RJ
02-28-2007, 02:47 PM
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) today announced three upcoming public meetings to discuss Lake Ontario fisheries. The ninth annual “State of Lake Ontario” public meetings will be held in Monroe, Niagara, and Oswego counties.
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. New York’s Lake Ontario waters comprise over 2.7 million acres, and a 1996 statewide angler survey estimated that over 2.8 million angler days are expended on Lake Ontario and the three major tributaries. The estimated value of these fisheries to the New York economy exceeded $95 million.
DEC is committed to sound management of Lake Ontario fisheries, to maintain high-quality angling opportunities and associated economic benefits. The State of the Lake Ontario meetings provide an excellent opportunity for individuals interested in the Lake to interact with the scientists who study Lake Ontario fisheries. The meeting dates are as follows:
$ Thursday, March 1, 2007: 7 - 10 p.m. at the Cornell Cooperative Extension Building, 4487 Lake Avenue, Lockport, Niagara County.
$ Thursday, March 8, 2007: 7 - 10 p.m. at the Oswego County BOCES, 179 County Route 64, Mexico, Oswego County.
$ Wednesday, March 14, 2007: 7 - 10 p.m. at the Ingel Auditorium, in Building 4 (Student Union) on the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) campus, Rochester, Monroe County. The meeting is co-hosted by RIT and the Monroe County Fishery Advisory Board.
DEC and United States Geological Survey biologists will make presentations on: proposed changes to regulations; the status of forage fish stocks; provide updates on the 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.
In addition, the meeting scheduled for March 8th in Mexico, Oswego County, will also include a session devoted to the draft “Sportfishing Restoration and Spending Plan” for the Lake Ontario system. A meeting addressing the plan originally scheduled for February 14, 2007, was cancelled due to inclement weather. The Draft Plan 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. Funds for this restoration are available from a settlement of the state’s Natural Resource Damages (NRD) claim with Occidental Chemical Corporation (OCC) whereby OCC agreed to pay the state $12 million in five equal payments over four years. The settlement was based on an assessment of the damages to the state’s natural resources, in particular a loss of recreational fishing benefits, resulting from the imposition of fish consumption advisories because of the presence of contaminants in fish in the Lake Ontario system. The proceeds of the settlement will be used to restore/enhance sportfishing and the injured natural resources.
Copies of the draft plan can be viewed or downloaded from www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dfwmr/fish/lkontactivities.html or can be obtained at the DEC Regional headquarters in Watertown, Syracuse, Avon and Buffalo. There will
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. New York’s Lake Ontario waters comprise over 2.7 million acres, and a 1996 statewide angler survey estimated that over 2.8 million angler days are expended on Lake Ontario and the three major tributaries. The estimated value of these fisheries to the New York economy exceeded $95 million.
DEC is committed to sound management of Lake Ontario fisheries, to maintain high-quality angling opportunities and associated economic benefits. The State of the Lake Ontario meetings provide an excellent opportunity for individuals interested in the Lake to interact with the scientists who study Lake Ontario fisheries. The meeting dates are as follows:
$ Thursday, March 1, 2007: 7 - 10 p.m. at the Cornell Cooperative Extension Building, 4487 Lake Avenue, Lockport, Niagara County.
$ Thursday, March 8, 2007: 7 - 10 p.m. at the Oswego County BOCES, 179 County Route 64, Mexico, Oswego County.
$ Wednesday, March 14, 2007: 7 - 10 p.m. at the Ingel Auditorium, in Building 4 (Student Union) on the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) campus, Rochester, Monroe County. The meeting is co-hosted by RIT and the Monroe County Fishery Advisory Board.
DEC and United States Geological Survey biologists will make presentations on: proposed changes to regulations; the status of forage fish stocks; provide updates on the 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.
In addition, the meeting scheduled for March 8th in Mexico, Oswego County, will also include a session devoted to the draft “Sportfishing Restoration and Spending Plan” for the Lake Ontario system. A meeting addressing the plan originally scheduled for February 14, 2007, was cancelled due to inclement weather. The Draft Plan 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. Funds for this restoration are available from a settlement of the state’s Natural Resource Damages (NRD) claim with Occidental Chemical Corporation (OCC) whereby OCC agreed to pay the state $12 million in five equal payments over four years. The settlement was based on an assessment of the damages to the state’s natural resources, in particular a loss of recreational fishing benefits, resulting from the imposition of fish consumption advisories because of the presence of contaminants in fish in the Lake Ontario system. The proceeds of the settlement will be used to restore/enhance sportfishing and the injured natural resources.
Copies of the draft plan can be viewed or downloaded from www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dfwmr/fish/lkontactivities.html or can be obtained at the DEC Regional headquarters in Watertown, Syracuse, Avon and Buffalo. There will