Headline read- "CAUSE FOUND FOR GREAT LAKES TROUT REPRODUCTION FAILURE"

A study released by Richard E. Peterson, a toxicology professor at the UW-Madison School of Pharmacy and Wisconsin Sea Grant showed data suggesting that dioxins and related chemicals may have contributed to the extinction of lake trout in Lake Ontario prior to 1960 and to the recruitment failure of stocked lake trout since then.

Peterson described how dioxin contributed to survival of sac fry in early development stages, however, inconsistent with Peterson's findings, healthy lake trout fry have been collected Lake Michigan, and other great lakes, from time to time for nearly twenty years. .

"Many anglers regard steelhead as a special fish that deserves greater protection," said Barnhart. "A more restrictive limit is one way to confer protection and allow more anglers opportunities to enjoy these magnificent fish.

Under the proposed regulation, the daily limit would be three trout and salmon in combination, which may include no more than two rainbow trout (including steelhead), one Atlantic salmon and one lake trout in take Erie and the upper Niagara River. In the lower Niagara River, Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River, up to three lake trout could be taken as part of the three-fish combination.

The proposed regulations would apply to all of New York's Great Lakes waters, which include Lake Erie, the Niagara River, Lake Ontario, the St. Lawrence River and their tributaries upstream to the first barrier impassable by fish.

The proposed change is subject to public review. DEC fisheries managers in regions adjacent to the Great Lakes will be meeting with sportsmen's groups and accepting public comment on the change until mid-March.