A BIOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE OSWEGO RIVER SYSTEM 



Supplemental to the Seventeenth Annual Report, 1927 



Introduction 



By Emmeline Moore 



Investigator in Fish Culture, in Charge of Survey 



The report submitted herewith deals with the biological survey 

 of the Oswego river system in its relation to the fisheries. This 

 is the second watershed to receive intensive study since the estab- 

 lishment of the Conservation Fund in 1925. With the completion 

 of the two surveys, the Genesee system last year and the Oswego 

 system this year, the ground covered comprises a little more than 

 one-sixth of the area of the State. As the surveys progress, the 

 Department is enabled to proceed with its program of stocking 

 the streams and lakes of the State on a more intelligent and 

 scientific basis and to provide for further study where the survey 

 brings to light urgent problems bearing on the future status of the 

 fisheries. 



Area Covered by the Survey. — The portion of New York 

 State included in the Oswego river system and covered by the 

 survey is shown on the accompanying map (frontispiece) . The area 

 of 5,002 square miles covers in part 12 counties. In point of size 

 in the State, this watershed is exceeded only by the Hudson river 

 system. 



Within this coverage lies a water storage basin and stream 

 system of unusual interest and importance to the people of the 

 State. The seven Finger lakes are a conspicuous differentiating 

 feature. Each is a deep glacial valley, the reservoir of a vast 

 volume of naturally pure, cold water supplied by underground 

 springs and inlet streams. The great diversity of beauty existing 

 in the valley slopes and the accessibility of the lakes combine to 

 make this region a distinctive recreational resource. The water 

 area of the Finger lakes comprises 195.60 square miles. The 

 largest of these (Seneca) has a length of 30 miles, and a depth 

 of 634 feet. As to fish life, the Finger lakes have a vary- 

 ing reputation in productivity. Oneida lake, the largest single 

 lake in the watershed, with an area of 79.80 square miles, is rela- 

 tively shallow, rich in the elements that make good fishing water 

 and rates high in productivity. 



Besides these larger bodies there is an assemblage of about 40 

 small lakes and ponds aggregating approximately 95.52 square 

 miles which with the above mentioned areas supply a combined 

 water surface in lakes and ponds of about 289.22 square miles. 



