Research currently underway on Lake Ontario is part of the U.S.-Canada Cooperative Science and Monitoring Initiative (CSMI) to collect data on lake trout movement using acoustic telemetry. The research is being led by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in collaboration with the U.S. Geologic Survey (USGS), New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Fisheries, with outreach assistance from New York Sea Grant (NYSG).

The research team is using specialized tags that communicate with acoustic receivers stationed on the lake bottom. The tags provide information about the migration patterns and habitats used by adult lake trout. This innovative technology is particularly useful for locating spawning habitats and will help to inform future restoration efforts for potentially degraded spawning sites.

More than 350 lake trout will be tagged in 2023. The tags’ battery life allows the fish to be tracked over the next ten years.

This research has already produced a ‘first.’

“This work in 2023 represents the first time a wild-produced lake trout has ever been tagged in Lake Ontario,” said USFWS Fish Biologist Dimitry Gorsky, Ph.D, based at the USFWS Lower Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office, Basom, N.Y. “Lake trout are a native species that is important to the ecosystem and to the world-class sport fishery on Lake Ontario.”

The research is funded in part through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

Lake Ontario Charter Industry Assisting the Research

The local charter fishing industry is assisting the research from ports at Mexico Bay in eastern Lake Ontario and Wilson along the western end of the lake. Captain Casey Prisco and First Mates/Captains Roy Letcher and A.J. Berry of Dirty Goose Sport Fishing Charters, based in Pulaski, N.Y., were contracted to help the research team catch lake trout for the tagging study.

“In late April and early May, lake trout in the eastern end of Lake Ontario were found in deeper water, making them hard to collect with standard fishing gear. Charter captains have a wealth of knowledge about the resource and are an efficient way for us to locate and collect the number of lake trout we need to tag,” said USGS Fish Research Biologist Alex Gatch of the USGS Tunison Lake Ontario Biological Station, Cortland, N.Y.

The tagged fish are returned to the water to resume normal behavior and assure quality data is collected.

New York Sea Grant is providing public outreach support to inform angling, fisheries and general public audiences about the value of this research.

NYSG Great Lakes Fisheries Specialist Stacy Furgal notes, “Tagged fish that are a part of this study are marked with an external orange-colored tag. If anglers catch a tagged lake trout, they can choose to return it to the water, or, if the fish is harvested, please contact Alex Gatch, agatch@usgs.gov, 607-753-9391 extension 7540, to return the internal tracking tag.”

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the only federal agency with the primary responsibility for the conservation and management of fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the American people. Learn more at https://www.fws.gov/.

The U.S. Geological Survey is the science arm of the U.S. Department of the Interior and provides an array of earth, water, biological and mapping data and expertise in support of decision-making on environmental, resource and public safety issues. Learn more at https://www.usgs.gov/.

New York Sea Grant is a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York and one of 34 university-based programs under the National Sea Grant College program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Learn more at http://www.nyseagrant.org.

The Cooperative Science and Monitoring Initiative is a bi-national effort instituted under the Science Annex of the 2012 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement to coordinate science and monitoring activities in one of the five Great Lakes each year to generate data and information for environmental management agencies. Learn more at www.epa.gov/great-lakes-monitoring/cooperative-science-and-monitoring-initiative-csmi/.