The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF) is seeking public input on the Draft Virginia Stocked Trout Management Plan, which will be available for review until September 15th, 2015, on the agency’s website.
The Virginia Stocked Trout Management Plan will provide a blueprint for future directions of the stocked trout management program for the next 10 years.
To construct the draft plan, Fisheries staff collaborated with researchers from the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation at Virginia Tech. The planning process focused on balancing stakeholder values and sound biological information to produce a plan that is technically sound and publicly supported.
Ten public meetings were held across the state from October, 2013, to February, 2014, and hundreds of comments were received through the agency’s website to gather public input regarding DGIF’s stocked trout program.
Additionally, a mail survey was sent to 5,400 trout license buyers. Angler creel surveys were conducted on 17 different stocked trout waters to learn more about Virginia’s stocked trout anglers. A stakeholder advisory committee, composed of 11 individuals representing the diverse interests of Virginians in management of stocked trout, worked closely with a technical committee that included DGIF fisheries biologists, hatchery personnel, and conservation police officers, to develop a framework.
The result is the Virginia Stocked Trout Management Plan. The Plan includes values and goals as defined by diverse stakeholders, to determine what Virginians want the stocked trout program to achieve. It also lays out objectives and strategies, primarily developed by DGIF technical staff, to meet those challenges and goals.
Interested individuals can read the plan and submit comments through a link on the DGIF website at http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/fishing/trout/management-plan/ or mail comments to:
Stocked Trout Management Plan c/o Vic DiCenzo
Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Conservation (MC 0321)
Virginia Tech, 310 West Campus Drive
email: vicd91@vt.edu
source: Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries