shark before it is landed, is an increasing source of human–wildlife conflict in recreational fisheries. Reports of shark depredation in the catch‐and‐release Tarpon (also known as Atlantic Tarpon) Megalops atlanticus fishery in the Florida Keys are increasing, speci...

Winter is an energetically challenging period for many animals in temperate regions because of the relatively harsh environmental conditions and reduction in food availability during this season. Moreover, stressors experienced by individuals in the fall can affect their subsequent foraging strategy and energy stores after exposure has ended, refer...

The microbial communities of fish are considered an integral part of maintaining the overall health and fitness of their host. Research has shown that resident microbes reside on various mucosal surfaces, such as the gills, skin, and gastrointestinal tract, and play a key role in various host functions, including digestion, immunity, and disease re...

Without sufficient time to diffuse air from their swim bladders, physoclistous fish caught in deep water can exhibit symptoms of barotrauma. In this study, we tested the effectiveness of four barotrauma relief techniques on 76 walleye (Sander vitreus) and compared their 10 min post-release behaviour and depth selection with an untreated control gro...

Fisheries management and conservation require consideration of fish, habitat, and people. In fisheries science, a growing body of research on human values, perspectives, and behaviours around fish—known as ‘human dimensions’ research—has emerged from the realization that management and conservation require a better understanding of people. Surveys...

Fish movement patterns are an essential consideration for the design of effective freshwater protected areas. The Rideau waterway system (Ontario, Canada) is home to some of the oldest single-resource freshwater protected areas (FPAs) in Ontario (> 70 years active). Initially, these FPAs were intended to provide holistic protection to the heavily e...

Rivers, wetlands, lakes, and other freshwater ecosystems collectively cover only 1% of the Earth's surface. Yet, these ecosystems support a disproportionately large and vast array of biodiversity. Currently, these ecosystems face many threats, including pollution, habitat alteration, fragmentation, invasive species, overexploitation, overabstractio...

Amphibians and fishes play a central role in shaping the structure and function of freshwater environments. These organisms have a limited capacity to disperse across different habitats and the thermal buffer offered by freshwater systems is small. Understanding determinants and patterns of their physiological sensitivity across life history is, th...

River damming has brought great benefits to flood mitigation, energy and food production, and will continue to play a significant role in global energy supply, particularly in Asia, Africa, and South America. However, dams have extensively altered global river dynamics, including riverine connectivity, hydrological, thermal, sediment and solute reg...

Upwelling events are common in thermally stratified marine and freshwater systems and can lead to rapid changes in water temperature that presumably impact fishes. Here we examined the effect of rapid changes in water temperature (upwelling events) on the behaviour of two wild fish species from different thermal guilds: Northern Pike (Esox lucius),...

Globally, freshwater environments are imperilled, with freshwater vertebrate species declining at twice the rate of marine and terrestrial populations. Non‐marine elasmobranchs (freshwater obligates and euryhaline generalists) remain understudied and overlooked by conservation efforts. This study aimed to adapt and apply a vulnerability assessment...

Despite great promise for understanding the impacts and extent of climate change and extreme weather events on aquatic animals, their species, and ecological communities, it is surprising that electronic tagging and tracking tools, like biotelemetry and biologging, have not been extensively used to understand climate change or develop and evaluate...

Climatic warming elevates mortality for many salmonid populations during their physically challenging up-river spawning migrations, yet, the mechanisms underlying the increased mortality remain elusive. One hypothesis posits that a cardiac oxygen insufficiency impairs the heart’s capacity to pump sufficient oxygen to body tissues to sustain up-rive...

Understanding the spatial ecology of fish is critical for effective conservation and management. Gar (Lepisosteidae spp.) are an ancient lineage of freshwater fishes that have long been thought of as having high site fidelity with limited large-scale movements. We acoustically tagged Longnose Gar (L. osseus) in a large freshwater embayment (Hamilto...

Research funders and managers can play a critical role in supporting the translation of knowledge into action by facilitating the brokering of knowledge and partnerships. We use semi-structured interviews with a research funding agency, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), to explore (i) ways that funders can facil...

Hook removal devices have been developed to enable rapid release of angled fish, yet little research has evaluated their effectiveness and potential for injury among hook types. We compared the performance of hook removal tools and bare hands with four hook types on freshwater Lepomid sunfish. Dehooking performance was assessed using hook removal t...