TRIBAL MEMBER NEWS
Back From The Brink
by Claire B. Dunn (first printed in the fall/winter 2005-2006 issue of Inside ESF, the magazine of the State University of New York
College of Environmental Science and Forestry; reprinted with permission)
Thriving populations of large, healthy
brown trout and walleye - and one 4-
foot-long sturgeon - have been found in
Onondaga Lake by ESF researchers.
The presence of the highly prized
sport fish, discovered in nets this past
summer, could mean that the lake -
once considered to be among the
nation’s most polluted - is rebounding.
“It could reflect the improvement
of Onondaga Lake,” said Dr. Neil H.
Ringler, an ESF fisheries expert who is
serving as the college's interim dean
of research programs. “I’ve been work
ing on this lake since 1986 and I did
not realize that there is a sizable popu
lation of large, cold-water fish there.”
The discovery of fish that require
water that is cool or cold and highly
oxygenated could be signs that the lake
is recovering from decades of indus
trial and sewage pollution.
“It may be that the quality of the lake
has improved over time and is permit
ting the fish to survive,” Ringler said.
“The trout and the walleye are especially
of interest because of the cool water. It’s
clear that there’s a fishery there we didn't
know about, for the larger fish.
“This finding suggests that the lake
may have far more potential for a cold-
water fishery than we anticipated.”
The discovery prompted the Onon
daga Lake Management Conference,
headed by Dr. Edward Michalenko, to
extend a grant to study the movements
of fish in and out of the lake. Ringler
said that numeric tags and radio
transmitters will be used to track the fish.
He is also seeking support from New
York Sea Grant, a network of research,
education, and extension services that
promote protection of marine resources.
The fish populations were found by
Tony Siniscal, a master’s student study
ing the movement and habitat of fish
in Onondaga Lake. He is completing
an internship with the state Department
of Environmental Conservation and
supported by the Edna Bailey Sussman
Foundation.
Siniscal’s work involved setting gill
nets in an area that has not recently
attracted a lot of research interest. He
set the nets between 20 and 30 feet
below the surface, where experts had
believed low levels of dissolved oxy
gen would hamper aquatic life during
summer months.
He was working in sight of the
waste beds on the lake's west shore,
near a permanent habitat module es
tablished in the lake by the Onondaga
Lake Management Conference. The
module, which resembles a jetty, pro
vides environment for aquatic plants
and spawning habitat for fish.
One day in early June 2005, when
he checked the nets, Siniscal found a
brown trout that weighed 10 pounds. In
the following days, he routinely found
trout of that size and walleye that were
more than 24 inches long. About a
week after that first discovery, a thun
derstorm kept him from returning to the
nets until the next morning. On that visit,
Siniscal pulled in some 40 large wall
eye and four brown trout.
Tony Siniscal
“I've fished the area a lot,” said
Siniscal, who grew up in nearby
Liverpool. “I haven’t found anybody
catching fish of this magnitude. I've
checked the records and I’ve never
heard of anybody catching fish like this
in Onondaga Lake.”
Ringler and Siniscal believe the
fish were migrating through the lake,
feasting on the smaller alewives that
live there. They suspect the fish came
from Nine Mile Creek, Onondaga
Creek, or the Seneca River. Other re
search projects involve checking sev
eral types of nets in the lake but the
scientists have not seen any juvenile
brown trout or walleye, which indicates
the fish are not spawning there.
Siniscal said the trout apparently
left the lake later in the summer, per
haps in search of cooler water in Nine
Mile Creek or the Seneca River. The
walleye, however, were still in the lake
at the start of autumn.
Siniscal was also netting quillback,
SVS Students of the Month
Siletz Valley School announced the
students of the month for May its last
assembly for this year on June 5. Stu
dents in grades 1-8 are recognized for
citizenship and academic achievements
based on performance.
As a reward, we raffle various
items that our local vendors give us for
the students. Please thank Noel’s Mar
ket, Little Chief Restaurant, and Siletz
Gas & Mini-Market for their donations.
Teachers nominated the following
students:
K, Ms. Irwin: Charlie Helms, Healyah
Hunt
K, Ms. Miller: Alexandria Kaiser
1st grade, Ms. Butler: Kaytee Clayton,
Shaunde Goodell, Taylor Sinsel
2nd grade, Ms. Hawk: Joshua Leckie,
Frankie Rilatos
3rd grade, Ms. Bowen: Sierra Gerttula,
Analisa Walton
4,h grade, Ms. Perkins: Chrissy Joe
Perkins, C.J. Perkins
5,h grade, Ms. Rogers: Seth Benedict,
Jesse Jordon
6th grade, Mr. Scott: Kim Anderson,
Kassandra Rilatos
7lh grade. Ms. Rajput: Ronni Gerttula,
Nick Wallace
8lh grade, Ms. McGraw: Alec Hawk,
Tristan Metcalf
PE Awards, Mr. Burres
and Mr. LaRoche
3rd grade: Austin Doty, Misti Warren
4,h grade: James Helms, Savannah
Worman
5th grade: Jasmine Elmore, Ryan Williams
6,h grade: Crystal Hawk, Zachary Leckie
7th grade: Casee Case, Nichole Oliphant
8,h grade: Loy Marthalier, Joe Wilson
Special Award
At the end of each school year, we
recognized those students with no ab
sences and no tardies. As a reward, Mr.
Peters gave them $10 per student that
he donated himself. They are as follows:
Jostan Brown , Is1 grade
Anthony Butler, 1st grade
Savanna Rilatos, 2nd grade
Tacoma Brown, 3rd grade
Amity Elliott, 6lh grade
Angelia Priest-Lamadrid, 6th grade
For those students with three or
fewer absences and three tardies or less,
Mr. Peters gave them $5 per student that
he donated himself. They are as follows:
Julia Trachsel, kindergarden
Dylan Bisson, 2nd grade
Daniel Lindstrom, 2nd grade
Sierra Gerttula, 3rd grade
Cheyenne Maldonado, 3rd grade
Jennelle Potter, 3rd grade
Christine Perkins, 4,h grade
Sophia Hendrix, 6,h grade
Christopher Garza, 7th grade
Nicole Oliphant, 7,h grade
Kayla Stokes, 7,h grade
Thanks to Our Volunteers
We are very fortunate to have all
the help that we receive from our com
munity. In May, we had 58 volunteers
who worked 172.35 hours. Thank you
to all of you who continue to give your
time and love to our school and students.
We want you to know that we will
miss you all! We hope that you have a
wonderful summer and are ready to
start a new year in September. As you
know, we will have an exciting new
year as we are starting the high school.
a type of sucker that has never been
seen in the lake, at the beginning of
autumn. Quillback are usually found
in larger bodies of water and their tribu
taries, such as Lake Ontario and the
Black River.
And he had netted one sturgeon,
which he estimated to be around 15
years old. He believes the sturgeon,
classified as a threatened species in
New York, probably moved into the
lake from Oneida Lake.
“They've been seen in Onondaga
Lake before but it doesn’t happen very
often,” Siniscal said.
Scientists describe Onondaga Lake
as hypereutrophic. Abundant nutrients,
specifically phosphorus and nitrogen,
result in significant algae growth,
which in turn supply food for bacteria,
which consume much of the oxygen
deep in the lake.
Essentially, the lake water becomes
two layers: Approximately 20 feet on
the top that is warmer and oxygenated,
and deeper water that is cooler and can
be virtually devoid of oxygen. In fall,
when temperatures drop, the lake
“turns over” and the two levels blend.
As a result, reduced oxygen levels
in the fall might force fish such as wall
eye and brown trout to leave the lake.
Warm water fish, such as bass and sun
fish. can survive all year.
Dunn is assistant director in the
Office of News and Publications,
SUNY College of Environmental Sci
ence and Forestry, Syracuse, New York
Logan Family,
Friends Reunion
The Logan family and friends re
union will begin July 22, 2006. at
10 a.m. with introductions and shar
ing family history. A potluck will be
gin at 1 p.m., followed by baseball
(bring your ball equipment), bingo
(please bring a small inexpensive
item for a prize), and other activities.
A family tree is being devel
oped and if you have information
you would like to share, contact
Jim McCormick at 503-838-3783.
Please mail in family history if
you are unable to attend and other
history that you would like to share.
Others who can be contacted are
Elaine Thomas at 503-623-6253
(in the evening); Claudia Leno at
971-241-2031; Donna Holmes at
541-444-2578; or Lillie Butler at
541-444-2448, e-mail lebutler2@
hotmail.com or send a letter to Lillie
at P.O. Box 26. Siletz. OR 97380.
Please leave a message with
your phone number on the answer
ing machines. Please call or write
if you plan to attend the reunion.
July 2006
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Siletz News
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