State Regulations /By Will Elliott

Fisheries manager discusses changes

What happens in Lake Ontario fisheries circles stays somewhere between science and stakeholders’ selections.

This balance between pure scientific analysis of Great Lakes fisheries and the wide range of expectations from anglers, business people, and others interested in the outdoors and aquatic outcomes made the annual “Future of Lake Ontario Fisheries” (State of Lake Ontario) public-input meeting interesting. Lively discussions and thought-provoking remarks were shared before and after professionals gave their presentations on Wednesday.

Paul McKeown, [Pictured] Department of Environmental Conservation Region 9 fisheries manager, began the program with reference to one major change proposed for future fishing regulations.

The proposal, beginning Oct. 1, 2010, will not allow anglers to fillet those fish with measurement requirements while aboard a boat. McKeown noted that rainbow/steelhead trout are the key target of this regs change. Starting in 2006, a 21-inch minimum size limit was imposed for steelies caught in the lower Niagara River and all of Lake Ontario and its tributaries.

The filleting proposal met with no opposition from the floor. McKeown answered one question about gutting fish. “Fish could still be gutted and gills removed when caught. The main concern is that they [conservation officers] can measure the lengths of fish brought to shore in a boat,” he replied.

Jana Lantry, a DEC aquatic biologist, began with a general overview of Ontario’s prominence. Without mentioning high gas prices during the 2008 fishing season, Lantry noted the lake’s fishery generated $114 million in income last year, despite an 11 percent drop in boat trips taken for fishing.

For good news, she noted part of that economic upturn was for catching Chinook (king) salmon, a fishery which peaked in 2008 and has been on a five-year abundance high since 2003. Rainbow/ steelhead trout also showed record numbers, with the best catches in 2008 and highest total numbers in 24 years of surveying.

On the down side, brown trout totals dipped in ’08 and lake trout tallies continued their serious slide. She later reported the Allegany Hatchery, source for many Lake Ontario lakers, should reopen in 2010 and resume previous production by 2012. That facility was closed due to infectious contaminants in 2005.

Sea lamprey, devastating mainly to lake trout, had record sightings and reportings in 2007. Lake-wide treatment efforts in 2008 and more scheduled in 2009 should reduce lamprey wounding this coming season.

Maureen Walsh, a research fisheries biologist with the U. S. Geological Survey, explained how shifts in forage fish affect game-fish numbers and sizes.

Alewife populations, high in 2008, led to good Chinook results. Harsh conditions during the 2008-09 winter season could lower the ’09 year-class. Rainbow smelt presence has been weak since 2003, Walsh reports. But invading round gobies have yet to peak. “Their numbers nearly doubled in 2007-08,” she noted, adding they now serve as the main menu for smallmouth bass in Lake Ontario.

She concluded with an appeal to fishermen who see another newly arrived invader—bloody-red shrimp. She asked anglers to report sighting locations to the Lower Great Lakes office in Amherst (691-5456).

Dan Bishop, DEC Region 7 fisheries manager, showed the newly completed salmon project at the Salmon River Hatchery. A fully computerized fin-clipping program in which all Chinook passing through the facility are shunted into lanes that record each fish by size, remove the adipose (top, back) fin, and return each fish to the river system.

“They [six computerized stations] process all fish without a human hand touching them and without the use of anesthetics,” Bishop said. He added the survey system may soon be applied to rainbows and coho salmon.

Steve LaPan, Lake Ontario unit leader at the Cape Vincent Station, summed up overall objectives and programs, citing Chinook (king) salmon as the leading angler target. LaPan pointed to the Ontario program helping to produce the largest adult kings among all five Great Lakes.

To sustain good salmon sizes and numbers, programmers have to maintain a controlled balance of adult fish with available forage (bait) fish. He admitted this balance cannot be considered pure science. Much of the assessment is based on input from professional and recreational anglers, such as those attending this Lockport gathering Wednesday evening.

Anyone who would like to submit comments on the Lake Ontario fishery should e-mail, write, or call the fishery station at: srlapan@gw.dec.-state.ny.us; NYSDEC Cape Vincent Fisheries Station, P. O. Box 292, Cape Vincent, NY 13618; (315) 654-2147. Submissions must be made by April 10.

To view all proposals for changes in fishing regulations, make a visit to the following site: www.dec.ny.gov/regulations/propregulations.html   

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