USGS Newsroom

The U.S. Geological Survey and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) will stock lake herring, a species of whitefish, into Irondequoit Bay on Lake Ontario on Thurs., Dec. 20.

Until the mid-1950's, Lake Ontario was home to a diverse group of whitefish that included as many as seven species that occupied varying depths of the lake. Only three species are known to remain, the lake whitefish, round whitefish, and lake herring, and the abundance and distribution of these species are now greatly diminished. The USGS and DEC recently introduced the deep-water form of whitefish, the bloater, into Lake Ontario.

Re-establishing populations of native whitefishes in Lake Ontario is the focus of cooperative efforts between USGS, DEC, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, with supporting research conducted by The Nature Conservancy.