Algae Update

We have identified a few potential sources for the increased nutrient load that is causing our algae issues. This will take time to resolve as we need to coordinate with homeowners and the towns. Please bear with us while we work to resolve this. More updates to follow.

In addition, it has come to our attention that we have a new fish in the lake. This fish is called Alewife, or Freshwater Herring. Some of you may have noticed that during the dawn and dusk hours there are areas of the lake where it looks like the water is boiling. These are the Alewife. It looks like we may have some very large schools of these fish in the lake.

These fish are filter feeders. They take in water through their mouths and filter it out through their gills. They eat small plankton and certain types of algae. The issue is that the plankton and algae they are eating are beneficial to our lake. These plankton and algae help keep the lake clean and free of the bad algae we have been fighting all summer. Because of the large fish population and how they feed, we know that this is another source of our algae issue.

These fish are a very common type of bait fish that fishermen will purchase to fish with. The reason they are in our like is that one or more fisherman is dumping their remaining live baitfish in the lake when they are done fishing. These fish reproduce rapidly, which leads to a large new population in the lake.

We plan to monitor our fisheries for the remaining warm water months. Upon determination of our fish population, we will most likely stock a native fish to our lake to increase the predators for the Alewife in hopes of reducing their population. If we decide to do this stocking it will happen in the spring.

We are asking all people that are fishing in the lake to avoid using this type of live bait. In addition, no matter what type of live bait, we ask they you do not release any live fish into the lake. Lake Patrol has been notified of the issue and will be checking in with people fishing to assure that they are complying with this.

We thank you all for your patience as we continue working to keep our lake clean and healthy. Keep an eye out for more updates in the future.

Thank you!

Lake Resource Committee