The New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) and Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
and Forestry (OMNRF) requests your help with recovering samples of Coho Salmon
caught in Lake Ontario beginning in 2018 and continuing until 2021. Each year,
NYSDEC stocks Coho Salmon as fall fingerlings at six sites along the New York
shoreline, and as spring yearlings at the Salmon River, and Metro East Anglers
in cooperation with OMNRF stock Coho fall fingerlings at the Credit River. As
part of a continuing effort to evaluate the effectiveness of stocking programs,
we are evaluating Coho Salmon stocking strategies by mass marking and/or
tagging all stocked Coho Salmon in 2016-2019.
Some portion of the Coho Salmon caught in Lake Ontario may also
come from natural reproduction instead of hatcheries. Although some streams are
known to produce wild Coho smolts, the relative contribution of wild and
hatchery Coho Salmon to the Lake Ontario fishery is unknown. This information
is important for fisheries managers to understand trends in Coho Salmon catch
rates. To determine the proportion of wild Coho Salmon in the Lake Ontario fishery,
the adipose fin of all Coho Salmon stocked by NYSDEC and OMNRF will be clipped
in 2016-2019, including the fall fingerlings stocked by Metro East Anglers at
the Credit River. Tags are 1 mm long pieces of coded wire inserted into the
snouts of fish prior to stocking, therefore invisible to the naked eye and
undetectable without specialized equipment. Recovery of mark and tag data is
ongoing until 2022.
To supplement NYSDEC and OMNRF sampling by the Fishing Boat survey
and at fishing tournaments, we are asking volunteers to collect Coho Salmon
heads from fish harvested in the Lake and tributaries and place them in
freezers located at sites from the Niagara River to Oswego (see below). Bags
and labels will be available at freezer locations, and instructions for
collections are provided below. We would like your help. Please be on the
lookout for Coho Salmon when fishing. For all harvested Coho Salmon, please cut
off its head, toss it in a bag, label, and put it in a freezer. If you are
willing to collect Coho Salmon heads and store them in your personal freezer,
we will happily come pick them up. Arrangements can be made by emailing fwfishlo@dec.ny.gov.
