Environment DEC
From the March 2007 issue
DEC Schedules Meetings on State of Lake Ontario
Salmon fishing is a popular summer sport on Lake Ontario
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced three upcoming public meetings to discuss Lake Ontario fisheries. Lake Ontario's embayments and tributaries support thriving populations of fish to satisfy anglers, including a variety of trout and salmon, bass, walleye, yellow perch and panfish. DEC is committed to sound management of Lake Ontario fisheries to maintain high-quality angling opportunities and associated economic benefits.
Meetings and Locations
The ninth annual "State of Lake Ontario" public meetings will be held in Monroe, Niagara, and Oswego counties. These meetings will provide an excellent opportunity for individuals interested in the lake to interact with the scientists who study Lake Ontario fisheries. Meeting dates are as follows:
- Thursday, March 1, 2007: 7-10 PM at the Cornell Cooperative Extension Building, 4487 Lake Avenue, Lockport, Niagara County
- Thursday, March 8, 2007: 7-10 PM at the Oswego County BOCES, 179 County Route 64, Mexico, Oswego County
- Wednesday, March 14, 2007: 7-10 PM at the Ingel Auditorium in Building 4 (Student Union) on the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) campus, Rochester, Monroe County
The meeting on March 14 will be co-hosted by RIT and the Monroe County Fishery Advisory Board.
Topics for Discussion
DEC and United States Geological Survey biologists will make presentations on: proposed changes to regulations; status of forage fish stocks; Lake Ontario fishing boat and tributary census; status of the Salmon River salmon and steelhead fisheries; status of the lake trout population, and cooperative pen-rearing projects for trout and salmon. Ample time will be available at the end of each meeting for audiences to interact with the presenters.
Draft Plan for Fisheries
The meeting scheduled for March 8 also will include a session devoted to the draft plan "Sportfishing Restoration and Spending Plan" for the Lake Ontario system. The draft proposes ways to restore and enhance recreational fishing and fisheries in the New York waters of the lower Niagara River, Lake Ontario, the St. Lawrence River and their tributaries upstream to the first barrier impassable to fish.
Copies of the draft plan can be viewed online or downloaded from DEC's website, or they can be obtained from DEC regional headquarters in Watertown, Syracuse, Avon and Buffalo.
