Oneida Lake Fisheries Survey

Walleye Stock Assessment and Population Projections for Oneida Lake, 2006-2009

Cornell fisheries scientists, under contract with the Department of Environmental Conservation, regularly sample Oneida Lake to gather information on the lake's fish community. This information is used by NYSDEC to aid in making management decisions to protect and enhance the Oneida Lake fishery. The following is a brief summary of findings of the 2006 sampling efforts. The full Cornell report, which provides a detailed analysis of the data and anticipated changes in Oneida Lake fish community, is available as a PDF titled Walleye Stock Assessment and Population Projections for Oneida Lake, 2006-2009 Report (690 Kb pdf).

Prediction of walleye year class strength has become more difficult in recent years due to the changing ecology of Oneida Lake. The standard predictive model, which has been used for several decades, may now be underestimating the number of walleye that are annually produced. A second predictive model, which has generally been slightly less precise at predicting walleye abundance, may now be more accurate then the other model. Based on the original model, the overall adult walleye population is expected to decline back to the levels observed in the late 1990's. However, utilizing the alternative model the adult walleye population is expected to increase slightly in the next few years. Of course, angler harvest will play a significant role in how much the population increases or decreases in the coming years. Angler catch and harvest of walleye is inversely related to forage fish (i.e., juvenile perch and gizzard shad, and adult emerald shiners) abundance. When forage fish abundance is high, harvest is typically low and this in turn means more walleye survive, boosting the population. On the other hand, when forage fish abundance is low, angler harvest tends to be high, reducing the walleye population. Because forage fish abundance is highly variable, the range in the projected walleye population is large.

Predictions for yellow perch population levels indicate that adult abundance will continue to remain at or near historic low levels (approximately one million fish) through 2008. The long term adult perch population abundance has averaged over 2 million fish and was as high as six million fish in 1980.

Other findings reported by Cornell include:

(1) white perch production continues to be strong in recent years and adults are now nearly as abundant as yellow perch;

(2) catches of smallmouth bass young and adults have increased dramatically since the mid-1980's;

(3) survival and growth of stocked lake sturgeon continues to be exceptional and several fish weighing over 45 pounds having been captured;

(4) estimated cormorant predation on yellow perch and walleye is believed to have been minimal in 2006 due to the intensive cormorant control program which was implemented by USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services;

(5) angling effort for walleye, during daylight hours, was the highest measured in recent years. The catch rate of walleye (0.31 walleye/angler hour) fell within the range considered "good" by New York State standards. An estimated 54,200 walleye, 3,000 black bass, and 54,400 yellow perch were harvested during the 2006 open water season.