Pen Rearing Survey 2002 & 2003
February, 2004
The locations and numbers for the 2004 Pen Rearing Project are the same as the last two years...scroll down to February, 2002 to view them.
February, 2003
The locations and numbers for the 2003 Pen Rearing Project are the same as last years...scroll down to February, 2002 to view them.
March, 2002
Courtesy of Capt. Bob Songin, "Reel Excitement Charters"
This data is provided by a report directly from the fisheries division of the DEC. It is the results from the first year of a 5-year survey on the impact of Pen Rearing and stocking Caledonia raised salmon as compared to direct stocking of Salmon River fish in the western Basin of Lake Ontario. The intent of this study is to determine the return rate of the stocked fish to the intended streams. The results listed are a comparison of the data collected in the survey conducted during 2001 at these respective sites.
Data: 1999 fin clipped fish stocked at The Oak:
| Location | Caledonia | Direct Salmon River | Pen Raised |
| Return The Oak | 20 | 4 | 27 |
| Return Niagara | 4 | 9 | 4 |
Data: 2000 fin clipped fish stocked Niagara:
| Location | Caledonia | Direct Salmon River | Pen Raised |
| Return The Oak | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Return Niagara | 4 | 35 | 5 |
No fish stocked in these respective rivers returned to the Salmon River.
1999 fish would be 2 ½ and the 2000 fish would be 1 ½ (Jacks).
The first point to address is that none of the 2 ½ or 1 ½ year old fish returned to the Salmon River.
Prior to 1998 the fish that were stocked at these sites were stocked latter in the spring than these fish were. In 1997 the salmon stocked at Oak Orchard were stocked in early June in 1998 the first year of the Pen rearing program the direct stocked fish at the Oak from Salmon River were stocked almost 4 weeks sooner. This may have had a major impact on the imprinting of these fish to the intended river.
The second point to address is the return numbers of fish to the Oak. It clearly shows that with this year class of fish both the Caledonia and pen reared fish faired far better in both survival and homing to the intended stream than the direct stocked Salmon River fish. Of the fish that strayed to the higher flow of the Niagara River twice as many were Salmon River direct stocked fish than either Caledonia or pen reared fish. In summary the prospects for Caledonia and pen rearing raised salmon looks bright but further analysis in the coming years will give us more insight into this issue.
The third point to address is, yes there was a large number of direct stocked Salmon River fish that returned to the Niagara River from the 2000 year class, but we must remember that these were mature 1 1/2 year old fish (Jacks-mature male salmon in the 5 to 7 lb. range). For some reason a large number of these fish matured earlier that the Caledonia or Pen reared fish and returned to the river and attempted to spawn. The more telling indicator will be how these fish show up in returns this year when they are mature 2 1/2 year fish. We would hope to expect the same results as the 2 1/2 year fish that returned to the Oak.
February, 2002
Courtesy of Capt. Bob Songin, "Reel Excitement Charters"
Note...Here are the planned locations and numbers for the 2002 Pen Rearing Project.
| Location | Kings | Steelhead |
| Oswego | 25,000 | 20,000 * |
| Sodus Bay | 50,000 | --- |
| Genesse River | 50,000 | --- |
| Sandy Creek | 25,000 | 5,000 |
| Oak Orchard | 75,000 | 15,000 ** |
| Niagara River | 75,000 | 10,000 |
* 10,000 bonus steelies for pen-rearing success at Oswego
**The Oak is also getting a bonus of 5,000 steelies for the pens.
Note...The bonus 10,000 steelies for the pens at Oswego and the bonus 5,000 steelies for the pens at the Oak are not in addition to, but a part of the stocking already scheduled.
This is from Web Persals of Region 8 Fisheries DEC:
"Many of you have called regarding rumors of the Oswego pen-rearing site getting additional rainbows this spring to raise. Until recently , as I explained to many of you, I thought this talk to be only a rumor. I was incorrect, as Oswego is pen-rearing 10,000 more rainbows this spring. Oswego got the go ahead for increased pen-rearing due to the results from its pen rearing evaluation, where 79% of the returning fish came from the pens.
The Oswego experiment suggest pen-raining can be very effective in reducing cormorant mortality and increasing homing to a stocked site. Some of the Oswego results can be extrapolated to other sites, but it is a stretch to say all will perform the same. So, before we expand rainbow penning past Oswego, the NYSDEC's Great Lake Section will meet to set parameters. I will communicate with you as soon as new policy is formulated."
Pen Rearing Survey 2000 and 2001
Riparian's Fishing Page
