Genesee Charter Boat Association, Inc.
Rochester, New York

Pen Rearing

Pen rearing was first implemented on Lake Ontario in 1999.
In 2000 the Genesee Charter Boat Association, in conjunction with the New York State DEC, began a second pen rearing site
located right in our back yard.... the Genesee River. Each year
we raise 85,000 Chinook (king) salmon and 10,000 steelhead trout.

Pen rearing basics: Trout and salmon, by nature return to their "native" streams to reproduce. Other than Atlantic Salmon and Lake Trout all of the other species of trout and salmon, in Lake Ontario, are stocked by hatcheries. Pen rearing projects allow hatchery produced fish to "smolt" in other locations and get
the "scent" of the tributaries that they are pen raised in. In
turn these fish will return in a few years as adults to these locations to spawn.

     Involvement is 100% volunteer and a group effort by all.  Aluminum pens are fully lined with special nets and then
manually placed into the flowing waters of the Genesee River. 
For the next 3 weeks volunteers feed the fish, clean the pens, check their condition, and monitor water temperatures under
the guidance of the DEC. Once the water temperature warms
and "our babies" have grown, we then release them into the
lake.

 Funding for this project, other than the fish, is totally based
on contributions. Nets need attention every year, and pens
need maintenance, so contributions are always encouraged.
To Donate to the Genesee Pen Rearing project please contact Mickey McDonald, our treasurer, at 671-5168.

   Key Benefits

1) Direct involvement from community volunteers with
the fishery and New York State DEC

2) Pen Rearing Sites have benefited return ratios as high
as 7:1 over direct stocked salmonoids

3)Higher survival rates of juvenile fish

4)OUTSTANDING FISHING!

2010 Pen Rearing is complete

2010 Pen Setup and Release Parties
Photos by Mark Brozowitz

 2009 Results

Below are the official weights of the Chinooks and the 

Steelhead from the Pen project. Thank you to all the 
volunteers.

Genesee River Chinooks: 68.0 per pound, 3.5 inches
(90.3 mm) avg length, released 5/6/09; Steelhead: 

18.3 per pound, 5.5 inches 
(140.5 mm) avg length, released 5/4/09.

The pen projects all did nicely this year. Thanks to all!

Sam Zucco