Be sure to join our forum!

My son, Alan, and I attended the 2010 State of The Lake (Ontario) Meeting at the RIT campus last night as representatives of the Western NY Kayak Fishing Association. What transpired was a flurry of well-articulated 5-10 minute reports (overwhelmingly about salmon and trout) a la PowerPoint from fisheries biologists and staff from the NYDEC and the USGS. Each presentation was followed by a brief question and answer session. I was impressed with the professionalism, preparedness, and knowledge of all of the presenters.

The reports covered topics ranging from outlining recent research efforts to determine the relative amounts of recruitment into salmon populations due to natural reproduction, pen-rearing to increase survivorship and return of salmon, sample and creel reports about the status of fisheries and forage fish population (including a study of Irondoquoit and Sodus bays), invasive species (although they were not referred to as such), deepwater cisco reintroduction program, and a brief talk about the warmwater fisheries with a focus on smallmouth bass.

Here is a rundown of some of the take-home messages:

Salmonids in Lake Ontario

-There is some natural reproduction of Chinook Salmon occurring and recent marking studies will help to quantify the relative proportion of wild stock in the next couple of years.

-Atlantic salmon, steelhead, and brown trout populations in Lake Ontario appear to be doing well.

-Lake trout population remains depressed in Lake Ontario, but that there are hopes for improvement after the USFWS Allegheny Hatchery comes back online in 2011.

Forage Fish in Lake Ontario

-Forage fish populations appear to be stable with Alewife being most abundant, followed by rainbow smelt.

Invasive Species in Lake Ontario

-FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, after many years of observed year-to-year population increase, the round goby was found to decrease in number. Reasons discussed for this were that the population may have overshot carrying capacity and is dropping due to density dependent factors (disease, competition for food…) or even the possibility that another invasive species, cormorants, may have shifted their diet from young bass to the round goby. No matter, the fact that this prolific species may have hit the ceiling and may now be somewhat stabilizing is good news.

-Sea Lamprey populations appear to be holding at or near targets due to control efforts. Unfortunately, a recent source population was discovered at Sandy Creek, and control efforts are now planned for this tributary.

Smallmouth Bass in Lake Ontario

-The recreational fisheries studies showed that both Irondoquoit and Sodus bays are intensively fished, but maintain high catch rates of nearly 1 fish per angler hour – much higher than the statewide norm of 0.25 fish per angler hour. Also (to my surprise), catch and release appears to be practiced by the vast majority of anglers for bass at a rate of around 96% for Sodus and 98% for Irondoquoit. Also, while surveys showed an abundance of walleye and northern pike at both of these bays, they are being “underutilized” because not many anglers target them relative to their abundances.

-Finally, the presenters admitted that smallmouth bass receive very little attention and the populations are poorly studied in Lake Ontario. What little data exist, corroborates angler observations that there has been a decline in angling success since 2003. However, this has not corresponded with a decrease in survey numbers for gill net surveys and reports that anglers who changed their tactics since 2003 continued to enjoy high catch rates. In other words, gill net surveys do not seem to indicate a population decline and the change in angling success may be due to a shift in the behavior habitat use of smallmouth bass.

There was much more discussed, but these were the highlights that Alan and I found most interesting. Salmon and Trout rule with respect the the attention and resources applied to maintain stock, and bass are largely ignored. Overall though, things are looking pretty good in Lake Ontario for both salmonids, black bass, and their prey in the near future. All of the information reported in the meeting can be found in various recent or pending reports and if you are interested in knowing more, do not hesitate to contact your regional NYDEC office.

{ 1 comment }