Public comment open on proposed rulemaking

[silverfox]

This is important for anyone concerned with the introduction of invasive species, diseases, or even the private stocking of fish in places that shouldn't be stocked.

Pennsylvania is the only state in the Northeast without a stocking authorization or stocking permit. How can fisheries managers manage the fisheries if they don't know what is being stocked in them? There is currently no accountability and no way to track who is putting fish in Commonwealth waters.

This is a common sense regulation and I think anyone concerned with the conservation of our aquatic resources should support it.

Rulemaking: https://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pabull?file=/secure/pabulletin/data/vol52/52-25/895.html

Public comment (deadline is August 18th!): https://pfbc.pa.gov/regcomments/index.htm?title_number=Rulemaking325

 

[Fish Sticks]

Reminder to act, PA fish and boat trying to move in a better direction for conservation on this one. Please take time to comment, back them up on this, and make this a successful stepping stone to more similar conservation minded regulations.

 

[stecal]

Done. it was an exercise in frustration though as the submission form never seemed to be happy with my entries. Finally went thru after a dozen tries.

 

[Fish Sticks]

Done. it was an exercise in frustration though as the submission form never seemed to be happy with my entries. Finally went thru after a dozen tries.

Thanks I would imagine the people accustomed to the current private stocking debacle will not be in support of this and will be commenting in some real strong numbers so every supportive comment from conservation minded folks is greatly appreciated.

I had trouble on a cell phone some people don’t have an issue on cell phone though. Lap top has never given me issues but I don’t know if thats the reason or not.

 

[wildtrout2]

I had, and continue to have issues with the submission form. I have a Geek Squad tech coming Monday for an unrelated issue with my new computer, so I'll have him help me resolve this one. This is an important step to at least monitor what's being put into our streams.

 

[silverfox]

Done. it was an exercise in frustration though as the submission form never seemed to be happy with my entries. Finally went thru after a dozen tries.

Yeah, usually the dashes in your phone number is a hang up.

 

[salvelinus]

Done.

 

[wildtrout2]

I guess persistence pays off, finally got through. Received a confirmation email.

 

[Fish Sticks]

Yeah, usually the dashes in your phone number is a hang up.

Now that you say that I do remember getting rid of the dashes in the phone number being the ticket for a lot of PA fish and boat public comments. Thanks much to all and share with your friends, anglers, organizations!

 

[JeffP]

Done

 

[Fish Sticks]

Thanks Jeff! I am already seeing commercial trout farms kicking and screaming on this one trying to convince people a stocking authroization that every other state in the north east has to protect native fish will be the zombie apocalypse/end of days for fishing. Its laughable the sky hasn’t fallen as far as fishing in rest of the northeast and many PA anglers actually travel to these states to fish. There will be more deceitful fear mongering from these for profit hatcheries trying to drum up comments in opposition. They have no interest in conservation and think that the same rules other states have shouldn’t apply to them and their bottom line in PA. Your comment is appreciated!

 

[CRB]

fill it out the needed information correctly and the site works.

 

[Fish Sticks]

Much appreciated

 

[bigjohn358]

This is important for anyone concerned with the introduction of invasive species, diseases, or even the private stocking of fish in places that shouldn't be stocked.

Pennsylvania is the only state in the Northeast without a stocking authorization or stocking permit. How can fisheries managers manage the fisheries if they don't know what is being stocked in them? There is currently no accountability and no way to track who is putting fish in Commonwealth waters.

This is a common sense regulation and I think anyone concerned with the conservation of our aquatic resources should support it.

Rulemaking: https://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pabull?file=/secure/pabulletin/data/vol52/52-25/895.html

Public comment (deadline is August 18th!): https://pfbc.pa.gov/regcomments/index.htm?title_number=Rulemaking325

Just so I'm reading this right. Does this include purchasing stocked trout and introducing them into non stocked class A waters? I tried to read everything but these laws the way they are written are so confusing to me. It seemed to mention way more about invasive species than trout stocking. I think stocking of any kind of fish invasive or not needs a permit and known approved location where the fish will be stocked. I'm so sick and tired of going in the middle of nowhere expecting to catch nothing but wild/native trout and end up catching stocked rainbows.

Also is some of this talking about hatcheries, their water quality, and allowing hatchery fish to excape?

 

[Fish Sticks]

Good questions this stuff is always hard to decipher for me as well. From what I read it seems like if you are going to dump in fish no matter what step in process
( commercial hatchery or purchaser) you need fish health inspection cert and approval from PFB saying ecological impact was assessed. I think it does apply to even native butch hatchery raised brook trout waters because gill lice and other pathogens can still be an issue and some of the language just says “to stock fish”.

 

[Fish Sticks]

I do not know what they will do about escapees. Look at places like Big Spring when the hatchery was still there or Big fishing creek where there are brookies or cedar run in the BFC watershed. Big moores i think has a hatchery. The other question I have is say you go to a huge for profit hatchery operation. How many of these private hatcheries would actually comply with DEP effluent regs when their not getting tested. I have always wondered if they know when their getting tested and sell off fish beforehand and increase production right after or does DEP show up any old time to check compliance? So many questions

 

[bigjohn358]

I do not know what they will do about escapees. Look at places like Big Spring when the hatchery was still there or Big fishing creek where there are brookies or cedar run in the BFC watershed. Big moores i think has a hatchery. The other question I have is say you go to a huge for profit hatchery operation. How many of these private hatcheries would actually comply with DEP effluent regs when their not getting tested. I have always wondered if they know when their getting tested and sell off fish beforehand and increase production right after or does DEP show up any old time to check compliance? So many questions

Well many of these hatcheries that I know of you can walk in and basically access at most any time. I'm thinking several years back when the PFBC hatcheries were getting hammered because of poor waste management and saying how they didn't have the money and weren't able to upgrade the hatcheries. Things have really changed since then as far as waste management. I can remember seeing the disgusting discharge from hatcheries both PFBC and private 20 years ago and these days you do not see that.

 

[Fish Sticks]

Yea its crazy because new zealand mud snails can be terribly dangerous but their not even in the…

http://www.iucngisd.org/gisd/100_worst.php

But brown and rainbow trout are in the above IUCN top 100 worlds worst invasive species and look at the difference between how we manage them.

VS

I think the heart of what this rule making speaks to is we have known these were invasive species for so long and ignored that and now people are studying all the different negative effects on native fish, amphibians, crustaceans, macros and more that we find our selfs with not only multi million dollar state and private stocking operations but a normalization/expectation of releasing invasive species in numbers a stream could never support even if restored to impossibly perfect condition. How do ya back track out of over a century of a fisheries management debacle the public now sees as an entitled right? Theres no easy way when you’ve tone this far in the wrong direction just gotta educate people on the dangers of these things for starters and rip the bandaid off. Hopefully more regulations trying to dig our selves out of this situation coming soon. I give PA fish and Boat credit for this one and say keep it up.

 

[wildtrout2]

I think stocking of any kind of fish invasive or not needs a permit and known approved location where the fish will be stocked.

Yes! Could not agree more.

 

[brookiefan]

Done, yes, fill out the info correctly and you should have no problem.