Stocking
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service stocks over 650,000 lake trout into lakes Erie and Ontario. Until 2005, these fish came solely from the Allegheny National Fish Hatchery. In 2006, the Bath NY provided lake trout for the stocking effort, while the facility struggled with the finding of IPNv on station. In October 2005, the Service’s Northeast Region made the decision to temporarily move lake trout production to the Pittsford and White River NFHs in Vermont, while they planned a restoration of the Warren PA facility. However, since it takes almost 18 months to produce a stockable sized lake trout, these facilities did not stock the lakes until May 2007. In 2007, a total of 591,000 fish were stocked. In 2008 we were able to stock 653,659 fish. Stocking was accomplished by FWS personnel on the 9 hour trek to Lake Erie, and a combination of NYDEC and FWS personnel to 5 sites along the southern shore of Lake Ontario. |
All images by FWS unless otherwise noted
