State of Lake Erie meeting features warm & cold fisheries status, barotrauma, how to inspire environmental stewardship in youth

New York Sea Grant (NYSG) and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation will present the annual state of Lake Erie meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 11, at the Southtowns Walleye Association Club House, 5895 Southwestern Boulevard, Hamburg. The event is open to the public and is held in cooperation with Assemblyman Sean Ryan and the Southtowns Walleye Association of WNY.

Featured presentations include NYSDEC Aquatic Biologist Jim Markham on cold water fisheries, including rainbow trout, and NYSDEC Lake Erie Unit Leader Jason Robinson on warm water fisheries, including walleye and yellow perch.

NYSG Fisheries and Ecosystem Health Specialist Jesse Lepak will provide an update on how fisheries managers, educators and angling associations are addressing barotrauma. Barotrauma is the tissue damage caused by the rapid expansion of the swim bladder of the fish when retrieved from deep water. NYSG co-sponsored a workshop with international fisheries experts in 2018 to address barotrauma in Lake Erie yellow perch.

Sandy Smith, a member of the science faculty of the Nichols School, a nationally recognized college preparatory school in Buffalo, will share a case study about inspiring environmental leadership and stewardship in youth.

A complete agenda is posted at www.nyseagrant.org/glsportfish. For more information or directions, contact Lepak, New York Sea Grant at SUNY Oswego, at 315-312-3042 or [email protected].

To learn more about New York Sea Grant, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration cooperation program at Cornell University and the State University of New York, visit www.nyseagrant.org.