Fish and Boat Commission Adds 99 Streams to Wild Trout List

Harrisburg, PA –The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) yesterday added 99 new waters to the state’s list of wild trout streams, raising the total number of documented waterways which support naturally reproducing populations of trout to nearly 3,650.The board voted to add the streams during a special Commission meeting held yesterday at Bald Eagle State Park in Centre County. It also removed 16 waters from the list and adjusted the limits on eight others.

The changes resulted from recent stream surveys undertaken as part of the PFBC’s Unassessed Waters Initiative, a collaborative effort among the agency, local colleges and universities and conservation groups to survey the Commonwealth’s nearly 45,000 remaining unassessed waterways. Surveying unassessed waters and documenting wild trout populations are consistent with the Commission’s five-year Strategic Plan, Strategic Plan for Management of Trout Fisheries in Pennsylvania and the agency’s Resource First philosophy.

The wild trout stream designation has regulatory significance because wetlands that are located in or along the floodplain of the reach of a wild trout stream are considered “exceptional value” by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and are entitled to the highest level of protection by DEP.

The changes voted on yesterday will go into effect immediately upon the publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. The list can be found on the PFBC website at: http://fishandboat.com/images/exec/minutes/2011minu/04min_exh_i.pdf. The current version of the wild trout streams list was last revised in April 2010 and can be found on the PFBC website at: http://www.fishandboat.com/trout_repro.pdf.

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.