| Harrisburg, PA - The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission will hold its summer
quarterly meeting July 14-15 at its agency headquarters, 1601 Elmerton Avenue, in Harrisburg.
Commission
committees will meet beginning at 9:15 a.m. on Monday, July 14, followed by formal consideration of
the agenda by the full Commission beginning at 1:15 p.m. on Tuesday, July 15. All committee meetings
and the review of the agenda are open to the public and attendance is encouraged.
Among the items on
the agenda, the Commission will consider modifying the regulations for approved year-round trout waters.
The proposal would allow anglers to fish in lakes and ponds approved as year-round trout waters without
possessing a trout/salmon permit, as long as anglers are not fishing for trout or salmon. Also, commissioners
will consider allowing year-round fishing on 31 additional approved trout waters.
Staff is recommending
that the Commission defer action on two other trout-related proposals. One proposal would add various
southwestern Pennsylvania waters into the Regional Opening Day of Trout Season Program. The other would
designate all stocked lakes as approved trout waters open to year-round fishing.
The Commission will
vote on proposed regulations to further restrict the interstate sale, introduction and transportation
of fish susceptible to the infectious disease viral hemorrhagic septicemia, or VHS. States which are
considered VHS-affected or VHS-at risk include Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio
and Wisconsin.
The Commission will also consider restricting nighttime fishing on a section of Walnut
Creek, Erie County; allowing anglers to use long bows and arrows to harvest catfish in any Commonwealth
waters, other than just the Delaware River; adopting a formal statement of policy regarding wind power;
and removing several species from the threatened species list.
A complete copy of the meeting schedule
and the full agenda for the meeting can be found on the Agendas & Minutes section of the
Commission’s
web site.
The
mission of the Fish and Boat Commission is to protect, conserve, and enhance the Commonwealth’s aquatic resources
and provide fishing and boating opportunities. For more information about fishing and boating in Pennsylvania, please
visit our website at www.fishandboat.com.
| 
