1. Troutnut Forum
›
2. Fly Fishing
›
3. Pa fish comm.

I think there are a lot of fishermen in this group from Pa. I'm not sure how many guys are following the news but the Pa.fish commission said they need a trout stamp increase or they will close down 2 hatcheries. I don't know who approves raises for the fish commission, but I was talking to a guy from TU and he said they did not get there raise so they shut down 2 hatcheries. Just wanted to get some in put from other Pa trout fishermen.

Things are a bit of a mess right now.. PF&BC has been asking for a general license increase (and perhaps an increase in the cost of the trout stamp as well, I'm unsure..) for some time. These sort of fee increases have to be approved by the Pa. Legislature, which is in the middle of a contentious battle over the entire state budget and has yet to act on the Commission's request, although I think the increase has been approved by the PA Senate but not yet by the house.

Along the way, there has been a lot of acrimonious debate and at this point, one of the casualties of all this bickering appears to be PF&BC Executive Director John Arway. Last week, the PA Senate passed a bill imposing an 8 year term limit on the PF&BC Executive Director position. Just coincidentally, Mr. Arway's 8 years will be up in March of 2018. Hence, this action by the PA Senate was nothing more than an act of petty retribution against Mr. Arway for daring to speak truth to power and stand up for his people and the overall Commission mission. It evidently doesn't matter that Arway is by far the best Exec. Director the Commission has had since the 1970's.

This is where things currently stand, but stay tuned. I believe the PA House has yet to weigh in on this blatant hit job by the Senate.. So, we'll see what happens.

Anyway, the short answer to the question is that so far, no additional hatchery closings have actually happened. But, without a significant increase in Commission revenue (license increase, etc.), they are, without question, not far away. Imminent even, as I understand it..

I have been subscribing to the PFBC bi monthly magazine for at least 15 years and Mr. Arway's editorials have always been insightful and full of valuable information. He really took on the debacle of the loss of the smallmouth bass in the Susquehanna River with all his resources. I looked forward to each issue of the magazine as much for his input as I did for the other articles.

It is shameful that the PA Senate would be so petty as to pass a law on term limits to "get back" at someone who spoke the truth without fear. Actions like this don't fly in the commercial sector due to whistle blower laws that forbid companies from punishing employees for coming forward with information that they believe the public should be aware of.

I wonder how many of the law makers who approved this term limit law are fishermen and women and boater?