Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Committee approves inland sport‑fishing rule with managers asked to continue talks on wild trout
Loading...
Summary
The Legislative Regulations Review Committee accepted the LCO recommendation to approve proposed regulation 2025-017 from the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection on sport fishing in the inland district, with technical corrections. Committee members and anglers raised concerns about protections for wild trout and catch limits.
The Legislative Regulations Review Committee voted April 22 to accept the LCO recommendation of approval in whole with technical corrections for proposed regulation 2025-017 from the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), covering sport fishing in the inland district.
Representative Wheelander, who spoke during discussion, said the committee had received numerous messages from members of the angling community raising "very strong concerns about depleting the population of natural, and non stocked fish of the wild trout, variety." Wheelander said some areas have been changed to catch‑and‑release protections, but that a numerical catch limit referenced in recent materials was outside the original scope and could not be changed by the committee at this time.
"There was some specific changes in the most vulnerable areas of water bodies that... became completely protected and went to catch and release," Wheelander said. She added that she would support the recommendation but looked forward to continued conversations with DEEP to protect native and wild trout populations.
Representative Fishbein said he had not received the same correspondence Wheelander described and asked to be forwarded constituent material; he said he intended to support the regulation as presented but wanted to review any last‑minute concerns.
The motion to accept the LCO recommendation of approval in whole with technical corrections was moved and seconded on the record and carried on roll call.
What happens next: committee members asked DEEP to continue outreach and technical discussions with anglers and stakeholders to address concerns about wild trout protections and site‑specific catch limits.
Sources and attribution: committee proceedings April 22, 2025. Quotes to Representative Wheelander and Representative Fishbein are from the committee transcript.
