BPHS science research students tag and release second set of walleye in multi-year study of fish population of Great Sacandaga Lake

In 2023, students in Brian Henry’s science research class at Broadalbin-Perth Jr./Sr. High School began an investigation into the walleye population of the Great Sacandaga Lake (GSL). Recently, students launched the next phase of what is designed to be a multi-year study that seeks to determine why walleye in the GSL tend to be shorter, on average, than walleye in the rest of New York state.

On Nov. 19, students traveled to Cranberry Cove Marina to tag 1,000 juvenile walleye that were then released into the lake. The students used elastomer tags to "tattoo" the hatchery-raised walleye with a harmless latex dye behind their left eye. This year’s dye was yellow; students used a pink dye in 2023. According to Henry, using different colored dyes each year will help the student researchers account for the age of the walleye when they are later caught by fishermen.

The walleye are part of a stocking campaign funded by the Great Sacandaga Lake Fisheries Federation. In 2022, the GSLFF asked the science research class to help determine whether the federation’s stocking efforts were contributing to the population of walleye in the lake. Students designed a study to determine the genetic contribution of stocked versus wild fish in the adult (harvestable) population and worked with fisheries biologists from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) to collect tissue samples of adult walleye caught on the GSL. A genetics lab at West Virginia University analyzed the samples, and the resulting data showed an average of 7.6% ancestry from the hatchery population in the wild population.

For the current study, Henry’s class was granted a tagging permit by the NYSDEC. Students are hoping local anglers will contribute to their research by submitting the lengths of marked walleye that they catch in the GSL. This data will allow students to document how quickly or slowly the walleye are growing in the lake. Fishermen can submit the data from their catch by visiting surveymonkey.com/r/2023GSLwalleye or by contacting Henry at henryb@bpcsd.org. As an incentive, the class is offering $25 gift certificates to local bait shops for confirmed catches.