As much as Pennsylvania anglers like to catch trout and many of them enjoy them as table fare, it is evident that conservation is equally as important to them.<\/p>\n
In order to protect wild brook trout it was proposed that the minimum size limit (MSL) for harvesting all trout increase from seven to nine inches. At last week\u2019s quarterly meeting of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission board of fish commissioners voted to give final approval to rulemaking pertaining to the minimum MSL for harvesting trout.<\/p>\n
This regulation required changes to\u00a058 Pa. Code \u00a7 61.1, pertaining to\u00a0Commonwealth Inland Waters);\u00a058 Pa. Code \u00a7 65.19, pertaining to Stocked Trout Waters Open to Year-Round Fishing; 58 Pa. Code \u00a7 65.24, pertaining to Miscellaneous Special Regulations; and\u00a058 Pa. Code \u00a7 65.26, pertaining to the\u00a0Extended Trout Season. The MSL for trout was last amended in 1983, when it was increased from six to seven inches, to provide additional protection to wild brook trout populations.<\/p>\n
Based on analysis of brook trout data from electro-fishing surveys over the past decade, PFBC staff determined that an increase in MSL from seven to nine inches for trout would prohibit the harvest of more than 99% of the state\u2019s wild Brook Trout. Staff also evaluated angler opinion data that was collected through the PFBC\u2019s\u00a02023 Pennsylvania Trout Angler Survey.<\/p>\n
This survey specifically asked anglers, \u201cWould you support or oppose an increase of the minimum size to nine inches to provide protection of wild Brook Trout?\u201d to which 85% of respondents expressed support.\u00a0Harvesting trout, regardless of species or origin \u2014 stocked versus wild \u2014 was not ranked as one of the top three reasons anglers fish for trout in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
It should be noted that the increase in MSL from seven to nine inches will have little or no impact on anglers harvesting stocked trout. The average size of a trout produced at a PFBC state fish hatchery and stocked into the waters of the Commonwealth is 11 inches, with most cooperative nurseries also producing similar sized trout for stocking in public waterways.<\/p>\n
The new regulation goes into effect with the beginning of the license year January 1, 2027.<\/p>\n
In other action regarding fish size the board gave final approval to a rulemaking pertaining to General Fishing Regulations.\u00a0Under this change,\u00a058 Pa. Code Chapter 63\u00a0will be amended to establish a formal definition for how to measure fish length.<\/p>\n
The PFBC advises anglers how to measure fish in the\u00a0Pennsylvania Fishing Summary\u00a0book, however, no formal definition is present in Title 58. \u00a0Per\u00a0Addendum III\u00a0to Amendment 7 of the Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Striped Bass, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission requires that states define total length for the purposes of measuring Atlantic Striped Bass to determine compliance with size limits associated with both commercial and recreational fisheries.<\/p>\n
This has been adopted by adding a formal definition, as follows, to meet the ASMFC requirement while applying to all other species of fish across the Commonwealth. The regulation is as follows:<\/p>\n
\u201cTotal length is defined as the greatest straight-line length as measured on a fish while laid flat on its side with its mouth closed from the most forward tip of the jaw or snout to the farthest extent of the tail with the upper and lower tail lobes compressed or squeezed together.\u201d\u00a0This amendment goes into effect upon publication of a second notice in the\u00a0Pennsylvania Bulletin.<\/p>\n
In his report to the board, executive director Schaeffer encouraged anglers and boaters to continue to take advantage of the endless opportunities on waterways throughout the state while staying safe and being mindful of changing weather conditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith plenty of summer left, I know everyone is excited to continue fishing and boating, and we all want to squeeze in as many more adventures as possible,\u201d Schaeffer said.\u00a0\u201cWhile you\u2019re having a great time on the water, please remember to make safety a priority and keep an eye on changing weather conditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether it\u2019s extreme heat, heavy thunderstorms, or strong winds that can cause dangerous water conditions, preparing ahead of each boating trip can make a big difference.\u00a0Most importantly, always wear a lifejacket.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Dietz is a member of the Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers Association. Contact the writer: outdoors@republicanherald.com)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As much as Pennsylvania anglers like to catch trout and many of them enjoy them as table fare,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":257410,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[708,28,30,29,726,289],"class_list":["post-257409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-outdoors","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-sports","tag-things-to-do"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257409\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/257410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}