Willowbrook Lake Fisheries Survey (2010)

The DEC Region 2 Bureau of Fisheries performed a boat electrofishing survey of Willowbrook Lake, Staten Island on September 29, 2010. Survey objectives included assessing ecological health of the fish population and establishing baseline data from which fish population changes will be monitored in future fish surveys. Species composition resembled that of most New York City water bodies. Panfish, consisting of bluegill and pumpkinseed sunfish, composed the majority of fish captured; largemouth bass and golden shiners were also found in significant numbers. The length distribution for both predators and prey trended toward shorter fish, indicating an unbalanced fish population. Past fish kills are potentially responsible for removing larger-sized fish which likely led to this condition. Preliminary fish scale age analysis indicates fast-growing young-of-year bass, but this result is awaiting verification. Physical factors contributing to the kills are expected to have been ameliorated; therefore future fish surveys of Willowbrook Lake should show more balanced populations of warm water fish.

Printable report (pdf) (107 kB)