More than 138,000 Chinook Salmon fingerlings from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s (NYSDEC) Salmon River Fish Hatchery in Altmar, were delivered to pens in the Oswego Marina for restocking in Lake Ontario later this Spring, said Thomas Schneider, interim executive director, Port of Oswego Authority (POA). NYSDEC members, local charter captains, NY Sea Grant members and POA personnel unload the salmon into one of five pens that each hold approximately 27,000 salmon.
OSWEGO, NY – More than 138,000 Chinook Salmon fingerlings from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s (NYSDEC) Salmon River Fish Hatchery in Altmar, were delivered to pens in the Oswego Marina on April 14 for restocking in Lake Ontario later this Spring, said Thomas Schneider, interim executive director, Port of Oswego Authority (POA).
“Tammy De Carr, POA marine operations manager and her team do a fantastic job supporting this integral program for maintaining a healthy sustainable population of salmon on Lake Ontario and the Oswego River,” Schneider said. The Oswego Marina is owned and operated by the POA, which is home to 24 charter fishing captains, as well as a number of pleasure craft and sailboats. “They work closely with charter captain Kevin Keller and a number of charter boat captains, New York Sea Grant (NYSG) representatives, and faculty from SUNY Oswego to facilitate this program. “ According to DeCarr, the Port stores the five fish pens at the marina over the winter, takes them out and repairs them in the spring, then coordinates with charter boat captains, who volunteer to tow them into Lake Ontario for release. The fish net pen restocking program began in 1999 with charter captain Mike Conroy.
According to Nick Sard, a fisheries geneticist with SUNY Oswego’s Biological Sciences Dept., the 3-inch-long fingerlings from the hatchery reside in the fish pens at the marina for three to four weeks, where they are fed and grow to twice their size. “This allows the fish to ‘imprint’ to the Oswego River, which means many of these fish will return to this river to spawn in subsequent years.. When lake water temperatures exceed 60-65 degrees Fahrenheit, they need to be brought to the lake. In September, when it’s time to spawn, this imprinting will guide them to the Oswego River, and they find their way back to the river using their sense of smell. These stocking programs increase the number of anglers in Lake Ontario and its tributaries, which contributes to the local economy.“ A study in 2017 by Responsive Management estimated that anglers brought an estimated $564 million dollars to Lake Ontario local economies.
Outdoor News Magazine’s April 15 issue said last year was great for salmon fishing: “Lake Ontario and trout fishermen enjoyed another outstanding year of fishing in 2024, especially as it relates to Chinook salmon. Chinook salmon catch rates were nearly double the 10-year average in all four lake management areas that stretch from the Niagara Bar to Henderson Harbor, according to DEC Aquatic Biologist Mike Connerton. Chinook salmon size was up slightly from 2023, checking in at 19.2 pounds for an age 3 king salmon in August.”
Stacy Furgal, Great Lakes Fisheries and Ecosystem Health Specialist with NYSG, coordinates the restocking program with Sard. She said that this year, roughly 1,112,840 chinook salmon are being stocked into Lake Ontario and its tributaries. 300,000 at the Salmon River and the rest of the 812,840 destined for net pens around the lake.
NYSG, a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York, is one of 34 university-based programs under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Sea Grant College Program. Since 1971, NYSG has united the combined talents of university scientists and extension specialists to provide a statewide network if integrated research, education and extension services promoting coastal community economic vitality, environmental sustainability and citizen awareness about the state’s marine and Great Lakes resources.
Fo updates on Sea Grant activities, visit www.nyseagrant.org, and find them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
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