To revise sportfishing regulations and associated activities including snakeheads caught by angling and commercial bait collection.
Substance of final rule:
The purpose of this rule making is to amend the Department of Environmental Conservation's (department) general regulations governing sportfishing (6 NYCRR Part 10) and associated (6 NYCRR Part 35) regulations governing Commercial Inland Fisheries. Following biennial review of the department's fishing regulations, department staff have determined that the proposed amendments are necessary to maintain or improve the quality of the State's fisheries resources. Changes to sportfishing regulations are intended to promote optimum opportunity for public use consistent with resource conservation.
The following is a summary of the amendments that the department is proposing:
• Prohibit fishing in the following stream sections from March 16 until the first Saturday in May (opening day for walleye) to protect spawning walleye: Lake Pleasant outlet to the mouth of the Kunjamuk River, Hamilton County; and Little Sandy Creek, Oswego County, from the intersection of the channelized area located adjacent to Koster Drive downstream of the State Rt. 3 bridge to the lower boundary of the public fishing rights section located upstream of the State Rt. 3 bridge.
• Remove special walleye regulations (18 inch minimum size and daily limit of 3/day) and apply the statewide regulation (15 inch minimum size and 5/day) for Lime Lake, Cattaraugus County; and Bear and Findley lakes, Chautauqua County because these populations no longer require the added protection.
• Change the walleye daily limit for Lake Erie and the Upper Niagara River to 6 per day to harmonize limits with bordering jurisdictions.
• Eliminate the special black bass closed season for Oneida Lake and implement statewide regulations to create additional fishing opportunity and expand statewide consistency.
• Apply statewide black bass regulations for Allen Lake, Allegany County, and Cassadaga lakes, Chautauqua County as recent surveys have shown stable bass populations in these waters.
• Extend the catch and release only regulation for brook trout into tidal streams in Suffolk County to provide additional protection to salter brook trout populations.
• Eliminate Suffolk County tidal trout regulations and apply freshwater stream trout regulations to these sections because the anticipated sea run brown trout fishery did not develop.
• Change minimum length for salmonids in the Upper Niagara River to "any size" because it is not necessary that this section be in sync with the current 12 inch minimum length requirement for Lake Erie, plus this change provides for the allowable harvest of salmonids (any size) below the first impassable barrier of the River. By this elimination, the regulations are simplified and the harvest of newly stocked trout that are part of an urban put and take fishery (located below the first impassable barrier) is allowed for.
• Change the trout regulations for the Titicus Outlet, Westchester County, and Esopus Creek, Shandaken tunnel outlet to Ashokan Reservoir, Ulster County, to a daily limit of 5 fish with no more than 2 trout longer than 12 inches to increase catch rates of trout.
• Delete the 12 inch size and daily limit of 3 fish/day for kokanee in Glass Lake, Rensselaer County because DEC no longer stocks this species.
• Open Lake Kushaqua and Rollins Pond, Franklin County, to ice fishing for lake trout as these stocked populations are considered stable enough to support this activity.
• Restore all year trout fishing in Saranac River from the Lake Flower Dam in the Village of Saranac Lake to the Pine Street bridge, as this regulation was mistakenly omitted in 2010.
• Open Blue Mountain Lake, Eagle Lake, Forked Lake, Gilman Lake, South Pond and Utowana Lake, Hamilton County, to ice fishing for landlocked salmon and reduce the daily limit for lake trout in these waters from 3/day to 2/day. Combined with an existing regulation, this change will create a suite of nine lakes in Hamilton County that will have the same ice fishing regulations for lake trout and landlocked salmon.
• Delete the catch and release trout regulation for Jordan River from Carry Falls Reservoir upstream to Franklin County line, St. Lawrence County, because this regulation is considered inappropriate for this remote stream section.
• Implement a 12 inch minimum size for brown trout in Otisco Lake to provide additional opportunity for angler harvest.
• Reduce the creel limit of rainbow trout from 5 to 1 in the western Finger Lakes and from 3 to 1 in the tributaries to provide further protection for this species. Western Finger Lakes include Seneca, Keuka, Canandaigua, Canadice, and Hemlock Lakes.
• Remove the restriction of no more than 3 lake trout per day as part of the 5 trout creel limit in the western Finger Lakes to reduce competition with other trout species and impacts on the forage base.
• Eliminate the current trout catch and release section for Ischua Creek, Cattaraugus County, to enhance angling opportunities by allowing beginner and young anglers to use the section of stream located in the Village of Franklinville, including to keep caught trout.
• Change the minimum size limit for rainbow trout in Skaneateles and Owasco lakes from 9 inches to 15 inches, creating consistency with the other Finger Lakes.
• Include the tributaries to the current fishing closure of Beaverdam Brook, from their mouths to the upstream boundary of the Salmon River Hatchery property, or within 100 yards of any department fish collection device. This would make oversight and enforcement of this area more effective.
• Institute a catch and release only regulation for chain pickerel in Deep Pond, Suffolk County to allow the pickerel population to recover from over exploitation and increase needed predator control over panfish.
• Implement a 40 inch size limit for muskellunge and tiger muskellunge in the Chenango, Tioughnioga, Tioga, and Susquehanna rivers, and a 36 inch minimum size limit at Otisco Lake, to increase the trophy potential of these species in these waters.
• Delete special ice fishing regulation for Square Pond in Franklin County because this water will no longer be managed for trout.
• Eliminate the existing ban on the use of tip-ups in Crumhorn Lake, Otsego County because this is an unnecessary and unwarranted restriction.
• Allow ice fishing on stocked trout lakes in Allegany, Niagara, Wyoming, Chautauqua, Erie, and Cattaraugus counties unless otherwise stated. These lakes are managed for put and take trout fishing and they contain warm water fish species that should be available to anglers during the winter months, through the ice.
• Provide for ice fishing in select group of waters in the counties of Herkimer (Forestport Reservoir, Hinkley Reservoir, Kayuta Lake, Moshier Reservoir and North Lake); Jefferson (Millsite Lake); Lewis (Beaver Lake, Francis Lake, Soft Maple Reservoir, and Whetstone Marsh); Oneida (Delta Reservoir) and St. Lawrence (Sterling Pond).
• Provide for ice fishing at a privately managed water in Hamilton County (Salmon Pond).
• Include Cayuta Lake as a designated water from which baitfish may be collected.
• More clearly specify that attempting to take fish by snagging is prohibited.
• Permit the use of multiple hooks with multiple points on Lake Erie tributaries to provide additional angling opportunities.
• For the Salmon River, Oswego County, allow a bead chain to be attached to floating lures. The distance between a floating lure and hook point may not exceed 3 ½ inches when a bead chain configuration is used. This was determined to be an effective angling method and was not considered an attractive snagging device.
• For the Salmon River, Oswego County, implement a "no weight" restriction (i.e., only floating line and unweighted leaders and flies allowed) from May 1 - 15 for the Lower Fly Area and from May 1 - August 31 for the Upper Fly Area to provide further protection to vulnerable fish.
• Remove the allowance for taking 5 additional brook trout at Spafford Creek as this was intended to be included as part of the statewide deletion of this Regulation in 2010.
• Delete special regulation for Deer Pond in Franklin County as a special regulation no longer exists since the deletions of the 5+5 brook trout regulation in 2010.
• Delete the special trout regulation for Palmer Lake in Saratoga County to match the statewide regulation (minor adjustment as extends the season 15 days).
• Prohibit the release of any snakehead caught by angling in New York City waters (i.e. clarify that they should not be released as part of the catch and release requirements).
• In addition (to the above) clarify that snakeheads should not be released if caught while angling, statewide.
• Eliminate a redundant section of the regulations pertaining to the use of gaff hooks on Finger Lake tributaries through the ice as such is largely prohibited in another section of the regulations.
• Provide clarity and language clean-up in sections of Part 10 as warranted. These instances do not result in any substantive regulation changes (e.g. removing an incorrect time period that is inconsistent with the time period governing the Lake Champlain Tributary section of the regulations; clarifying the name of the lake being referenced in Crotona Park (as being Indian Lake) in the special regulation sections for Bronx County; provide consistency when describing "first impassable barriers" in tributaries; and correct a description for a section of Fall Creek in Tompkins County.
Final rule as compared with last published rule:
Nonsubstantive changes were made in section 10.3(b) and (e).
Text of rule and any required statements and analyses may be obtained from:
Shaun Keeler, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233, (518) 402-8928, email: sxkeeler@gw.dec.state.ny.us
Additional matter required by statute:
A Programmatic Impact Statement pertaining to these actions is on file with the Department of Environmental Conservation.
Revised Regulatory Impact Statement
A revised Regulatory Impact Statement is not needed, as the original Regulatory Impact Statement, as published in the Notice of Proposed Rule Making, remains valid. It does not need to be amended.
Revised Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
A revised Regulatory Flexibility Analysis for Small Businesses and Local Governments statement is not needed. The original Regulatory Flexibility Analysis for Small Businesses and Local Governments statement, as published in the Notice of Proposed Rule Making, remains valid and does not need to be amended.
Revised Rural Area Flexibility Analysis
A revised Rural Area Flexibility Analysis is not needed. The original Rural Area Flexibility Analysis Statement, as published in the Notice of Proposed Rule Making, remains valid and does not need to be amended.
Revised Job Impact Statement
A revised Job Impact Statement is not needed. The original Job Impact Statement, as published in the Notice of Proposed Rule Making, remains valid and does not need to be amended.
Assessment of Public Comment
The following is a summary of the comments received on the proposed rule making and the department's responses to those comments.
Proposal: Catskill Creek Closure (Greene County).
Comments: Comments included objection to closing fishing for other species, that this proposal is driven as a result of the actions few walleye poachers, and that this regulation change should not be necessary since the walleye are currently protected by the walleye season being closed during the walleye spawning season. It was also suggested this regulation be considered for additional streams. Comment suggested educating fishermen and aggressive enforcement as the preferred alternative.
Response: The department has decided to withdraw this proposal and the current regulations for Catskill Creek (Greene County) will remain in place. DEC law enforcement will closely monitor activity during the spring walleye spawning season.
Proposal: Eliminate the special black bass closed season at Oneida Lake.
Comment: Opening up Oneida Lake for catch-and-release black bass fishing during the critical walleye spawning period will provide opportunities for anglers to poach walleye, and there is inadequate enforcement in place to address this.
Response: Department law enforcement staff do not anticipate any increased difficulty in enforcing the fishing seasons and creel limits if this proposal goes forward. DEC law enforcement is committed to providing adequate enforcement to guard against potential poaching of walleye.
Comment: Extending the catch-and-release season for black bass will provide an opportunity to disturb the walleye during spawning. Walleye and other fish species will be caught when their respective seasons are closed. Some fish, including bass and walleye, will end up being taken illegally; others will die or be injured by the angling process.
Response: The lake is already open to fishing for other species (e.g. panfish). Anglers legally targeting bass during this period will likely be fishing deeper waters where bass tend to winter, and not tributary mouths or other areas where walleye spawn or stage. The requirement of artificial baits for bass anglers during catch-and-release should limit deep hooking, a primary cause of mortality.
Comment: Extending catch-and-release bass fishing at Oneida Lake poses an unacceptable large risk to Oneida Lake's unique fish populations, especially walleyes, and there are already threats to this healthy fishery as a result of other biological changes and other factors such as cormorant predation.
Response: Cornell University has maintained and continues to maintain an intensive monitoring program at Oneida Lake. Any impacts would be detected, but are not expected as a result of extending the bass season. Monitoring of the cormorant populations continues and indicates that summer cormorant numbers have remained low and are not likely having an adverse effect on sportfish populations in Oneida Lake.
Comment: Opening the bass season year round will add additional stress to the soon to spawn black bass.
Response: Biological monitoring by Cornell University indicates that bass production has not been harmed by allowing catch-and-release fishing during the spawn.
Proposal: Salmon River (Oswego County) Gear Modifications and Restrictions.
Comment: Modifications were suggested to the use of bead configurations, as proposed. The proposal for the Salmon River allowing a bead chain to be attached to floating lures will result in the snagging of fish.
Response: A pilot study determined that the proposed configuration is more effective for hooking and landing fish, and less effective as a snagging device as compared with other lure and hook configurations.
Comment: Objection was raised to no use of weighted flies during the summer and May.
Response: The use of un-weighted flies provides added protection at a time when a deeply sunk weighted fly in low water conditions increases foul hooking of fish.
Proposal: Esopus Creek Creel Change (five fish limit with no more than two trout longer than 12 inches).
Comment: Comment received objected to limiting the number of large fish that can be creeled, as well as recommending a 10 inch size limit.
Response: Reducing the creel limit for these larger trout will still allow some fish to be creeled, but it will also hopefully allow some of them to remain in the creek later into the season to possibly be caught multiple times before being creeled. A five fish limit is protective enough of the smaller trout in this population, the additional protection of the relatively rare larger trout may provide for a better catch rate for larger trout. This opportunity can be provided as long as fish populations remain strong.
Proposal: Open several Hamilton County Waters to ice fishing for landlocked salmon.
Comment: Objection was raised to allowing ice fishing for landlocked salmon in these waters.
Response: All of the waters listed in this regulation proposal are already open to ice fishing for trout. Only Blue Mountain Lake is currently stocked annually with landlocked salmon; emigrant salmon are generally caught in the winter by local anglers in other waters. The salmon do not remain in these waters year round since they lack significant areas of coldwater habitat in the summer. Harvesting emigrating salmon does not hurt the fishery, and provides for angler needs.
Proposal: Delete catch-and-release regulation for Jordan River (St Lawrence County).
Comment: The catch-and-release proposed regulation for the Jordan River should be retained as remote waters are natal waters and are necessary for future offspring.
Response: The earlier established catch-and-release regulation has not resulted in establishing larger wild brook trout, and this remote fishery will not be impacted by the minimal amount of harvest that would occur without the special regulation.
Proposal: Eliminate trout catch-and-release for Ischua Creek (Cattaraugus County).
Comment: Allowing the harvest of trout in the current catch-and-release section (Ischua) would eliminate the potential for natural reproduction.
Response: Survey data indicates that there was no increase in wild trout after the catch-and-release regulation was established.
Comment: There are many miles of stream in this area that trout can be harvested so there is no need to add this as a harvest section.
Response: The area with the existing catch-and-release regulation on Ischua Creek is very accessible making it desirable for being available to all anglers.
Comment: The catch-and-release regulation for Ischua Creek should be retained as it lets beginner and younger anglers learn how important it is to sustain fisheries through catch-and-release efforts. Removal of trout from the stream does not enhance angling opportunity; more fish in the water increases opportunity for a catch.
Response: Catch-and-release fishing can still be fostered if harvest is allowed at this section of Ischua Creek. A high percentage of anglers are now voluntarily releasing the trout they catch, providing excellent opportunity to catch fish.
Proposal: Drop creel limit restriction for lake trout in Western Finger Lakes.
Comment: The increased creel limit for lake trout in the western Finger Lakes, specifically Hemlock and Canadice, will be detrimental to the lake trout population and that the current creel limit of three should be maintained for at least Canadice Lake.
The creel limit for lake trout in the Finger Lakes should not be increased as the lake trout are in trouble as a result of meager stockings, lack of bait fish to sustain them, and the explosion of lamprey eels.
Response: Data suggests that increasing lake trout populations along with decreased forage abundance in the western Finger Lakes may have negatively impacted lake trout growth characteristics as well as other salmonide populations, such as rainbow trout, and that these impacts may be alleviated by increasing the allowable catch of lake trout.
Proposal: Reduce the creel limit for rainbow trout in the Western Finger Lakes.
Comment: The creel limit for rainbow trout in the western Finger Lakes should only be reduced to from 5 to 3 in the lakes, not from 5 to 1.
The creel limit for rainbow trout should not be reduced from 5 to 1 as rainbow trout fishing is the best seen in a decade or more. More rainbows and landlocked salmon are being caught over the past several years.
Response: DEC data supports a reduction in the creel limit of rainbow trout in the western Finger Lakes and their tributaries. This will protect declining adult rainbow trout populations as well as stress the importance of these unique fisheries and help sustain a quality rainbow trout fishery over the long term.
Proposal: Remove size limit for trout in tidal waters of Suffolk County.
Comment: The size limit should not be removed on brown trout and rainbow trout in the tidal waters of Suffolk County. The size restrictions should be increased, preferably with a slot limit, so that larger trout would need to be released.
Response: Establishing a 12 inch size limit for brown and rainbow trout was part of the DECs attempt to produce sea run fish, along with stocking large numbers of fall fingerling brown trout into the tidal waters. The department eliminated the fall fingerling stocking in tidewater as the fall fingerlings show little inclination to go out to sea and come back as large sea run fish. Eliminating the 12 inch size limit in tidal waters will simplify the Long Island trout regulations, as well as allow for the harvest of stocked yearling trout.
Proposal: Permit the use of multiple hooks on Lake Erie tributaries.
Comment: The proposal to allow multiple hooks with multiple points on Lake Erie Tributaries will result in increased efforts to illegally snag fish and increase fish injuries, including in no kill sections.
Response: The proposal was made to simplify Lake Erie's tributary regulations, and expand angling opportunities to accommodate additional popular angling techniques. The prevailing single hook restriction only applies through March 31st each year and DEC has not detected increases in snagging activity or difficulties in releasing foul hooked fish among these tributary fisheries. In addition, no other Lake Erie jurisdiction requires a single hook for tributary trout fishing, and these other Lake Erie fisheries management agencies have reported to DEC that tributary snagging remains a minor issue.
Proposal: Increase Size Limit for Tiger Muskellunge at Otisco Lake.
Comment: The size limit for tiger muskies at Otisco Lake should be increased to 40 inches, and not just 36 inches.
The size limit for tiger muskies at Otisco Lake should remain at 30 inches and not be increased to 36 inches, as with the limited public access fishermen would not be able to take advantage of a trophy size fishery if it was established, and secondly a 30 inch tiger muskellunge is in itself a trophy.
The size limit for tiger muskellunge at Otisco Lake should not be raised to 36 inches as this would result in many years without a single legal tiger muskellunge being caught and interest will therefore diminish.
Response: While a "trophy" size fish may be subjective avid musky/tiger musky anglers typically use 40" as the bar for what constitutes a quality fish. The 36 inch size limit is biologically sound with growth rates to support it, and viewed as a good compromise for Otisco. Recent angler reports and DEC diary data indicate that there are already tiger muskellunge over 36".
Proposal: Delete special regulation for kokanee salmon in Glass Lake (Rensselaer County).
Comment: The 12 inch size limit and 3 fish creel limit for kokanee salmon in Glass Lake should be retained if a native opportunity exists for kokanee salmon.
Response: There is little evidence of kokanee salmon in Glass Lake; any presence of kokanee salmon is likely to be very limited.
Proposal: Clarification of snakehead prohibition.
Comment: Comment was received objecting to adding language in regulation ensuring that snakeheads are not returned to the water if caught while angling, citing them as a valuable food source and being comparable to carp.
Response: Snakeheads are highly invasive and have the potential to disrupt recreational and commercial fishing and harm native fish and wildlife, and should not be returned to the water if caught.
