HARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission has granted $60,000 in funding to organizations involved in its Cooperative Nursery Program.
The program is collaboration between the PFBC and private, non-profit organizations. The PFBC provides individual cooperative nurseries with adolescent fish. The co-ops then voluntarily raise the fish at their own cost prior to stocking them for public angling. In 2005, 171 nurseries stocked 1,056,706 trout statewide, along with a million yellow perch, one million walleye and 126,300 steelhead into Lake Erie and its tributaries.
In addition to supplying fish for the program, the commission also provides guidance and support. In 1996, the PFBC created the co-op grant program to aid nurseries with new construction, equipment to improve water quality, structures to enhance facilities, etc. Co-op sponsors may apply for up to $3,000 annually. This year, 31 applicants were selected for funding.
In Clearfield County, grants were approved for :
- Morann Gun & Rod Club, Clearfield County: $2,850. Grant monies will purchase a storage building for feed and equipment for their auxiliary nursery. Morann Gun & Rod Club has taken part in the program since 2002 and rears 10,000 trout annually.
- Bucktail Council, BSA (for PA Wildlife Habitat Unlimited), Clearfield County: $2,410. Grant monies will be used to purchase a regenerative blower motor, diffuser stones, hoses, PVC pipe and fittings, and a storage building for feed and equipment. Bucktail Council has participated in the program since 2004 and rears 3,000 trout annually.
- Glendale Sportsman Assoc., Clearfield County: $220.03. Grant monies will replace all cover screen frames and wire mesh. Glendale Sportsman Association has been a participant in the program since 1980 and rears 8,500 trout annually.