State of the Lake

DEC Announces "State of Lake Ontario" Meetings

Biologists to Provide Updates on the Status of Lake's Fisheries

The public will have the opportunity to learn about the State of Lake Ontario fisheries at public meetings to be held in Niagara, Monroe, Oswego and Schenectady counties in March, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos announced today.
"Lake Ontario and its tributaries provide world-class angling opportunities that are generating substantial recreational and economic benefits to towns and cities along the lake," Commissioner Seggos said. "The State of Lake Ontario meetings provide an excellent opportunity for everyone interested in the lake to interact with the scientists who study and manage its fisheries."
New York's Lake Ontario waters comprise more than 2.7 million acres. The open lake, embayments, and tributaries support thriving populations of sportfish, including trout, salmon, bass, walleye, yellow perch, and panfish. A recent statewide angler survey estimated more than 2.6 million angler days were spent on Lake Ontario and major tributaries, resulting in an estimated economic value of $112 million annually to local communities.
The meeting dates and locations are:
Monday, March 4: 6:30 - 9 p.m. at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) campus (Chester F Carlson Center for Imaging Science), Rochester, Monroe County. The meeting is co-hosted by RIT and the Monroe County Fishery Advisory Board.
Thursday, March 7: 6:30 - 9 p.m. at the Cornell Cooperative Extension Building, 4487 Lake Ave., Lockport, Niagara County. The meeting is co-hosted by Niagara County Cooperative Extension and the Niagara County Sportfishery Development Board.
Thursday, March 14: 6:30 - 9 p.m. at SUNY Schenectady County Community College, Stockade Building, Room 101, 78 Washington Ave., Schenectady, Schenectady County.
Tuesday, March 19: 6:30 - 9 p.m. at the Pulaski High School auditorium, 4624 Salina St., Pulaski, Oswego County. The meeting is co-hosted by the Eastern Lake Ontario Salmon and Trout Association.
Staff from DEC and the United States Geological Survey will make a number of presentations, including updates on the status of trout and salmon fisheries in the lake and its tributaries, forage fish, and stocking programs. The meetings will provide ample time at the end of the scheduled program for the audience to ask questions and interact with the presenters. Information about DEC's https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/7969.html]Lake Ontario fisheries assessment programs[/link] can be found on DEC's website.
For further information contact Christopher Legard, NYSDEC Lake Ontario Unit Leader at the Cape Vincent Fisheries Research Station, (315) 654-2147.
 
http://www.dec.ny.gov/press/press.html]http://www.dec.ny.gov/press/press.html[/link]
    

They stick pretty close to the annual reports to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission at these meetings, which is why it may seem like a " broken record". (Play 15 different recordings of Jorma playing "Hesitation Blues," as a knowledgeable aficionado, you'll hear all the differences, but some listeners may get bored around 4 or 5 ;)).  They generally do a quick review of stocking totals and egg take,  the Boat Survey, condition of fish returning to the SR hatchery, a review of the pen projects, the SR Fry study, and maybe a review of the SR Angler survey.  Brian Weidel of USGS Oswego has been doing the baitfish trawling summaries the last few years.  Last year, Andy Todd of Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry attended and spoke about the other side of the lake, where they did NOT enjoy great fishing in 2018.  I would expect some discussion of the Stocking cut, and of the proposed regs changes, and they always try to leave a good portion of time for Q+A.  If you watch the LO reports page on the DEC Website, the summary should show up soon ( 2017 is up and the full report, but 2018 is not up yet but the summary is usually up before the meeting.)   A solid presentation, likely not worth driving from Woodstock to Pulaski for the evening, but please note that they are doing a session in Schenectady this year as well, that's closer to your neck of the woods and waters.
 
Sorry the water changed and you missed your SR trip, 2B and I might have done a day trip if you were there, but I'm not crazy about 1500 either.

Too bad its on a Tuesday, that's my pith league

Ny outdoors news rag is a waste of paper, same with the Albany times union rob streeter blogs years ago.
The only worthy rag read was from Troy years ago and that was free.
Rod and reel streemside with Don on PBS real deal.
I will actually attend the Schenectady SOL .

chartist1
For me, last year was the best steelhead season in the 8 years I've been going.  But, I always go early October so maybe they were just early last year?  Haven't seen big Coho numbers.

That's cool. I think you stayed low as I heard that was sweet most fall.
I don't mind later in year, just timing ain't been right.
Might still get a shot before the cabin fever fishermen sprout

The lake was totally on fire from as soon as guys could get out until the bait moved in, it is getting a little harder now as they are out a bit deeper and they're finding bait, so the metal things are not quite as attractive, but big boxes appear to be the 2019 story, like in 2018.  The big problem unless you rented a slip is getting in, many of the launches are closed, and many that are open require two people and the use of boots, and it is 5 mph limit and no wake within 1000 feet of shore, and all the boat mounties are out to make sure people follow those rules.

Well it appears that there will be plenty of Salmon sniffing the tribs come Sept.I'm surprised that they are off the big O this early,I thought they stay west until later and then migrate east to the SR late AUG/Sept???

some of you may have read this on LOU, its written from my local rag. I don't have any inside knowledge as to whats really happening , only what the article is posting.
If this is true, its sad and going to get ugly..
 
https://www.hudsonvalley360.com/article/ecos-forced-cut-back-enforcement?wallit_nosession=1

I fo0rwarded it on to our Local Fisheries Board.  Scary stuff here in the Emperor's, I mean Empire, State.

I don't know a lot from the article, but I forwarded it to people who are pretty known by the legislative contingent around here so we can find out a little more.  Actually, until the transfer recently, all the DEC access to the SR was private land, with easements.
 
I wonder how much of this is coming out of the valient attempts by ENCON to stop the wholesale slaughter of out of season, undersized, and over limits of Striped bass and tautog down in the NYC area, "Stop all this "persecution of the poor" or whatever, they need those fish to survive! 
 
I am sure that we will request a visit from the Region 8 Lieutenant who has been visiting our fisheries advisory board to detail enforcement efforts on the Genesee River, which is DEC Public Access, but is in no way public land.  Once we get the full scoop, the pens will get going and the letters will start to descend on the folks we send to Albany.

So there were 356 pages. They totally lost my interest by page 20 when everything they said was the baitfish and overall sizes were the lowest in over the past 10 years but the trout and salmon catches reported for 2018 were excellent.
2019 has also been reported to be towards historic levels.

So does all this mean they will continue to cry the sky is falling ?
I pretty much give up on trying to reason their data

hot tuna
So there were 356 pages. They totally lost my interest by page 20 when everything they said was the baitfish and overall sizes were the lowest in over the past 10 years but the trout and salmon catches reported for 2018 were excellent.
2019 has also been reported to be towards historic levels.

So does all this mean they will continue to cry the sky is falling ?
I pretty much give up on trying to reason their data

 You are welcome, I spend my time looking for this just so you can vent and kvetch!
 
You would have to read the data to reason with it.  You glanced at the summary, and then wrote the whole thing off.  Sort of like "I heard a POTR song once.  I didn't like it.  Therefore the band must suck all the time."
 
If you took a good look at the data series shown graphically in the full report, not the summary, in the section Brian Weidel does on the trawl surveys, you might see that the sky is precariously close to falling now.  And, having seen the preliminary report on the 2019 netting, I can assure you , things are not getting better. Hindsight says the first and second stocking cuts  should have been larger, or something is going on beyond the control of the managers (remember Alewife are NOT indigenous to LO, and are at the northern edge of their temperature range). Also, look at the full report on fish condition at the hatchery.  Average sizes of returning fish by year class are all down,  hens by as much as 3 lbs.  Of course it was a banner year for catching predators out there, they were unable to find the amount of real food they needed, so they were hitting every shiny thing that went by, as they have been doing this year.  It will be late October before the Lake Ontario Committee (NYS and Canada) finalizes the 2019 reaction to the continuing decline of alewife in the lake, they want data on condition of returning fish this fall before they act, but I'll predict another cut to stocking, and this time all heads will roll, steelhead will not escape the axe, browns might because they are not as pelagic and are apparently chowing down all year on gobies at their depths, but if it is out in the open water in the summer looking for little silver fish,  there will likely be less going in in 2020.  Or, they could sit back and watch the whole thing go to hell in a handbag, or even accelerate the decline, if they listen to west end charter operators, who tend to be the loudest (and rudest) of the naysayers, and increase king stocking (I know when I am short of chicken feed, the best thing I can do for my flock is put a bunch more chickens in the coop).  
 
I know how easy it is to second guess professional biologists, it is almost an American pastime, but, having eked out a living in science and working side by side with some of these guys for the last 30+ years, I can attest to the hard work and dedication of guys Like Steve LaPan and Andy Todd, the Lake Ontario Committee; and others like Dan Bishop, Mike Connerton, Fran Verdoliva of DEC, and Brian Weidel of USGS, etc.  Some of us need a sense of personal satisfaction with what we do (kind of like you and your box farm), and we get that from working toward a set of objectives (The Lake Ontario Fish Community Objectives), and then if nature cooperates with our actions, seeing them met.  And I know from personal conversations with Steve just how much he cares and is concerned about another possible Lake Huron scenario.  He didn't loose all that hair from not giving a **** LOL!
 
I won't go into the possible effects of retention of 50% of legal catch on striped bass populations documented to already be in decline, but a wild card in all that seems to me from reading Cuffs and Collars in the NYS paper that you have already decided is useless, that there is an inordinate amount of poaching of striped bass in NYC and along the lower Hudson.  And I've been called out for thread hijacking before, so I'll mention that here, too.

L-13, your not going to like what I have to say but I have a right to my thoughts. I'm not in any way saying I'm right or you're wrong but I will speak my peace.
Stripers: 100% of those 50% were mortality wounded fish, hence the other 50% healthy fish were released. I could have kept them all. Instead I chose to release the healthy fish . Circle hooks make ZERO difference.
Secondly, I work for a world wide company. Times are very tough in the economy no matter what fake news reports . 2009 is certainly coming again very soon.
Our company put put a global standard notice to first and foremost buy parts and equipment from CHINA. Now, all those other countries do not pay tariffs like imposed by the USA but it doesn't matter. The USA plants are instructed to buy from China first. The justification is the rest of the plants in the world will make up the difference in costs the USA pays in tariff.
Freaking SAD !!!

So with that out of the way in hijacking, here is my sol view.
Absolutely the people doing their job are dedicated and knowledgeable. The belief I have is they are handcuffed and required to provide justification for anything made public.
Let's start with bait and biomass.
So many times I've heard it is in jeopardy, be it a worst winter die off or an over abundance of predators. This does not sit well with me because things have peaks and valleys. I've read thing like changing trawling methods, abundance of zebra mussels, gobbies ,lack of zooplankton and low lake levels have attributes. Right now we are seeing record lake levels which is promoting zooplankton.
Second:
Natural reproduction of chinooks:
Why now ? Chinooks have been planted in that lake since I have been born. All of the sudden there is an explosion of natural reproduction ? Hogwash.. it's just justification to reduce stocking levels. As we all know, a fish stocked cost $$$ to raise. Bottom line.
Third : ah stocking..
As you also said above, the cuts will go deep. To me its about funding not resources. Have to justify it somewhere on paper to make it stick on the wall. If you can't, someone else will take your place to make it happen.
Currently lake trout and Atlantic are getting federal money. Rest assured once that stops so will their program as well.
Lastly:
I'm sure the 536 page document took as much time and funds to prepare than the actual hands on work to collect the data. Sometimes its just not right the way things work.
I am very skeptical of anything I read put out to the public. Its not the people behind the scenes, it's the information published.

I'm sorry L-13 but I disagree.
The fish I've seen and firsthand reports from charters are that the fish and the lake are healthy.
The labor day 2019 also indicated a very good population and healthy salmon.
If these fish out in the great blue yonder were not finding forage and just striking anything shining, their heads would be large and their bodies skinny as is the case on ostego lake. This is not the case based on the people putting boats in the water and boots on the ground.

Enjoy it while it's there before science screws it up.

CT instituted a trout/salmon stamp ($5.00) in 2018.  While I'm not against a nominal fee for NYS I am concerned as to where it's headed.  Politics has a way of reinventing and moving the bar by instituting additional fees.  Cuomo is presently trying to play a shell game with mandatory new license plates for a new additional fee of $25.00 per registered vehicle/trailer.  So those of us who purchased a new or registered a used vehicle with new tags may be in for another set of tags and fees if the governor has his way.  As a lifetime NYS sportsman license (hunting- small & large game, fishing, bow, muzzle loader & turkey) holder I don't care for adding another fee to the list unless I have a guarantee that those funds won't end up in some general fund that's subject to the whims of the leeches in Albany.