Region 5 - Lake Champlain Saranac River Riverscape Habitat Survey

The Lake Champlain Fish and Wildlife Management Cooperative has focused on establishing a recreational fishery of landlocked Atlantic Salmon Salmo salar within the lake and its tributaries since the 1970s. Efforts have also been made to promote natural reproduction and restore river-run fish to tributaries within the basin. Landlocked Atlantic Salmon face many challenges during their stream-dwelling life stages (spawning and juvenile rearing), including a lack of access to viable habitat. If suitable habitat is not present, landlocked Atlantic Salmon will be unable to reproduce naturally, and the population will rely on federal and state agency intervention through stocking to subsidize low levels of natural recruitment. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Lake Champlain Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office conducted a habitat assessment and fish community snorkel survey on the Saranac River in 2021.