Additional Fisheries Information

[John A. Viar]

Hello All

I received a request for further information and clarification on additional points, hence this post. Public outreach/education is an integral part of our job -- it is our pleasure to disseminate information regarding New Hampshire’s fisheries resources.

Please note the Lake Winnipesaukee native fish species list is just that, native fish species only, traced back to our earliest biological records. As I have indicated in a past posting, many introductions (legal and illegal, intentional and unintentional) have taken place throughout the years, which have added to the total number of species presently found in the lake. All told, including both native and non-native/introduced species, there are approximately 70 freshwater (including anadromous spawners/juveniles) species in New Hampshire freshwater lakes, ponds, rivers, and streams. Obviously, this total does not include strictly saltwater species. Another obvious point, but not all of these 70 or so species are found in every freshwater body; for example, in the “Big Lake”, there are currently about half this number.

Atlantic salmon (anadromous) continued up the Pemigewasset River on their annual spawning runs, but by historical accounts, did not make the turn up the Winnipesaukee River and up to Lake Winnipesaukee, as did the American shad (anadromous). There is much speculation as to why Atlantic salmon chose the Pemigewasset almost exclusively; cooler water temperatures, chemical imprinting from particular natal headwaters, and flow rates are likely contributors.

Landlocked salmon (same species as Atlantic salmon but a “landlocked” form) were introduced into Lake Winnipesaukee in 1867 (as a previous post correctly noted). Their population is maintained through annual spring stocking of juvenile salmon (approx. 5-8 inches). Due to angling pressure, as well as an unsuitable number of/conditions in spawning tributaries, there is little contribution from natural reproduction/wild salmon in most New Hampshire landlocked salmon managed lakes -- including Lake Winnipesaukee (a couple of the exceptions: First Connecticut Lake-Pittsburg and Pleasant Lake-New London, where there is some contribution to the salmon fishery from wild fish).

In terms of crayfish, there have been anecdotal reports of declining crayfish populations in various lakes and ponds, but I do not have any scientific evidence to substantiate these claims (and therefore, conversely, cannot dispute them). Personally, I do a great deal of multi-species angling and when ice fishing for burbot (cusk), stomach content analysis invariably reveals they contain several crayfish, generally from 1.5 to 3.5 inches in length. I have never, in the past five years, caught a cusk in Lake Winnipesaukee that did not have a crayfish in its stomach, and many stomachs are bulging with as many as 12-15. Additionally, when smallmouth bass fishing on the “Big Lake”, these fish more often than not spit up crayfish at boat side or crayfish are visible in the gullet. Other anglers have reported similar observations. While this is hardly a thorough, scientific analysis, it does suggest they are still present in such numbers to be readily available to gamefish. In terms of actual scientific trend data, though, I cannot officially comment since Fish and Game and no other state agency (to the best of my knowledge) has such data.

Finally, although their numbers may not be at a level where catches are common for anglers (in fact, they have not shown up in our trap nets to this point), rock bass are indeed present in Lake Winnipesaukee (please see my previous post).

Due to time constraints I will likely not be able to keep up with the Forum posts, but please feel free to contact me directly (phone or email) if you have any future questions. Thank you all for your interest and concern regarding New Hampshire’s fishery resources.

John A. Viar
Fisheries Biologist I
New Hampshire Fish and Game Department
Region 2 Office
PO Box 417
New Hampton NH 03256
(603) 744-5470
jviar@nhfgd.org

[JayDV]

John, thanks for taking the time you do to help keep us knowledgeable of at least the big lake, but also aware of the Fisheries tasks and responsibilities.

And I, for one, feel the credibility question has just been slam dunked.

[Mink Islander]

Great to have your valuable input -- your recent posts have added a great educational component to the board so please check in now and again and provide insights. Much appreciated.

[upthesaukee]

As previously noted by others, our thanks to you for taking the time to post some very informative data for us. Any time that you can find, whether it's weekly, monthly quarterly or whatever, I'm sure that any post you can squeeze in will be informative and appreciated. Thanks for helping to educate and inform us (I'm sure on your own time as well).

[ITD]

John,
What a great post. This is a perfect use of this forum and a great way for the appropriate state agencies to get informative facts out. I realize that you're not being paid to surf forums, but I hope you can find time in the future to make more posts such as this. It's comforting to see that some of our taxes and fees are going to pay knowledgeable caring employees. Maybe we could send John's post to DES and Marine patrol or other relevent agencies as an example to see if they could have experts occasionally post information or news pertinent to their areas. What do you think Webmaster? I'd be willing to make the calls if you don't have the time.