New York’s first Great Lakes Charter Captains Conference included updates on the Lake Erie and Lake Ontario fisheries. (At left) A charter fishing boat on Lake Ontario in Wilson, NY. (At right) a lake trout caught and released in Lake Ontario. Credits for photos: Stacy Furgal/NYSG; Jo Johnson/USFWS
Contact:
Stacy Furgal, NYSG Great Lakes Fisheries and Ecosystem Health Specialist, E: slf85@cornell.edu, P: (315) 234-1329
The charter fishing industry is a vitally important part of the economy and natural and cultural heritage of New York’s Great Lakes coastal communities
Oswego, NY, May 27, 2025 - The Great Lakes’ commercial and recreational fisheries are economically, socially, and culturally significant, and contribute more than $7 billion annually to the regional economy.
In 2024, New York Sea Grant (NYSG) coordinated New York’s first Great Lakes Charter Captains Conference, offering workforce development training, industry networking, and fisheries learning opportunities to support charter fishing captains working in New York’s Great Lakes region.
Charter captains who attended the March 2024 conference in Oswego, New York, gained valuable knowledge on the current state of the Lake Erie and Lake Ontario fisheries as well as best practices to promote their businesses, including the use of social media. They received safety and navigation updates from the U.S. Coast Guard, learned about new fisheries research directly from NYSG and research biologists with the U.S. Geological Survey, and received business and tourism information from representatives of the State University of New York at Oswego, Onondaga Community College, and Oswego County.
Using business development tips learned at the conference, some captains note how much easier it will be for clients to find their business. The combination of fisheries science, networking, and business development presentations offered at the first annual New York’s Great Lakes Charter Captains Conference provided local captains a unique opportunity to gain skills and learn about new fisheries research while building strong industry connections.
Project Partner/Funder:
• Funding: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
More Info: New York Sea Grant
Established in 1966, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s National Sea Grant College Program promotes the informed stewardship of coastal resources in 34 joint federal/state university-based programs in every U.S. coastal state (marine and Great Lakes) and Puerto Rico. The Sea Grant model has also inspired similar projects in the Pacific region, Korea and Indonesia.
Since 1971, New York Sea Grant (NYSG) has represented a statewide network of integrated research, education and extension services promoting coastal community economic vitality, environmental sustainability and citizen awareness and understanding about the State’s marine and Great Lakes resources.
NYSG historically leverages on average a 3 to 6-fold return on each invested federal dollar, annually. We benefit from this, as these resources are invested in Sea Grant staff and their work in communities right here in New York.
Through NYSG’s efforts, the combined talents of university scientists and extension specialists help develop and transfer science-based information to many coastal user groups—businesses and industries, federal, state and local government decision-makers and agency managers, educators, the media and the interested public.
New York Sea Grant, one of the largest of the state Sea Grant programs, is a cooperative program of the State University of New York (SUNY) and Cornell University. The program maintains Great Lakes offices at Cornell University, SUNY Buffalo, Rochester Institute of Technology, SUNY Oswego, the Wayne County Cooperative Extension office in Newark, and in Watertown. In the State's marine waters, NYSG has offices at Stony Brook University and with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Nassau County on Long Island, in Queens, at Brooklyn College, with Cornell Cooperative Extension in NYC, in Bronx, with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County in Kingston, and with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Westchester County in Elmsford.
For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org, follow us on social media (Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, Bluesky, LinkedIn, and YouTube). NYSG offers a free e-list sign up via www.nyseagrant.org/nycoastlines for its flagship publication, NY Coastlines/Currents, which it publishes 2-3 times a year.