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Members of the Cornell Biological Field Station at Shackleton Point netted the largest fish ever found in Oneida Lake on Wednesday, while completing a three-day sturgeon netting survey.
As part of the survey, researchers net 12 different sites across the lake, from Three Mile Bay to Verona Beach, to weigh, tag and release the sturgeon in the lake.
One of the 20 fish caught during the netting survey weighed a record 159.4 pounds, breaking the previous record of 139 pounds set in 2019. The fish was also 73.6 inches long. This fish will eventually be aged using samples taken during this survey.
According to Cornell, the oldest sturgeon in the lake are 26 years old. |
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Today we completed the 3-day May sturgeon netting survey on Oneida Lake. We net 12 different sites across the lake, from Three Mile bay down to Verona Beach. A total of 20 sturgeon were measured, weighed, tagged, and released.
A couple years ago on 6/19/19, we captured the largest fish ever documented in Oneida Lake - a 139 lb lake sturgeon that was 72.6" long. Today, we broke that record by over 20 lbs! We netted, tagged, and released a lake sturgeon weighing 159.4 lbs that was 73.6" long. This fish will eventually be aged using samples taken today. The oldest sturgeon in the lake are from the 1995 stocking, so they would be 26 years old.
Other exciting news is that we caught 17 sturgeon today, 11 of which were in one net. In addition to several ripe males, we caught one ripe female sturgeon that was releasing eggs all over the place. She was 66.4 lbs and 60.8 inches long and will eventually be aged as well. An exciting survey to be sure! |
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