Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Fish and Wildlife officials tell House Health Care committee hunting and fishing support food security
Summary
Fish & Wildlife presenters told the House Health Care committee that regulated hunting and fishing contribute to Vermont food security, citing participation figures, department programs that salvage and distribute meat, and an MSU estimate of roughly $9 million in replacement value from lawful harvest into Vermont households each year.
Jason Batchelder, who identified himself as commissioner of the Schwalek Department, told the House Committee on Health Care that the department’s licensing, hatcheries and outreach programs provide an important, low-cost source of meat and fish for many Vermonters. "What I look at when I come to work every day is how we can support people who are filling their freezer with venison, fish, bear meat, moose meat, and anything else they wanna legally harvest," Batchelder said.
Batchelder told members the department currently records about 109,000 resident hunters and anglers in Vermont and described a long-term decline in younger participants even as license sales rose during economic uncertainty such as the COVID pandemic. He and presenters stressed that lifetime licenses and…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
