Post by melody on Apr 29, 2013 11:27:14 GMT -5
State representatives tour Oswayo Fish Hatchery
www.bradfordera.com/news/local/article_03541d56-aede-11e2-9aca-001a4bcf887a.html
April 26, 2013 10:45 pm | Updated: 9:48 pm, Sat Apr 27, 2013.
By AMANDA JONES Era Correspondent amandajonesera@yahoo.com
COUDERSPORT — Members of the Pennsylvania House of Representative’s Committee on Game and Fisheries toured the Oswayo State Fish Hatchery in Potter County on Friday.
Representative and Committee Majority Chair Marty Causer, R-Turtlepoint, was a strong voice of opposition to a cost-savings move discussed earlier this year by the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission that would have closed the Oswayo State Fish Hatchery, along with another located in Bellefonte.
“The hatchery will remain open for at least two years,” stated John Arway, executive director of the Fish & Boat Commission, citing funding issues and increased costs as major pressures on the state’s hatchery program. The facility employs seven full-time and two permanent part-time employees who likely would have been furloughed if the hatchery closed.
Facility costs are expected to continue increasing in coming years. Currently, the Oswayo facility has an annual budget of around $800,000, steadily increasing by about 5 percent each year. By 2020, costs are expected to reach $1.3 million annually. Similar increases are expected at all fishery locations, according to Arway.
For example, in 2010, fish feed cost $0.38 per pound. In 2011, the cost per pound increased to $0.39. This year, feed cost $0.62 per pound, mostly attributed to increased shipping costs. The Oswayo Hatchery goes through between 18,000 and 25,000 pounds of feed each month.
According to Arway, state-run hatcheries are covered by some of the most stringent regulations regarding release of effluent water back into streams.
“If you look around, you’re not going to find any industry regulated to the standards that we’re held to,” said Arway. Much care must be taken to ensure that water leaving the facility is as clean as is possible using available technologies.
If the Oswayo Hatchery is to remain open in the future, renovations similar to those completed at five other hatcheries across the state will have to be replicated there, at a price estimated above $2 million.
“We’re going to be at that decision point to decide if we’re going to put in the $2-4 million or are we going to shut down,” Arway said. “Our permits are based on what we are able to remove.”
On top of that cost, Brian Wisner, director of the Bureau of Hatcheries, stated that electricity costs at these improved facilities are typically 40 percent higher annually after the new equipment is in use. The possibility of a shallow natural gas well on the property to offset electricity usage may be considered.
The closing of two hatcheries that supply streams within the PA Wilds Region with the cold-water trout species necessary to attract fishermen and their tourism dollars to the area was seen as a poor decision by many members of the Game and Fisheries Committee and the general public.
Representatives asked if increasing the cost to purchase a fishing license, which has not occurred in eight years, may alleviate some fiscal pressures. This is considered a last resort according to Arway, who said between eight and ten percent declines have been recorded following the last few license fee increases.
The Oswayo State Fish Hatchery stocks nearly 250,000 adult trout in area streams, mostly within Potter, McKean, Elk and Forest counties. In addition, 325,000 fingerling trout are reared for transfer to cooperative nurseries, and 800,000 Brook Trout eggs are produced annually, many used in schools as part of the Trout in the Classroom Program.
The PFBC purchased the hatchery from a private individual in 1968, and the facility itself covers 14 acres of land. The property encompasses nearly 1,250 acres in total, the rest of which is open for hunting and other forms of outdoor recreation.
From 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., the public is welcome to visit the facility which includes an indoor Hatch House where eggs are incubated and hatched, covered outdoor raceways filled with many species of fish in varying stages of development, and in-coming and out-going water treatment and storage areas. The Oswayo State Fish Hatchery is located on Route 244 just outside of the town of Oswayo.
www.bradfordera.com/news/local/article_03541d56-aede-11e2-9aca-001a4bcf887a.html
April 26, 2013 10:45 pm | Updated: 9:48 pm, Sat Apr 27, 2013.
By AMANDA JONES Era Correspondent amandajonesera@yahoo.com
COUDERSPORT — Members of the Pennsylvania House of Representative’s Committee on Game and Fisheries toured the Oswayo State Fish Hatchery in Potter County on Friday.
Representative and Committee Majority Chair Marty Causer, R-Turtlepoint, was a strong voice of opposition to a cost-savings move discussed earlier this year by the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission that would have closed the Oswayo State Fish Hatchery, along with another located in Bellefonte.
“The hatchery will remain open for at least two years,” stated John Arway, executive director of the Fish & Boat Commission, citing funding issues and increased costs as major pressures on the state’s hatchery program. The facility employs seven full-time and two permanent part-time employees who likely would have been furloughed if the hatchery closed.
Facility costs are expected to continue increasing in coming years. Currently, the Oswayo facility has an annual budget of around $800,000, steadily increasing by about 5 percent each year. By 2020, costs are expected to reach $1.3 million annually. Similar increases are expected at all fishery locations, according to Arway.
For example, in 2010, fish feed cost $0.38 per pound. In 2011, the cost per pound increased to $0.39. This year, feed cost $0.62 per pound, mostly attributed to increased shipping costs. The Oswayo Hatchery goes through between 18,000 and 25,000 pounds of feed each month.
According to Arway, state-run hatcheries are covered by some of the most stringent regulations regarding release of effluent water back into streams.
“If you look around, you’re not going to find any industry regulated to the standards that we’re held to,” said Arway. Much care must be taken to ensure that water leaving the facility is as clean as is possible using available technologies.
If the Oswayo Hatchery is to remain open in the future, renovations similar to those completed at five other hatcheries across the state will have to be replicated there, at a price estimated above $2 million.
“We’re going to be at that decision point to decide if we’re going to put in the $2-4 million or are we going to shut down,” Arway said. “Our permits are based on what we are able to remove.”
On top of that cost, Brian Wisner, director of the Bureau of Hatcheries, stated that electricity costs at these improved facilities are typically 40 percent higher annually after the new equipment is in use. The possibility of a shallow natural gas well on the property to offset electricity usage may be considered.
The closing of two hatcheries that supply streams within the PA Wilds Region with the cold-water trout species necessary to attract fishermen and their tourism dollars to the area was seen as a poor decision by many members of the Game and Fisheries Committee and the general public.
Representatives asked if increasing the cost to purchase a fishing license, which has not occurred in eight years, may alleviate some fiscal pressures. This is considered a last resort according to Arway, who said between eight and ten percent declines have been recorded following the last few license fee increases.
The Oswayo State Fish Hatchery stocks nearly 250,000 adult trout in area streams, mostly within Potter, McKean, Elk and Forest counties. In addition, 325,000 fingerling trout are reared for transfer to cooperative nurseries, and 800,000 Brook Trout eggs are produced annually, many used in schools as part of the Trout in the Classroom Program.
The PFBC purchased the hatchery from a private individual in 1968, and the facility itself covers 14 acres of land. The property encompasses nearly 1,250 acres in total, the rest of which is open for hunting and other forms of outdoor recreation.
From 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., the public is welcome to visit the facility which includes an indoor Hatch House where eggs are incubated and hatched, covered outdoor raceways filled with many species of fish in varying stages of development, and in-coming and out-going water treatment and storage areas. The Oswayo State Fish Hatchery is located on Route 244 just outside of the town of Oswayo.
