2005 Fish Stocking List for Oswego County

Water (Town) Number Species Size in inches
Beaverdam Brook (Albion) 99,000 Coho salmon 7.0
Beaverdam Brook (Albion) 30,000 Landlocked salmon 6.5
Beaverdam Brook (Albion) 34,650 Steelhead 6.0
Beaverdam Brook (Albion) 109,000 Steelhead 6.5
Beaverdam Brook (Albion) 12,650 Steelhead 7.0
Black Creek (Scriba) 420 Brown trout 7.5
Grindstone Creek (Richland) 5,000 Steelhead 5.0
Lake Ontario (Oswego (c)) 29,950 Brown trout 8.0
Lake Ontario (Oswego (c)) 12,140 Brown trout 8.5
Lake Ontario (Richland) 29,950 Brown trout 8.0
Lighthouse Hill Reservoir (Orwell) 4,300 Rainbow trout 8.0
Little Salmon River (Mexico) 5,000 Steelhead 6.5
North Branch Salmon River (Redfield) 3,800 Brook trout 9.5
Oneida Lake 10,000,000 Walleye 0.5
Oneida Lake (Constantia) 153,216,000 Walleye 0.5
Oswego River (Oswego (c)) 99,700 Chinook salmon 3.0
Oswego River (Oswego (c)) 40,000 Chinook salmon 3.5
Oswego River (Oswego (c)) 20,000 Steelhead 6.0
Redfield Sportsmen's Pond (Redfield) 100 Brook trout 9.5
Reese Pond (Albion) 100 Brook trout 9.5
Rice Creek (Granby) 330 Brown trout 7.5
Salmon River (Redfield) 1,050 Brook trout 9.5
Salmon River (Redfield) 700 Rainbow trout 8.0
Salmon River (Redfield) 450 Rainbow trout 8.5
Salmon River (Richland) 212,000 Chinook salmon 3.5
Salmon River (Richland) 168,000 Chinook salmon 4.0
Salmon River Reservoir (Redfield) 55,250 Walleye 1.5
South Branch Grindstone Creek (Richland) 2,000 Brook trout 7.0
West Branch Fish Creek (Williamstown) 1,330 Brown trout 7.5

New York’s Salmon River Fish Hatchery
Trout, Salmon, and Walleye

The hatchery operations are based on the reproductive cycles of trout, salmon and walleye. Each fall chinook and coho salmon from Lake Ontario swim up the Salmon River, then Beaverdam Brook, and finally up the ladder to the Salmon River Hatchery. One to three years earlier, these same fish were released from the hatchery smolt pond and swam down the same route to reach Lake Ontario.

During spawning operations, eggs and milt from adults are combined to start a new
generation. Up to nine million salmon eggs can be incubated at one time at the Salmon River Hatchery. The eggs hatch after about one month and are transferred to "start tanks" after they have absorbed their yolk sac, about one month later.

While in the start tanks, the young salmon, now called fry, grow to about three inches in length and are then called fingerlings. Chinook salmon are stocked at this size, about six months after hatching. Coho salmon are raised an additional year in the outdoor raceways and released the following spring, at about five to six inches long.

Steelhead, which spawn in the spring, are also raised at the Salmon River Hatchery and
are stocked at about one year of age. Brown trout and landlocked Atlantic salmon, which spawn in the fall, are transferred in as fingerlings from other hatcheries and raised until about 14 months of age.

Trout and salmon raised at the Salmon River Hatchery are trucked to stocking sites and released into tributaries, harbors or directly into the lakes. Once in the lakes, the young fish grow rapidly. Chinook salmon in Lake Ontario, for example, may exceed 40 pounds after five summers, while brown trout and steelhead may exceed 20 pounds. The current Great Lakes record chinook (47-pounds, 13-ounces) and world record coho
(33-pounds, 4-ounces) were caught in the Salmon River during their spawning run to the Salmon River Hatchery. When mature, salmon and steelhead return to the stocking site to spawn. Those released directly from the hatchery return to it to start the cycle again.

Adult walleye are collected in 20-25 trap nets set in Oneida Lake. They are transported to the Oneida Lake Hatchery in boats and placed in adult holding tanks. Here, the walleye are hand sorted as to male, ripe female (capable of being stripped on day of collection) or hard female (to be held for later stripping). To collect the 400 million eggs the hatchery needs, over 40,000 walleye are handled each year. This process usually occurs in an 8 - 14 day period during the first week or two of April. Fingerling rearing begins after the 21 -day
egg incubation period when newly-hatched fry are ready to be fed brine shrimp. After
consuming brine shrimp for 40 days, the walleyes are then switched to a formulated diet, reared for 100 days or more, and are released at four to five inches in length.

The Oneida Lake Fish Cultural Station will help in the restoration of self-sustaining and abundant walleye population in 33 waters. The hatchery is also trying to introduce and establish new walleye populations in 21 waters.