New York State DEC proposes changes to cool-water sport-fish regulations
ALBANY, NY- The Department of Environmental Conservation has proposed its latest changes to certain cool-water sport-fish regulations, with aims of protecting fish while spawning increasing the reproductive capacity of Walleye in Lake Ontario’s Eastern Basin and eliminating unnecessary special regulations.
Highlights include: changing the closing date for walleye, northern pike, chain pickerel, and tiger musky from March 15 to March 1 for both statewide and special regulations; changing the start date of fishing-prohibited regulations to protect spawning walleye on sections of select streams from March 16 to March 2; eliminating unnecessary special harvest regulations for walleye in 33 waters; and changing the size limit and daily creel limit for walleye in Jefferson County waters of Lake Ontario to two fish per day with no more than one longer than 24 inches.
“The proposed regulation changes for walleye, pike, pickerel, and tiger musky reflect DEC’s commitment to adaptively manage New York’s fisheries resources and to simplify regulations wherever possible,” said Commissioner Amanda Lefton.
“We encourage the public to review the proposal and provide feedback.”
***Full text of the proposed regulation changes are available on the DEC’s website***
According to the DEC, these proposed regulations are responsive to fisheries managers’ and anglers’ concerns that the current fishing season closing date may not adequately protect spawning walleye and northern pike into the future, as a warming climate changes water temperatures and shifts spawning times.
Establishing an earlier fishing season closure will help ensure that spawning aggregations of these species are protected.
There are also several walleye waters currently managed under special harvest regulation (18-inch minimum size limit, three-per-day possession limit) to help establish, restore, or improve walleye fisheries.
A subset of those waters does not meet that objective and the draft regulations propose to convert back to statewide regulations and a 15-inch minimum size, five-per-day possession limit.
In addition, the walleye fishery in Lake Ontario’s eastern basin (Jefferson County) has declined, and DEC is proposing a more protective harvest regulation intended to increase spawning stock biomass and increase the capacity for natural reproduction, the DEC claims.
NYS DEC image.
