*** IMPORTANT DEC Salmon Stocking 2020 Notice***

[RUNNIN REBEL]

 

DEC TO HOST ONLINE MEETING TO PRESENT 2020 LAKE ONTARIO CHINOOK SALMON STOCKING STRATEGY Changes Designed to Enhance Overall Benefits to Fisheries

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos today announced that an online public meeting will be held on March 18, to discuss changes in 2020 Chinook salmon stocking locations on Lake Ontario. These changes were developed in consultation with a focus group comprised of anglers and charter captains and are designed to maximize contributions of stocked salmon to sportfisheries. "DEC continues to apply the best available science to maintain the world-class status of Lake Ontario’s fisheries, which attract anglers from around the globe," Commissioner Seggos said. "These changes to our Chinook salmon stocking strategy will enhance survival of stocked salmon and improve angling opportunities." DEC’s stocking site allocations of salmon and trout are decades old and largely proportioned by shoreline miles within DEC’s administrative regions bordering Lake Ontario. This proportional approach does not take into consideration fish movement studies, the benefits of pen rearing, and other factors that affect the success of the stocking program, including angler preferences, fishing effort, and geographic and seasonal differences in fish distribution. DEC is currently working with the Lake Ontario Fisheries Management Focus Group, a panel of 16 anglers representing open lake and tributary fisheries, to modify trout and salmon stocking allocations to optimize the benefits of stocked fish to the overall sportfishery. In 2020, DEC will concentrate Chinook salmon stocking at fewer sites to enhance post-stocking survival and improve open lake fisheries overall. This strategy will also enhance New York State’s late-summer staging fishery and existing tributary fisheries in key locations. The online meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m., on Wednesday, March 18. Participants can use the following link to join the meeting: https://meetny.webex.com/meetny/j.php?MTID=m8e94b08c21e5ce9a816c88c5238c2725. Participants are directed to use the meeting number 647 538 274, password: Chinook2020.

Upon joining the meeting, participants will be prompted to connect to audio using their computer. To connect to audio via phone, use the following call-in information: toll free number 1-844-633-8697 and access code: 641 790 213.

Stocking information presented at the meeting will be posted on the DEC’s website the day of the meeting. Questions regarding this meeting can be directed to Steve LaPan, Great Lakes Fisheries Section Head, at 315-654-2147 or [email protected].

 

Jerry

RUNNIN REBEL

[RUNNIN REBEL]

 

Additional Information for Anglers2020 Lake Ontario Stocking Decision Q: How will this stocking reduction impact fishing in 2020?

A: The reductions being implemented in 2020 will have little impact on fishing in the near term as the fish that anglers will catch next year have already been stocked in the system. In addition, about 50% of the adult Chinook salmon in Lake Ontario are naturally reproduced or "wild" fish.

Q: How will this impact fishing in the future?

A: If alewife abundance continues to decline, the size of Chinook may decline, but angler success (i.e. catch rate) may remain high as Chinook salmon become more vulnerable to angling.

Q: Are other fish species slated for reductions?A: Not at this time.

Q: What are the actual numbers of fish being stocked?

A: Even with these reductions, lake-wide salmon and trout stocking in Lake Ontario in 2020 will exceed 3.6 million fish, including approximately 1.1 million Chinook salmon, 755,000 rainbow trout/steelhead, 556,000 brown trout, 601,000 lake trout, 325,000 coho salmon and 200,000 yearling Atlantic salmon.

Q: Why isn’t the stocking of other species of trout and salmon being reduced?

A: While other trout and salmon species eat alewife, Chinook salmon consume the largest amount in the shortest timespan. Reducing Chinook salmon numbers provides the greatest reduction of alewife consumption in the short-term. Further reducing lake trout stocking is intended to provide more long-term relief, since they grow slower and live longer than Chinook salmon. Lake Ontario’s diversity of trout and salmon supports a world-class fishery, and managers want to maintain that diversity to the extent possible.

Q: Will lake trout stocking cuts affect the lake trout fishery?

A: No; these cuts will not result in measurable changes, if any, to the adult lake trout population or angler success for 4 - 6 years. The adult lake trout population is currently healthy.

Q: Is the Province of Ontario also cutting stocking?

A: The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry continues to make stocking reductions commensurate with New York’s.

Q: Do naturally produced fish contribute to the fishery?

A: All trout and salmon species in Lake Ontario reproduce naturally to varying degrees, with Chinook salmon being the most successful. Fish produced via natural reproduction can contribute significantly to the overall population of Chinooks in the lake.

Q: When will stocking numbers be increased?

A: It is not possible to forecast when that might occur. Scientists from the US Geological Survey, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry and the DEC will continue to monitor the status of the alewife population, sportfisheries, and Chinook salmon growth to assess the balance between     Jerry RUNNIN REBEL

Edited March 9, 2020 by RUNNIN REBEL

[RUNNIN REBEL]

Table 1. Anticipated lakewide (DEC and OMNRF) 2020 stocking for Lake Ontario.

Species	Life Stage	Stocking 2020
Chinook Salmon*	Spring Fingerlings	1,161,568
Lake Trout	Yearling equivalents	601,600
Rainbow Trout	Spring Yearlings	755,700
Brown Trout	Spring Yearlings	556,755
Atlantic Salmon	Spring Yearlings	240,000
Coho Salmon	Fall Fingerlings	235,000
	Spring Yearlings	90,000
3,640,623     Jerry RUNNIN REBEL

Edited March 10, 2020 by RUNNIN REBEL

[RUNNIN REBEL]

 

An Idea of the NY State DEC Region #'s  (6  7  8  9) and coverage area on Lake Ontario Shoreline

 

Jerry

RUNNIN REBEL


Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

Edited March 9, 2020 by RUNNIN REBEL

[AnglingAddict]

Are the Atlantic numbers the typical long term stocking numbers?

[Capt Vince Pierleoni]

10 hours ago, RUNNIN REBEL said:

Table 1. Anticipated lakewide (DEC and OMNRF) 2020 stocking for Lake Ontario.

Species	Life Stage	Stocking 2020
Chinook Salmon*	Spring Yearlings	1,161,568
Lake Trout	Yearling equivalents	601,600
Rainbow Trout	Spring Yearlings	755,700
Brown Trout	Spring Yearlings	556,755
Atlantic Salmon	Spring Yearlings	240,000
Coho Salmon	Fall Fingerlings	235,000
	Spring Yearlings	90,000
3,640,623     Jerry RUNNIN REBEL

Thanks for posting Jerry. One correction however. Chinooks are stocked as Spring fingerlings. Fingerlings are much smaller and much more vulnerable to predation.

[Legacy]

[RUNNIN REBEL]

10 hours ago, Capt Vince Pierleoni said:

Chinook Salmon* Spring Yearlings 1,161,568

 

Got it Vince, Thanks

 

 

11 hours ago, AnglingAddict said:

Are the Atlantic numbers the typical long term stocking numbers?

Altantic numbers seem to change every year with a big emphasis on Canadian numbers. The US stocks over 100,000 Atlantic salmon annually since 2011 into Lake Ontario and tribs.

 

 

 

 

 

Rob    Another dumpster fire ??????????

 

Jerry

RUNNIN REBEL

Edited March 10, 2020 by RUNNIN REBEL

[Gill-T]

I believe the typical number ends up being 200,000 atlantics on US side. Really small potatoes given their penchant for poor survival. Chances are if you catch one it is a Canadian plant. 

[Gill-T]

Dbl post

Edited March 10, 2020 by Gill-T

[RUNNIN REBEL]

Atlantic salmon on Canadian/Ontario side info.. There is a lot more to stocking Lake Ontario than just a "number" put in.

Jerry

RUNNIN REBEL

 

 

 

Atlantic Salmon are a challenging fish, stocking fish to maximize returns to the lake fishery is very different than stocking fish to support a tributary fishery or for restoration of a species in a specific river. 

 

If the goal is to maximize AS returns to the open water boat fishery then the best strategy is to stock large AS yearlings directly into the lake to maximize survival to adulthood (similar to the stocking strategy for Brown Trout). What this strategy does not do is imprint AS to a stream and therefore returns to the stream and the tributary fishery may be low (basically left to chance).

 

If the goal is to maximize returns to a particular tributary fishery then the best strategy is to stock AS into the stream so they will imprint and return at about age 3+. The challenge is getting the AS to imprint. Stocking advanced yearlings into the stream will likely improve survival but they may not imprint well – stock spring fingerlings (3 month old fish) will likely result in AS residing in the stream for up to two years and then smolt out, survival will be much lower but imprinting should be very good. One way we try to balance this is to stock yearlings as high in the watershed as we can (20+ miles), hoping that by the time they smolt out the fish will have imprinted. And if they don’t imprint at least survival will be better and the fish will show up somewhere. We are doing this in the Ganaraska River.

 

If the goal is to restore a species to a self sustaining population then a we need to stock fish into high quality stream habitat that will support natural reproduction, the fish need to imprint and then the returning adults need to be able to get back to the spawning grounds and spawn successfully . We know that the longer a fish is in the hatchery the less wild it is… so getting AS out of the hatchery early improves the “wildness” but survival is low. Why? Because the stocked fish live in the stream for up to two years…and face a lot of predation pressure from other fish and environmental stress – flows/temps/siltation etc…. So the strategy is to stock a lot more small spring fingerlings knowing that survival will be low.

 

When Ontario AS program started in 2006 we were focused on restoring the species, and that directed our stocking strategies. In 2015 we included the goal to also develop stream fisheries. This is why we  started stocking the Ganaraska River in 2016. More recently we have started stocking surplus adult AS directly into the lake. These are fish that are 3+ years old and past their prime for egg collection. We stocked 900 this week on the north shore. We have now effectively used all three strategies above. Our primary goal though is to establish a self sustaining population in several tributaries to primarily support tributary fisheries (i.e. returns to the boat fishery are a bonus but not a primary objective).

 

Additional challenges with AS. Unlike wild Chinook Salmon that mostly smolt out after a few months in May and June and therefore are not subject to stream habitat issues (low flow, drought, high temps), Atlantic Salmon require very high quality stream habitat for at least a full year and up to 3 years in some cases before they smolt out to the lake. Each fish has its own fish culture challenges and unique ecological requirements so comparing one species to another can be apples to oranges.

 

There has been some work done on Atlantic Salmon diets for both juvenile and adults. Generally Atlantic Salmon diet in Lake Ontario is similar to Rainbow Trout – (more diverse than Chinook) but if Alewife are available they eat a lot of them. If you look in our annual report 2014 there is a research paper on this topic.

 

As you know Alewife contain Thiaminase which can cause low Thiamine  (vitamin B). There was some research done on the various strains of Atlantic Salmon and the Sebago Lake strain was found to do best under in low Thiamine conditions. NYSDEC stocks Sebago Lake and MNRF is moving in that direction. In the early days of our program we stock the LaHave strain. We are moving toward 100% Sebago (increasing broad stocks to increase production).

 

Significant changes in 2015. In 2015 (Ontario) started to make some significant changes to our stocking program. To support fishery development in the Ganaraska and improve survival in other streams we started growing our fish larger across all life stages (spring and fall fingerlings and yearlings). This also resulted in stocking fewer fish because hatchery space is about total biomass. The chart below provides a good summary of numbers stocked vs biomass (size of fish). We fully expect to see the results of this enhanced stocking effort starting this year. We should see increased catches in the boat fishery and more fish returning to the rivers in 2019. We have the cameras running on both the Credit and Ganaraska and we have a boat creel running.

Edited March 10, 2020 by RUNNIN REBEL

[AnglingAddict]

9 hours ago, RUNNIN REBEL said:

 

Got it Vince, Thanks

 

 

Altantic numbers seem to change every year with a big emphasis on Canadian numbers. The US stocks over 100,000 Atlantic salmon annually since 2011 into Lake Ontario and tribs.

 

 

 

 

 

Rob    Another dumpster fire ??????????

 

Jerry

RUNNIN REBEL

Absolutely - such little Return on Investment with the Atlantic’s...hate that they fund someone’s pipe dream.  Put the dollars where maximum impact is seen for all users of the Lake Ontario Ecosystem.  

[rdebadts]

Jerry, where did you get that information? It's really good stuff


The Fishin’ Physician Assistant

[RUNNIN REBEL]

On ‎3‎/‎9‎/‎2020 at 10:43 AM, RUNNIN REBEL said:

DEC is currently working with the Lake Ontario Fisheries Management Focus Group, a panel of 16 anglers representing open lake and tributary fisheries, to modify trout and salmon stocking.

Abe,

I am one of the 16 Lake Ontario representatives mentioned in opening DEC meeting notice and one of the 12 Bi-National committee members. (also involved with Lakeshore Riparian's-High Water problems=life time lake shore resident also).   I spend ALOT of time year round on both sides of the Lake attending meetings/conference calls etc. . Contact most every day with  scientist/biologist/ professors/charter capt.-local fisherman lake wide/USGS-NYSDEC-OMNR-Sea Grant/NOAA-Windsor college-Brockport College-Oswego college-Corning-Syracuse science ETC. To get this information.

I am just sharing info, Glad you enjoy.

 

PS  I have some good stats on Lake Ontario/Bay of Quinte walleyes too if anyone every starts a post on that subject here..

 

Jerry

RUNNIN REBEL

Edited March 11, 2020 by RUNNIN REBEL

[rdebadts]

Abe,
I am one of the 16 Lake Ontario representatives mentioned in opening DEC meeting notice and one of the 12 Bi-National committee members. (also involved with Lakeshore Riparian's-High Water problems=life time lake shore resident also).   I spend ALOT of time year round on both sides of the Lake attending meetings/conference calls etc. . Contact most every day with  scientist/biologist/ professors/charter capt.-local fisherman lake wide/USGS-NYSDEC-OMNR-Sea Grant/NOAA-Windsor college-Brockport College-Oswego college-Corning-Syracuse science ETC. To get this information.
I am just sharing info, Glad you enjoy.
 
PS  I have some good stats on Lake Ontario/Bay of Quinte walleyes too if anyone every starts a post on that subject here..
 
Jerry
RUNNIN REBEL

Thanks. I knew you were on the committee. I was just wondering which biologist was the source of the Atlantic stuff on the Canadian side. Is it Andy?


The Fishin’ Physician Assistant