Fish & Boat Commission to Hold 100th Business Meeting
3 min readHARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) will hold its 100th quarterly meeting on January 30-31 at its Harrisburg office.
Commission committees will meet beginning at 10:10 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 30, and again at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 31. Formal consideration of the agenda by the full Commission will begin at approximately 10:20 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 31. All committee meetings and the formal meeting are open to the public.
In addition to the regular business meeting, the PFBC will host a free fly-fishing program on Monday night from 6 – 9 p.m. at the Harrisburg office. Participants will meet leaders of Pennsylvania’s fly-fishing tradition and experience world-class fly tiers in action as they show fly patterns made famous on Commonwealth waters. Also, participants will be able to view paintings by artist Thom Glace, see the Commission’s new “Pennsylvania Waters” collectible embroidered patches, and purchase a 2012 fishing license. The Cumberland Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited will also be recognized by the Commission.
The program is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Space is limited and registration will close on Jan. 27. Individuals can register online through the Commission’s website at: http://fishandboat.com/promo/form/register_onetime_2012jan.htm. For more information on the evening program, contact Ted Walke at 717.705.7813.
During Tuesday’s formal meeting, Commissioners will address a variety of issues, including:
- A recommendation to acquire property rights along Fishing Creek in Fishing Creek Township, Columbia County. In addition to the fishing easement along State Route 487, an additional easement for a footpath and parking area has been offered to ensure access to the fishing easement area.
- A recommendation to authorize an exchange of Rose Valley Lake property rights in Gamble Township, Lycoming County.
- A recommendation to approve a grant not to exceed $270,000 to the Wildlands Conservancy for water trail and access area development along the Lehigh River in Carbon, Northampton and Lehigh counties. Lehigh County, Walnutport Borough, the conservancy and the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources also are providing funding to the project.
- A recommendation to finalize new regulations establishing adaptive creel limits for walleye and yellow perch based on the annual quotas established by the Lake Erie Committee, which consists of fisheries managers from Pa., Ohio, N.Y., Michigan and Ontario, Canada. Under the proposed change, the PFBC would set daily creel limits by April 15 each year.
- A recommendation to finalize new regulations establishing a Lake Erie cast net permit for the harvest of emerald shiners and spottail shiners.
- A recommendation to finalize amendments to regulations which increase the number of commercial seine licenses from 10 to 40.
- A recommendation to apply catch and release regulations on American shad on the Lehigh River upstream of the first dam in Easton and its tributaries and on the Schuylkill River upstream from the I-95 Bridge and its tributaries.
- A recommendation to authorize a grant of $75,000 for 2012 to the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay to assist with the operation of the west fish lift at the Conowingo Dam on the Susquehanna River.
A complete copy of the meeting schedule and the full agenda for the meeting can be found on the Commission’s web site at www.fishandboat.com/minutes.htm.
