|
|
|
State decides against
Trout proposal
By Don Lehman
The Post Star
Monday June 29, 2009
The state Department of Environmental Conservation has decided not to go forward with a controversial proposal to change the lake trout size limit on Lake George.
The agency’s Region 5 fisheries staff last year proposed changing the size limit from 23 inches to 21 inches for anglers to keep lake trout. The statewide size limit is 21 inches. The goal was to lessen laker predation on landlocked Atlantic salmon, and lessen pressure on baitfish like smelt and cisco, by allowing more lake trout to be kept more frequently. State biologists have also seen a drop in laker growth rates, and there are concerns of possible lake trout overpopulation.
But after a lengthy public comment process that included a spirited public hearing March 10, Region 5 officials decided to recommend to their bosses in Albany not to pursue the change.
“A lot of it was based on angler input at meetings and in e-mail,” DEC Region 5 fisheries biologist Rich Preall said. “In general, there was a feeling the region couldn’t make a strong enough case that we need to do something now.”
Steve Hurst, the DEC’s fisheries bureau chief, said he believed the lake trout population is “right on the edge” of needing a size limit change to help control it. But he said the fact that public opinion seemed split as to a desire for a rules change played a part in the decision to keep the rule as is.
“If it’s not broken, don’t fix it,” Hurst said. “If my biologists recommend that we don’t do it, I trust them.”
He said he does not believe lake trout are the only source of trouble for the lake’s salmon, and the DEC hopes the upcoming introduction of a new salmon strain will help their survivability.
Many anglers had questioned the need for a change, and questioned whether the DEC did enough research before making the proposal.
Jeff Johnson, owner of Rod Bender Charters and past president of the Lake George Fishing Alliance, was among those who was in favor of making the switch. But he said he understood the DEC’s rationale in deciding not to go forward at this point.
Even with a slowing of laker growth rates, Preall said the lakers on Lake George are still faring well.
“The growth rate is still above a lot of the inland lakes,” Preall said. “The lake trout catch rates are also still far higher than they used to be.”
To try to help the lake’s salmon, the DEC hopes to begin stocking a new strain of salmon, from Sebago Lake in Maine, as soon as next spring. That strain has shown better survivability and growth rates than the Little Clear Lake strain New York has been using.
|
