Sunken Treasure
This week while collecting lake bottom samples with an Ekman grab, we caught an “Oneida Lake Pancake.” There are debates among geologists as to how exactly these naturally forming disks are made. What is known is that they’re made of mostly manganese and iron and tend to form around shoals. Pancakes can be distinguished from other rocks based on their thin profile and small bumps on top.
Gill Net
The weekly gill net survey at CBFS Shackelton Point started at the station’s establishment in 1956 by its first director, John Forney, and continues to this day. Overnight, fishery scientists set a net at a new site in the lake. When they bring it back the next morning, everybody at the station helps them pick the fish out of the net. Scientists can then process fish species, sizes, diets, and age (using otoliths). This data is used to estimate fish populations and factors that might be affecting them.
Gone Fishin’
Forget shark week- here at CBFS we have sturgeon week! Lake Sturgeons are the biggest fish in Oneida Lake, but swimmers need not beware since they are bottom feeders. They were once plentiful in the lake and were considered a trash fish, causing them to be killed by fishermen in great numbers. This population decline coupled with an increased demand for their meat and eggs for caviar led to them be listed as threatened in New York. Nowadays, sturgeons are stocked in Oneida Lake, and CBFS closely monitors their population to promote their comeback.
As part of monitoring efforts, CBFS conducts a special sturgeon gill net survey for three days around the end of June every year. These gill nets are bigger than the regular weekly gill nets. If a sturgeon is caught, it’s all hands on deck to record its weight and length, age it, and tag it. Tagging allows scientists to track measurements of the fish over time. This one was just under 6 feet and weighed 130 pounds!
Sturgeons can live up to 80 years. I wish I could spend that much time around Oneida Lake, but alas I am already entering the second half of my time at Shackelton Point this summer. Come back next week to read more!
