Fish Survey Gives Baseline for Conservation Projects

As part of adopting a 20-year management plan for The Gully Preserve, a plan we adopt for all new nature preserves within a year of taking ownership of new land, we partnered with the Canandaigua chapter of Trout Unlimited and the Department of Environmental Conservation to conduct a fish survey of Little Mill Creek on the property.

Using electro-fishing, a light electric current that stuns fish just long enough so they can be caught with a net, staff from the wildlife department conducted surveys below and above the main waterfall on the property.

Fish were netted into buckets, then after a section was complete, the fish were identified, measured, and released back into the stream. Scales were collected from a few fish to be analyzed under a microscope at the lab to check the growth rate and health of the fish.

Fish scales, much like tree rings, can show annual changes in environmental conditions: Is the stream warming each summer and stunting fish growth or is the stream a nice consistent cool temperature that makes for consistent growth conditions. Scales also reveal the age of the fish.

The survey revealed the property is a brown trout nursery that is sustaining itself. As the Conservancy works to protect the hemlock forest, future fish surveys will be used to track possible changes. GVC