Illegally-introduced walleyes threaten salmon, trout fishery in New York’s Skaneateles Lake

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s war on walleyes in Skaneateles Lake had its start in 2016 when anglers first began reporting catches of the tasty and popular game fish in the Finger Lake. DEC verified their presence in the lake the following year with a fisheries survey using gill nets, said Emily Zollweg-Horan, senior aquatic biologist at the DEC’s Region 7 office in Cortland. “It is still unknown who illegally introduced walleye and DEC never authorized a stocking permit,” she said. Skaneateles Lake, a deep, cold-water lake, has historically been one of the best rainbow trout and Atlantic salmon fisheries in the Finger Lakes.