Oneida Lake walleye telemetry pilot study

This study will utilize an array of 64 acoustic receivers (pictured above) spaced throughout the lake and select tributaries to track 200 adult walleyes implanted with acoustic transmitters (pictured below). One hundred walleyes captured in fall 2023 will be implanted with transmitters and an additional 100 (50 males and 50 females) caught during hatchery operations next spring will receive transmitters. Transmitters implanted in each fish’s abdomen will send out a unique signal every four minutes and receivers in the vicinity will record the occurrence. The transmitters have a three-year battery life so these walleyes will be tracked year-round over that period unless they leave the system, die naturally, or are harvested.

If you harvest a walleye that contains a transmitter, please use the contact information printed on the transmitter to facilitate its return to us.

Data from receivers will be downloaded annually beginning in the summer of 2024. This study is part of the GLATOS (Great Lakes Acoustic Telemetry Observation System) network, which gives us access to state-of-the-art analysis tools and expertise, as well as inform us on fish tagged in Oneida Lake that may leave the system and enter the Great Lakes. This new information on movements and habitat use of the Oneida Lake walleye population will help NYS DEC better manage this important and valuable resource. This is a Federal Aid in Sportfish Restoration project supported by your purchase of fishing licenses, fishing equipment, and motorboat fuels.

Cornell Biological Field Station conducts research in fisheries and aquatic ecology in New York State with a focus on Oneida Lake, the Great Lakes and other NYS inland lakes, and supports the educational, outreach and extension programs of the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment (DNRE), the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), and Cornell University.