Whitefish Rebound
Lake whitefish seem to be rebounding in Lake Champlain. Image via NYSDEC.
The Burlington Free Press reported that researchers from the University of Vermont (UVM) are conducting the first survey since the 1930s of lake whitefish populations in Lake Champlain, and the results have been promising. Whitefish are relatives of trout and salmon. Lake Champlain is near the southern edge of their habitat range. Up until the early 1900’s there was a strong commercial fishery for the species. However, declines in the quantity of fish taken led to closing the commercial market. When the UVM researchers surveyed historic spawning grounds in Missisquoi Bay and at Larrabees Point in Shoreham, they found no whitefish. Instead the fish seem to be spawning all throughout the Main Lake.
