News Item: lake ronkonkoma stocking

To help spread the word about the New York Federation Nation's Conservation Program, Burnie Haney, BASS Conservation Director for New York, has started an information campaign. Haney believes that it will improve the program and conservation awareness and education.

 

Haney's initial step in getting representation in each of the nine New York regions was to solicit club volunteers to serve as the eyes and ears for conservation projects.

"For our clubs that are already actively involved with long standing ties to the community and their regional fisheries manager, I've asked them to let me know whenever they work a project so that we can let everyone know what we're doing in New York," he said.

One such event was a recent project that involved BASS Federation Nation (BFN) clubs and the local community. This project consisted of stocking a local lake with bass.

 

In an effort to improve Lake Ronkonkoma fisheries, two BFN clubs, the Long Island Bassmasters and the Twin Forks Rod and Reel Club, partnered with the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), Highline Bass of the Finger Lakes Area and Peter Byrnes to release 1,500 bass into Lake Ronkonkoma. The bass ranged in size from 5.5 to 7 inches and were certified disease free. The BFN's Long Island Bassmasters and Twin Forks Bass Club paid Highline Bass (a commercial company) for the bass that were used to stock the New York lake.

 

The DEC's Region 1 Fisheries group plans to monitor the growth rates of the stocked bass through periodic electrofishing. The fish were stocked with a 100 percent survival rate.