fishing

Restoring American Shad in the Susquehanna River

July 9, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Native 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. 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.

As part of an effort to restore American shad (Alosa sapidissima) in New York, DEC Fisheries staff, in collaboration with the PA Fish and Boat Commission, recently stocked 322,000 American shad fry (young fish) into the Susquehanna River in Endicott, Broome County, NY.

Neversink River Management Plan Comments Sought

July 9, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced the release of the Draft Neversink River Unit Management Plan (UMP) for public comment. The plan guides the future uses and management of approximately 8,644 acres of DEC-managed public lands within the Neversink River Unit in the towns of Forestburgh and Mamakating in Sullivan County, and Highland and Wawarsing in Ulster County, NY. [Read more…] about Neversink River Management Plan Comments Sought

Survey to Monitor Striped Bass Health in New York

July 9, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced a two-year study to monitor the health and contaminant loads of Atlantic striped bass in New York’s marine waters.

The survey will collect samples of striped bass to measure levels of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) and other contaminants to update commercial fishery restrictions and the State Department of Health’s consumption advisories for recreational anglers, as well as enhance the understanding of New York’s striped bass population. [Read more…] about Survey to Monitor Striped Bass Health in New York

Hudson River Atlantic Sturgeon: The River’s Largest Fish

July 9, 2022 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

Each June, biologists from New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Hudson River Fisheries Unit study the endangered adult Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus) when the fish return to the Hudson River to spawn.

Atlantic sturgeon, the largest fish species in the Hudson River Estuary, are anadromous, which means they hatch in freshwater, spend most of their lives in saltwater, and return to freshwater to spawn. The Hudson River currently supports the largest population of Atlantic sturgeon along the Atlantic Coast, estimated to be between 1,000 and 1,500 fish.

Sturgeon were one of the types of fish commercially harvested by European settlers and one of the first “cash crops” of Albany, where they became known as “Albany Beef.” In the late 19th century, seven million pounds of sturgeon meat were exported from the US each year. That number soon dropped to 22,000 pounds. [Read more…] about Hudson River Atlantic Sturgeon: The River’s Largest Fish

New Chittning Pond Fishing Access in Oneida County

July 3, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced the completion of work along Chittning Pond in the town of Sangerfield, Oneida County, including rehabilitation of the dam that impounds the pond and the official grand opening of an enhanced fishing access site.

The 70-acre pond located on DEC’s Albert J. Woodford Memorial State Forest is home to a warm water fishery and provides habitat for a multitude of bird, amphibian, reptile, and mammal species. [Read more…] about New Chittning Pond Fishing Access in Oneida County

Smallmouth Bass State Record Broken on Cayuga Lake

July 3, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

A new state record for smallmouth bass was set on June 15th, opening day for bass season.

Thomas Russell Jr., of Albion reeled in an eight-pound, six-ounce smallmouth bass from Cayuga Lake, Seneca County. Russell’s bass surpassed the previous record by two ounces, a tie between fish caught on Lake Erie in 1995, and in the St. Lawrence River in 2016. [Read more…] about Smallmouth Bass State Record Broken on Cayuga Lake

2.4M Salmon & Trout Stocked in Lake Ontario

June 25, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Salmon and trout stocking in Lake Ontario is complete for 2022 with 900,000 Chinook salmon, 505,200 rainbow trout, 480,000 brown trout, 320,000 lake trout, 121,000 coho salmon, and 125,000 Atlantic salmon to provide exceptional angling opportunities. [Read more…] about 2.4M Salmon & Trout Stocked in Lake Ontario

Coxsackie Boat Launch, Riverside Park Renovations Complete

June 5, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Governor Kathy Hochul recently announced the completion of a $3.2 million project to revitalize the Coxsackie State Boat Launch and Riverside Park on the Hudson River in Greene County. [Read more…] about Coxsackie Boat Launch, Riverside Park Renovations Complete

Comments Sought on Herkimer County’s Three Lakes Easement

June 5, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is seeking public comment on a draft recreation management plan (RMP) for the Three Lakes Tract Conservation Easement in the town of Webb, Herkimer County.

The 3,350-acre Three Lakes Tract (TLT) is comprised of commercially managed forestland and is named for three waterbodies located on the property-Hitchcock, Grass, and Moose ponds. The RMP will address public recreational access and facilities consistent with the conservation easement. The public comment period is open until July 1st, 2022. [Read more…] about Comments Sought on Herkimer County’s Three Lakes Easement

Poetry: Electric Fence

June 4, 2022 by Edward Zahniser Leave a Comment

Electric Fence

This is my barbed wire dress. It protects the
property but doesn’t hide the view.

— Candy Darling

My concern for critters is by no means
mere sentiment. Not that I won’t swat
mosquitoes and house flies, do war
with ants in the kitchen area, or even,
in the past, trap the occasional mouse.
To such as these I confess and apologize.

But as a young kid I had a telescoping
flyrod made of metal. And once, as I
negotiated a barbed-wire fence along
Edwards Hill Road, I placed the rod, as
I held its metal part, on barbed wire
with current flowing through it — and
so through me, too. It was no pleasant
sensation, only smoothed-over somewhat
by my then catching a few brook trout.