| HOT ISSUES & OLA POSITION STATEMENTS
Letters of Support for Cormorant Management |
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The Oneida Lake Association is proud to partner with the following elected
officials and organizations to restore cormorant management:
• Cornell University--Shackleton Research Station
• The New York State Council of Trout Unlimited
• New York State Senator David Valesky
• New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
• New York State Assemblyn David Townsend
• The Onondaga County Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs
• Cornell Cooperative Extension
Hunter
Access at Frenchman's Island
(Article
submitted for site inclusion on 9/30/2008)
OLA,
New York State Parks and Rec re-open Frenchman’s
to the sporting public.
Since
2007, the Oneida Lake Association has been
involved in conversations with New York
State about the future of Frenchman’s
Island—and we are happy that this summer,
the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation,
and Historic Preservation announced its plan
to open Frenchman’s as an unimproved
New York State Park, forever preserving the
island in its wild state.
Some
of our constituents raised concerns that
the island’s designation as a
state park would limit access by hunters.
We are pleased to report that thanks to a
partnership between OLA and the parks agency,
Frenchman’s has been re-opened to public
waterfowl hunting, and will continue to be
available to hunters with the appropriate
permit paperwork. At Frenchman’s, the
needed paperwork consists of a hunter’s
valid New York small game license and Federal
Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp
(permit requirements at other state parks
may vary; check with the local park office).
Frenchman’s Island has a long history
as one of Oneida Lake’s largest public
hunting sites. For many years, it has been
a place for waterfowl hunters to pursue their
quarry as they please from September through
December, with a tradition of courtesy for
one another and for other lake users. Conservation
officers have been regular and welcome visitors,
and we have not observed problems with vandalism
by hunters.
The
OLA believes that there should be no new
limitation on the hunting opportunities
that have existed at Frenchman’s
for decades—and
we commend the leadership of Parks for understanding
this issue and meeting the needs of our constituents.
In particular, we thank Central Region Director
Rob Hiltbrand for helping map out a successful
course for the island’s future, and
Verona Beach State Park Manager Tom Goetzmann
for posting signage to clarify hunters’ access
privileges. We encourage local waterfowlers
to return the favor by continuing to treat
the island with their customary respect!
Oneida
Lake’s Walleye and Perch Fi$hery
A Vital Economic Engine
by Martin Lowney – New York State
Director, USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services
More than $122
million and 3,000 jobs lost. According
to a new U.S. Department of Agriculture study,
that's a conservative
estimate of how much damage the double-crested
cormorant has inflicted on the communities
surrounding
Oneida Lake. On the other side of the ledger,
the same USDA
research shows that for every dollar spent
on cormorant harassment since 1998, as much as
$48.37 has been returned to the local
economy—saving as many as 5,000
jobs.
Oneida Lake
fishing is much more than recreation. For
area businesses and their employees, it's
a vital part of the economy. Now, thanks
to USDA economist Dr. Stephanie
Shwiff, we can precisely measure the
impact of anglers' spending habits, see
how the proliferation of cormorants has hurt
local businesses,
and gauge the benefits of cormorant harassment.
Many Oneida Lake anglers saw the lake's
famous walleye
and yellow perch fisheries fade during the 1990s
and early
2000s. At the same time, the number of fishing
licenses purchased
in the four surrounding counties (Oswego, Oneida,
Onondaga, and Madison) fell severely.
While many
people
noted a great fishery's decay, some forward
thinkers asked,“How are our communities
and jobs affected if fewer anglers
fish Oneida Lake?” Anglers are eager
spenders who play a crucial role in the
local economy. When there are fewer fish to
pursue, the likely
result is less spending. Research has shown
that an expanding
double-crested cormorant population devastated
Oneida
Lake's walleye and yellow perch populations.
At the peak
of past fall migrations, seven tons of Oneida
Lake fish were
becoming bird food during many autumn weeks.
As declining
fish populations contributed to bad fishing,
anglers and their
spending declined. This resulted in substantial
losses of jobs
and revenue in the four-county area bordering
the lake.
Dr. Shwiff, an economist for USDA—Wildlife
Services' National Wildlife Research Center,
studies the dollars-and cents
impact of wildlife. She recently analyzed and
documented
the effects of cormorants' predation
and presented
her findings at the Oneida Lake Association's
annual meeting
on April 30, 2008.
Dr.
Shwiff began by measuring the drop in non-resident
fishing license sales in Oneida,
Oswego, Onondaga, and Madison
Counties from 1990-1998, immediately
following the decline of
Oneida Lake's walleye population.
She combined these findings with
economic models for spending on
lodging, food, fuel, bait and other
necessities. As non-resident anglers
chose to fish other lakes instead of
Oneida, the region experienced substantial
losses of revenue and jobs; Shwiff's work
showed
us exactly how much.
Dr. Shwiff expressed her findings as a range:
if only
fifteen percent of non-resident anglers skipped
their trips to
Oneida because of cormorants, this cost the
four-county area
$122,372,000 and 3,284 jobs; if fifty percent
of non-resident
anglers stayed away from Oneida, the damage
totaled
$538,918,000 and 12,862 jobs.
Economists prefer
conservative economic models to
allow for other factors that may affect their
analyses. This
is why Shwiff's economic model for Oneida
Lake only includes
activities of non-resident anglers. Further,
as people
come to Central New York to fish not only Oneida,
but also
Lake Ontario and other lakes, Dr. Shwiff made
the realistic
assumption that between fifteen and fifty percent
of all
out-of-state anglers who bought a fishing license
here also
contributed to the Oneida Lake economy.
Other reasons Dr. Shwiff considered only non-resident
anglers are that their numbers are easy to
count, and their
spending creates a big “bang” for
the local economy,bringing in wealth that
was generated elsewhere.
Obviously, thousands
of Oswego, Oneida,
Onondaga, and Madison
County residents fish
Oneida Lake, too. They
buy their bait, gas, and
food locally. It's easy
to see that the impact
of all anglers on the
region's revenue and jobs
is tremendous, and that
conditions hurting fishing
harm the economy as
well.
Fortunately, Dr. Shwiff
has confirmed that there is
a cost-effective solution.
The Wildlife Services
arm of USDA started its
cormorant harassment
program in 1998 at the
request of New York State
Department of Environmental
Conservation; this has reduced the peak number
of
cormorants feeding on the lake from more than
2,000 per day
to around 100. The program was expanded in
2003 to include
spring and summer harassment, with the goal
of limiting the
number of cormorants on the lake to 100 at
all times. The resultant
drop in cormorants has helped the lake's
walleye population
and out-of-state anglers are returning to Oneida
Lake. This has
infused from $47,974,000 to $170,893,000 into
the four-county
area and saved 1,446 to 5,014 jobs!
The Wildlife
Services' cormorant harassment program gives
taxpayers an enviable “bang for their
buck.” For
every dollar
spent on the program, our region receives between
$13.58 and
$48.37 in angling revenue. That's a tremendous
cost-benefit
ratio and positive economics in anybody's
book. Funding for the
program initially came from the State of New
York, then from
the federal government. Dr. Shwiff's research
illustrates how
these tax dollars have been invested wisely
to save an important
native fishery.
The bottom line is easy to see: Several years
ago, a few progressive
thinkers in Central New York, led by the Oneida
Lake
Association's Board of Directors, viewed
the lake's walleye
and yellow perch fishing as an economic engine.
As objective
analyses show, these conservationists were
right.

The
cormorant hazing program's
results clearly appear in this graph. Walleye
numbers and license sales fell
steeply during the 1990s as the birds became
abundant. After the hazing program began, cormorant
numbers
dropped, the lake's walleye population
rebounded, and non-resident license sales stabilized.
Oneida Lake Association Position on Native and Invasive
Aquatic Vegetation
Adopted
May 2008
The
OLA recognizes the value of aquatic plants
to the health and
wellbeing of Oneida Lake and its ecosystem.
The lake as we know it could
not exist without aquatic vegetation. However,
the OLA also recognizes
that aquatic plants can cause problems
to lake users, residents, and the
lake itself. These problems can generally
be categorized into two
groups: those caused by exotic, invasive,
and introduced plants; or
those caused by over abundant native plants.
Examples
of exotic, introduced, and invasive plants
causing problems in Oneida Lake are water
chestnut and frogbit. The OLA endorses
the
elimination and/or control of these plants
as it may be possible by any
legal means. The goal is the control or elimination
of these plants and
the problems associated with them.
With
regard to native vegetation, the OLA goal
for management is more moderate, as there
is great value in our native plants. The
OLA supports
the control of native vegetation that has
become a problem in the lake,
as when it causes impenetrable windrows or
mats of vegetation that
impede recreation and navigation, whether
offshore or near-shore. The
OLA specifically endorses the ability of
individuals or groups to
harvest native vegetation by legal means
in the public waters adjacent
to their property. The OLA goal for native
plants in Oneida Lake is to
encourage mitigation of the problems they
cause through a program of
legal harvest, removal and composting. Legal
harvest, which includes
obtaining necessary permits, can be accomplished
by hand pulling,
raking, shading, and the use of mechanical
weed harvesters. Concerned
individuals and groups are encouraged to
work with their municipalities
to explore composting and other sensible
options for disposing of weed
matter.
ONEIDA LAKE'S CORMORANT PROBLEM:
OLA Directors Speak at Fish and
Wildlife Hearings
by Jack Henke
The economic and ecological devastation
caused by Oneida Lake's thriving cormorant
colony was vividly discussed in testimony
given by several of your OLA Directors at "scoping
sessions" (public hearings) sponsored by
the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
The sessions were held last May in Watertown
and Syracuse.

OLA President William Schriever and
Directors Tom Pierce, Kurt Snyder, Tony Buffa,
and Jack Henke entered their comments and
data into the Fish and Wildlife Service's
official record. The Directors cited the
following facts:
1. Cormorant predation
is the major factor behind the drastic
decline in Oneida's walleyed pike population.
The birds' feeding has destroyed hundreds
of thousands of walleyes in the 1990's.
2. Cormorants are also responsible
for severe reductions in our lake's yellow
perch population. The number of adult
perch hovers around 700,000--a fraction
of its former self. In some years, the
birds have consumed more than 200,000
perch that had reached age 2--a size
at which they have an excellent chance
of surviving to adulthood. The perch
death toll from cormorant predation throughout
the 1990's extends well into the millions.
3. Poor fishing has resulted from
reduced walleye and perch populations.
Poor fishing translates into economic
losses. Marinas, motels, restaurants,
and bait/tackle stores in the lake region
have experienced economic hardships.
The OLA submitted a detailed economic
analysis of 15 marinas on Oneida Lake.
This report documented nearly $1,000,000
lost every year to the area's economy
because anglers had left these marinas.
The report stressed that this loss is
but a fraction of the total amount lost
by the region because of the bad fishing
brought on by cormorants' predation.
The OLA gave the Fish and Wildlife Service
several copies of this report.
4. The cormorant colonies on Wantry
and Long Islands have destroyed much
of those isles' vegetation. Wantry, in
particular, bears the appearance of a "cormorant
guano wasteland", and anyone approaching
the islands from their downwind side
had best be prepared for some memorable
odors.
5. The Oneida Lake Association
is committed to the cause of eliminating
cormorant predation on the lake. The
Association strongly believes in working
through the legal channels of the Fish
and Wildlife Service and condemns any
vigilante efforts at harassing or harvesting
cormorants.
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service
is in the process of developing a policy for
managing the nation's expanding, destructive
cormorant populations. The scoping sessions that
the Oneida Lake Association participated in were
two of many that have been held across the country.
Other hearings have occurred in Hauppauge, Long
Island, Burlington, Vermont, Portland, Oregon,
and in places as far flung as Wisconsin, Texas,
and Arkansas. The Fish and Wildlife Service used
these sessions to gather data about cormorants.
Participants could mail in their comments or
testify at the hearings.
The "comment period", during which
evidence could be submitted to the Fish and
Wildlife Service, ended in June. The agency
is now in the process of collecting and synthesizing
all the data and will prepare a "summary
document" of all the material by September
1.
The agency has hired two biologists
from the University of Wisconsin to prepare
a report containing relevant biological data
about cormorant predation. These biologists
have contacted the New York State Department
of Environmental Conservation and its counterparts
in other states. The biologists' findings
will be combined with an analysis of the
data received in the scoping sessions.
The Fish and Wildlife
Service will then issue a preliminary Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS, for short) by late
fall. The EIS will recommend a method, or
methods, to manage cormorant populations.
There will be a 90 day "comment period",
during which individuals and organizations
can submit their thoughts about the EIS.
Additional data, missed during the scoping
sessions, can be added to the process here.
The Oneida Lake Association will contribute
input at this time, should it be displeased
with the preliminary EIS.
After 90 days, the Fish and Wildlife
Service will prepare a "final EIS". This
report will constitute official agency policy
concerning double crested cormorants. A management
plan for the nation will be detailed here.
The final EIS should be completed by the
spring of 2001.
The Oneida Lake Association has voiced
your concerns to the appropriate authorities
in the cormorant issue. It will continue
to do so--loudly and clearly.

This graph, produced by Cornell Field
Station biologists, clearly shows their prediction
for Oneida Lake's perch population if cormorants
were eliminated (the "no cormorants line").
Perch numbers would soar from under 1,000,000
to 3,000,000 by 2010.
The other lines on the graph show
the following:
"Status quo" means that
nothing is done to change today's situation.
"No harvest" means that anglers
stop catching yellow perch, but cormorants
continue to feed.
"No top predators" translates
to stopping both angler and cormorant
predation.
Reprinted (with minor modifications) from The
Oneida Lake Bulletin: Summer, 2000.
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