New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

fish

Underwater Eggs: It’s Spawning Season For Pickerel

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spawning pike courtesy Wikimedia user MillaTom Each year, soon after ice out, torpedo-shaped fish slip into the lake’s weedy shallows from that offshore zone where the bottom falls away. First comes the female, her flanks green and gold, and her ovaries swollen with eggs. The male swims alongside, alert for an opportunity to mate.

Over the course of a day or two, they will periodically turn their vents toward each other and simultaneously release eggs and milt. In the next moment, they’ll lash their tails to spread the fertilized eggs over submerged vegetation. It’s spawning season for chain pickerel, and every egg faces an iffy future. [Read more…] about Underwater Eggs: It’s Spawning Season For Pickerel

New Freshwater Fishing Regulation Changes for 2022

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angler with brown trout courtesy DECRecently adopted freshwater fishing regulations will take effect on April 1st.

Following a public comment period on the draft proposals earlier this year, a New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announcement says the new regulations reflect the input received and the support of the angling community in DEC’s efforts to make fishing New York’s waters “less complicated and easier to understand.” [Read more…] about New Freshwater Fishing Regulation Changes for 2022

American Shad Recovery Plan For Hudson River Announced

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American Shad courtesy DECNative and colonial Americans fished for shad for sustenance, often smoking the flesh and consuming the roe as a delicacy.

American shad continued to be an important recreational and commercial fishery throughout the 20th Century, especially in the Hudson River. However, the shad stock has since dramatically declined due to shoreline development, pollution and over fishing, and as a result all recreational and commercial fisheries for American shad were closed in 2010. [Read more…] about American Shad Recovery Plan For Hudson River Announced

Striped Bass Management Input Sought

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Striped Bass courtesy DECThe New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is seeking public input on the development of Draft Amendment 7 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Atlantic Striped Bass (PDF) through the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC).

The Draft Amendment proposes new options to the FMP to help rebuild the stock and significantly update the management program. DEC encourages New Yorkers to review proposed changes, participate through in-person or virtual webinar events, and provide comments to ASMFC by April 15th, 2022. [Read more…] about Striped Bass Management Input Sought

Winter Waters: The Under-Ice Food Web

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mixed phytoplankton community courtesy University of Rhode Island Earlier this winter, I took to the pond ice – not to skate, but to peek below the surface. Although lake ecologists once considered the plankton in frozen lakes to be dormant during winter, recent studies reveal that the plant-like, microscopic phytoplankton (which move with the lake’s currents) and animal-like zooplankton remain active below the icy surface. [Read more…] about Winter Waters: The Under-Ice Food Web

New Research on Social Change and Sustainable Fisheries

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fish and fisheriesNew research published in Fish and Fisheries suggests that slow but steady degradation of recreational fisheries may be common, and points to actions that anglers and fisheries managers can take to help stabilize and improve fisheries today and for future generations.

Fishery biologist Dr. Chelsey Nieman led the study when they were a postdoctoral researcher at Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. They explain, “For too long, recreational fisheries were seen as self-regulating. We now know that their sustainability depends on both natural and human features. When these conditions change, it can have big implications for fish populations and the quality of the fishing experience.” [Read more…] about New Research on Social Change and Sustainable Fisheries

Salmon Thrive in North Country Schools With Salmon in the Classroom Program

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Salmon in the Classroom program provided by DECAtlantic salmon eggs are on their way to hatching in 18 schools across New York’s North Country, as part of the “Salmon in the Classroom” program sponsored by the Lake Champlain Chapter of Trout Unlimited. [Read more…] about Salmon Thrive in North Country Schools With Salmon in the Classroom Program

The Northern Pike In Winter

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Northern Pike courtesy From a Fishermans PerspectiveBeneath the ice that covers our many lakes during winter, there exists an arena in which fish prowl their surroundings for something to eat and attempt to avoid being eaten by a larger predator.

One species, when fully grown, that never has to worry about being attacked and gulped down by another creature of the deep is the northern pike. This sizeable, torpedo-shaped beast reigns at the top of the food chain in most lakes and larger ponds. [Read more…] about The Northern Pike In Winter