Lamprey Control in Cayuga Lake

[Sk8man]

Many Finger Lakes fishermen are very concerned about the extent of the problem and that a wonderful fishing resource is being decimated by these nasty parasites. It was requested that I start a separate thread regarding this topic to include potential state contacts( if people desire that approach) to let them know the level of concern by LOU fishermen. After that request a comment was offered by one of our members that has bearing on the issue so I will include that here as well. Also the names of N.Y.S. Department of Environmental Conservation personnel and the general website for contacting state legislators as well is included for any people desiring to pursue that route.

 

Commissioner
Joe Martens 518-402-8545 FAX: 518-402-8541  email the
Commissioner

 

Natural Resources
Kathy Moser
Assistant Commissioner 518-402-8533 FAX: 518-402-9016    Fish, Wildlife and Marine Resources, Lands and Forests

Patricia Riexinger Director 518-402-8924 FAX: 518-402-9027  fwinfo Protect and manage fish and wildlife resources

Fisheries 518-402-8920 FAX: 402-9027  fwfish Managing all the fish species in the State of New York

 

http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/ils/legislature/legis.html

 

The following response was posted by a LOU member on 10-17-13 on a previous thread:

 

Posted Today, 4:01 PM

I don't see where writing letters/emails will make a shred of difference at this point- DEC has been aware of the problem for some time and has a plan for dealing with it.

 

The cost of treating the entire lake is cost prohibitive and is not really an option.

 

Next spring the adult lampreys in Cayuga will leave the lake to spawn. DEC believes that about 90% of the lampreys in Cayuga use the inlet for spawning-unless there is a high water event, nearly all of these will be captured at the fishway and destroyed. The lampracide treatment that is planned for the inlet next Summer will kill a large number of the young lampreys produced in recent years. As a result, wounding rates on trout and salmon should return to acceptable levels.

 

Yes, it will take time for the fishery to recover.....

Edited October 18, 2013 by Sk8man

[flyrod2]

Sk8man is spot on with his asessment, which is why I pursuaded R7 Fisheries to have the State of Finger Lakes meeting. The R7 crew work hard to make the best fishery possible and do it with little support from Albany(executive Albany that supposedly support the Hunt/Fish NY). With the 2011 flood the allowed lamprey to escape DEC did miscalculate the number of nests in the inlet(not easy task), therefore thought the impact would be minimal. Unfortunately that was not case and here we are with 2 major escapes (2007/2011). Can't change that, but they are going foward with the treatment as Sk8man said and we can hope it will work. We need to keep in mind that the lamprey are only one of many issues that challenge all of us to keep healthy fisheries on our lakes. It is always those that love to fish the Finger Lakes that have great concerns and look for ways to keep them healthy. There are many other demands on the lakes that effect the fishery(that have nothing to do with fishing) and we need to focus on those as well. Actually letters in support of R7 crew and their desire to treat would be a good thing for Albany to hear, and the fact that we all are interested in well being of our Lakes. Positive letters often work as good or better than negative ones in getting what we want.

Keep up the good fight for our fisheries.

 

[Sk8man]

Thanks Flyrod 2. I'd also like to clarify something though the information above was submitted by another member who had posted it on the previously mentioned thread where I had also posted and I omitted his name because I hadn't had a chance to ask permission to use his name with it. I merely includedthe comment from the previous posting so he deserves any credit for the remarks. The previous thread was under the title " Lamprey on a stickbait". Les

Edited October 18, 2013 by Sk8man

[Trouthunter]

WE DO NOT KNOW HOW GOOD WE HAVE IT TIL YOU LOSE IT. WE NEED TO HELP THE DEC NOT HURT THEM

[lavarock64]

Thank you for making this post.  I e-mailed all of the contacts posted.  Let's get this fishery back in shape!

[Sk8man]

Thanks lavarock64.

[lavarock64]

Had a discussion with a co-worker that is friends with a charter captain on Cayuga.  Due to the current state of the lake, he has decided not to chater out of Cayuga any more.  He will be making the drive to Lake O.  Anyone know of any other Cayuga Charter Captains that are considering moving their operation?

[lakebound88]

I know who the captain is. Makes sense.

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[rustyrat]

I am going to tough it out. I managed this season to get a keeper per person and a little more. I just hope it doesnt get worse. Also so far there are very few fish in the tribs. Like none! We have had excellent water too.

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[Billy V]

I'll be sticking it out on Cayuga too.  While I believe that the fishing could be a whole lot better (as in viable populations of browns, rainbows, and Atlantics) and that the lampreys are a huge problem, we managed more than our fair share of fish each trip out and had happy clients - thank God for Lakers.

 

I've fished the tributaries locally here a couple of times this fall and have been very disappointed with the utter lack of fish.  Hopefully DEC gets it right with the lamprey treatment next year.  Ive spoken to them multiple times about this and they are fully aware of the issue.  My concern is that no one on the Region 7 staff seems to be a fisherman.  They're fish biologists and appear to have a hard time understanding the ecosystem from our point of view.