Sunday, December 30, 2012

Today was the Pocono Environmental Education Center/Audubon Annual Christmas Bird Count. I donned the snowshoes and hit the forest & fields on a cold blustery day recording the number and species of birds I saw. Fantastic afternoon!

In addition to the birds, I stalked within 30 yards of a deer leisurely feeding among some dead-falls in a grove of white pine. If you've never participated in this event you're missing a really nice opportunity to spend a winter's day outdoors. Next Fall check on Audubon.org for the date of your local Christmas Bird Count.

For me, this wasn't a social event. I signed up on line and received an email of the Count Area with a breakdown of sections. I chose a section and went on my merry way. I didn't see a single person or other person's footprint in my coverage area. Sweet, to say the least.

Urban dwellers can also participate in the cities. The elderly or those who are ill can tally what comes to their bird feeder and the less adventurous can count birds they see from their cars. A filed guide is handy to have as are binoculars. I never ran into anything unrecognizable so the field guide stay tucked away in my coat pocket.

I didn't set any records and I didn't see any rare or oddball species. I simply had a great time. Most of the birds I saw were Juncos followed by Chickadees. There were a few Nuthatches, a Blue Jay, two Red-tailed Hawks, a couple of American Crows, some Tufted Titmouse, half dozen Wild Turkey Toms, Mourning Doves, and the rarest of the species was a Pileated Woodpecker.

I should've brought along an SLR with a telephoto but I wanted to travel light for the 3 hour trudge through the snow. I did bring the old "Big Bird" point & shoot that did zero justice to any wildlife shots but did manage to capture some landscape pictures.

The sign up cost? Zero. It used to be a measly $5, but Audubon scrapped the fee. Of course a small donation to Audubon would help them with their mission: To conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife, and their habitats for the benefit of humanity and the earth's biological diversity.

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

The 18 county area that makes up southeast Pennsylvania will have an
earlier opening day for trout season for kids but only on certain waters.

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) announced the start of a pilot program called the Mentored Youth Trout Day.

“The Commission is piloting the Mentored Youth Trout Day as part of its goal to
keep young anglers and their families fishing,” said PFBC Executive Director
John Arway. “The pilot program gives us the opportunity to gauge interest and
to determine the feasibility of expanding the program across the state.”

To participate in the program, kids under the age of 16 must register with the PFBC before joining a mentor
angler, who must have a current fishing license and trout permit. They will then
be able to fish on the Saturday before the southeast opener on the select waters
from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

“The waters will be stocked to ensure a plentiful supply of fish to catch
for the youth day and the regular season to follow,” said Laurel Anders, PFBC
director of Boating and Outreach.

“Registration is free and youth will have the opportunity to receive a free
one-year subscription to the Pennsylvania League of Angling Youth (PLAY)
newsletter,” added Anders. “The PLAY newsletter is written for young anglers and
includes articles and activities on fish, fishing, and PA’s aquatic resources
published four times each year.”

On-line registration is currently available on the PFBC website at: http://fishandboat.com/MentoredYouth.htm.
Paper registration forms will be available at many of the Mentored Youth Trout
Day locations starting Feb. 1, 2013.

The regional opening day of trout is March 30, 2013. The Mentored Youth Trout Day is March 23, 2103. The statewide opening day of
trout is April 13, 2013.

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Effective
January 1, 2013, all American shad fisheries in New Jersey (both commercial and
recreational), with the exception of the Delaware Bay, Delaware River
and its tributaries, will be closed (no possession, take or harvest).
The recreational possession limit in the Delaware Bay, Delaware River
and its tributaries will now be 3 fish with no minimum size and an open
season all year.

This shouldn't pose a problem to recreational anglers since the Delaware River is where almost all shad fishing in NJ takes place.

New Jersey announced changes to the black sea bass regulations for 2013. The new sea bass regs, which will cover both state and federal water call for a season from January 1 through February 28 with a size limit of 12 1/2 inches and a 15 fish possession limit.

The current sea bass season is split up throughout the year, May 19 - Sept.3 Sept.23 - Oct.14 Nov.1 - Dec.31 and has a 25 fish possession limit with a 12 1/2 inch size limit.

What's not clear in their announcement is if these regulations are instead of the current regs above or if it's an add on. As NJ says, "all new regulations will be announced on the division website and via the NJ Marine Fishing E-mail List when they are determined" So I guess it's still a wait & see.

Friday, December 21, 2012

Wildlife-related outdoor recreation increased dramatically from 2006 to
2011. The national details are shown in the final report (Final
Report) of the 2011 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreationreleased
today by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service). The Final
Report, which follows the August 2012 Preliminary Review and the
September 2012 State Overview, provides more information on the types of
activities and money spent for fishing, hunting, and wildlife watching.
Highlights of the Final Report include:

More than 90 million U.S. residents 16 years old and older
participated in some form of wildlife-related recreation in 2011; that
is up 3 percent from five years earlier. The increase was primarily
among those who fished and hunted.

Wildlife recreationists spent $144.7 billion in 2011 on their
activities, which equated to 1 percent of the Gross Domestic Product.
Of the total amount spent, $49.5 billion was trip-related, $70.4 billion
was spent on equipment, and $24.8 billion was spent on other items such
as licenses and land leasing and ownership.

The number of sportspersons rose from 33.9 million in 2006 to 37.4
million in 2011. The data show that 33.1 million people fished, 13.7
million hunted, and 71.8 million participated in at least one type of
wildlife-watching activity such as observing, feeding and photographing
wildlife.

Other key findings include:Fishing and Hunting

Of the 13.7 million hunters that took to the field in 2011, 11.6
million hunted big game, 4.5 million hunted small game, 2.6 million
hunted migratory birds, and 2.2 million other animals.

Of the 33.1 million anglers that fished, 27.5 million freshwater fished and 8.9 million saltwater fished.

While 94% of the U.S. population 16 years of age and older resided in
metropolitan areas (50,000 and over populations), 89% of all anglers and
80% of all hunters were metropolitan residents.

73% (24.2 million) of all anglers were male and 27% (8.9 million) were
female. 89% (12.2 million) of all hunters were males and 11% (1.5
million) were females.

Wildlife Watching Highlights

71.8 million U.S. residents observed, fed, and/or photographed birds
and other wildlife in 2011. Almost 68.6 million people wildlife watched
around their homes, and 22.5 million people took trips of at least one
mile from home to primarily wildlife watch.

Of the 46.7 million people who observed wild birds, 88% did so around their homes and 38% on trips a mile or more from home.

Other types of wildlife also were popular for trip takers: 13.7
million people enjoyed watching land mammals such as bear, squirrel, and
buffalo. 4 million people watched marine mammals such as whales and
dolphins; 6.4 million enjoyed watching fish; and 10.1 million enjoyed
watching other wildlife such as butterflies.

People spent $54.9 billion on their wildlife-watching trips,
equipment, and other items in 2011. This amounted to $981 on average
per spender for the year.

At the request of state fish and wildlife agencies, the Fish and
Wildlife Service has been sponsoring the national survey every five
years since 1955. It is viewed as one of the nation’s most important
wildlife-related recreation databases and the definitive source of
information concerning participation and purchases associated with
hunting, fishing and other forms of wildlife-related recreation
nationwide.

The U.S. Census Bureau selected over 48,600 households across the
country to obtain samples of sportspersons and wildlife watchers for
detailed interviews. Information was collected through computer-assisted
telephone and in-person interviews. Starting in December 2012 through
May 2013, the State reports will be prepared for release on a rolling
basis. The survey is funded by Multi-State Conservation grants under the
Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Programs which celebrates 75 years
of conservation success in 2012.
The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with
others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants, and
their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. We are
both a leader and trusted partner in fish and wildlife conservation,
known for our scientific excellence, stewardship of lands and natural
resources, dedicated professionals, and commitment to public service.
For more information on our work and the people who make it happen,
visit www.fws.gov. Connect with our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/usfws, follow our tweets at www.twitter.com/usfwshq, watch our YouTube Channel at http://www.youtube.com/usfws and download photos from our Flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwshq.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Until the mid 1950s, Lake Ontario was home to a diverse group of
whitefish that included as many as seven species that occupied varying
depths of the lake.

Only three species are known to remain, the lake whitefish, round
whitefish and lake herring. The abundance and distribution of these
species in the lake is now greatly reduced. Recently the NY Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) re-introduced the bloater, a deep water form of whitefish,
into Lake Ontario. Lake herring occupy and spawn in shallower water than the bloater, and spawn earlier in winter.

"We recognize the economic and ecological importance of Lake Ontario's
fisheries," said DEC Commissioner Joe Martens. "Re-establishing spawning
populations of lake herring in Lake Ontario will diversify the native
prey fish community and add stability to the lake's ecosystem."

Re-establishing self-sustaining populations of native whitefishes in
Lake Ontario is the focus of cooperative efforts between DEC, the U.S.
Geological Survey (USGS), the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
(OMNR), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and the Great
Lakes Fishery Commission, with supporting research conducted by The
Nature Conservancy.

Steelhead and salmon that feed primarily on invasive alewife can experience
reproductive failure due to a vitamin B deficiency. Predators that feed
on native species like lake herring and bloater are less likely to
experience reproductive failure.

Michael Morencie, Director of the Fish and Wildlife Services Branch of
the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, said, "Ontario has a strong
commitment to restoring native species in Lake Ontario. This stocking
event represents another pivotal benchmark in our efforts to restore
native species diversity in the lake."

Lake herring were once an important prey fish in Lake Ontario, and
supported important commercial fisheries that collapsed in the early
1950s largely due to over-harvest. In the New York waters of Lake Ontario,
lake herring historically spawned in Irondequoit Bay, Sodus Bay, the
Sandy Pond, and Chaumont Bay. Research has documented current
lake herring spawning only occurs in Chaumont Bay.

Juvenile lake herring will be stocked this week that originated from
eggs collected by DEC staff in Chaumont Bay during November and December
2011.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) came out with a new report looking at residential building trends in America’s metropolitan areas. They found that nearly 75% of large metropolitan regions had an increase in new housing development on land that was previously developed. This report compares the time periods of 2000-2004 to 2005 t0 2009.

This is good news. This type of development saves resources and open space since the infrastructure like water, sewer, rads and the like are already there. In other words, we're not taking an area that is still in its natural state and messing it up. The government has a name for this kind of development; it's called infill housing.

Among 51 large metropolitan regions examined in this study, 36 saw an increased
share of infill housing development during 2005-2009 compared to 2000-2004. For example, eight out of ten new homes in San Jose, Calif. were infill. New
York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco all saw a majority of new home construction
in previously developed areas during the same time period.

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar released a study that
projects water supply and demand imbalances throughout the Colorado
River Basin and adjacent areas over the next 50 years. The Colorado River Basin Water Supply and Demand Study,
the first of its kind, also includes a wide array of adaptation and
mitigation strategies proposed by stakeholders and the public to address
the projected imbalances.

One acre-foot of water is approximately the amount of water used by a single household in a year. This study projects the average imbalance in future supply and demand to be greater than 3.2 million acre-feet by 2060. The largest increase in demand will come from municipal and industrial
users, owing to population growth. The Colorado River Basin currently
provides water to some 40 million people, and the study estimates that
this number could nearly double to approximately 76.5 million people by
2060, under a rapid growth scenario.

“Water is the lifeblood of our communities, and this study provides a
solid platform to explore actions we can take toward a sustainable water
future. Although not all of the proposals included in the study are
feasible, they underscore the broad interest in finding a comprehensive
set of solutions." said Secretary Salazar.

“This study is one of a number of ongoing basin studies that Reclamation
is undertaking through Interior’s WaterSMART Program,” said Assistant
Secretary for Water and Science Anne Castle. “These analyses pave the
way for stakeholders in each basin to come together and determine their
own water destiny. This study is a call to action, and we look forward
to continuing this collaborative approach as we discuss next steps.”

WaterSMART is Interior’s sustainable water initiative and focuses on
using the best available science to improve water conservation and help
water-resource managers identify strategies to narrow the gap between
supply and demand.

The Colorado River Basin is one of the most critical sources of water in
the western United States. The Colorado River and its tributaries
provide water to about 40 million people for municipal use; supply water
used to irrigate nearly 4 million acres of land, and is also the
lifeblood for at least 22 Native American tribes, 7 National Wildlife
Refuges, 4 National Recreation Areas, and 11 National Parks.

Throughout the course of the three-year study, eight interim reports
were published to reflect technical developments and public input.
Public comments are encouraged on the final study over the next 90 days;
comments will be summarized and posted to the website for consideration
in future basin planning activities.

Atlantic Menhaden get the protection they need to rebuild their population

ASMFC Approves Atlantic Menhaden Amendment 2

Baltimore, MD – The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has approved Amendment 2 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden. The Amendment establishes a 170,800 MT total allowable catch (TAC) beginning in 2013 and continuing until completion of, and Board action on, the next benchmark stock assessment, scheduled for 2014. The TAC represents a 20% reduction from the average of landings from 2009-2011 and an approximately 25% reduction from 2011 levels. The Board also adopted new biological reference points for biomass based on maximum spawning potential (MSP), with the goal of increasing abundance, spawning stock biomass, and menhaden availability as a forage species.

“Through the selection of the MSP-based reference points, beginning with adoption of Addendum V in 2011 and continuing today, the Board has made a conscious decision to address the ecosystem services provided by Atlantic menhaden,” stated Board Chair Louis Daniel of North Carolina. “Given the stock is experiencing overfishing and is most likely overfished based on the newly adopted reference points, it was incumbent upon the Board to reduce landings in order to ensure the long-term sustainability of the resource and the fisheries that depend on it.”

The Amendment allocates the TAC on a state-by-state basis based on landings history of the fishery from 2009-2011; allocation will be revisited three years after implementation. Further, it reduces the Chesapeake Bay reduction fishery harvest cap by 20% (this is an adjustment of cap which was in place since 2006). States will be required to close their fisheries when the state-specific portion of the TAC has been reached; any overages must be paid back the following year. The Amendment includes provisions to allow for the transfer of quota between states and a bycatch allowance of 6,000 pounds for non-directed fisheries that are operating after a state TAC has been landed. The Amendment also establishes requirements for timely reporting and improved biological monitoring.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Legendary
pro fisherman Stu Apte met Ted Williams in 1948 and shared his
secret fishing spots with him for three months before he knew Williams was a baseball
player.

Ted
Williams was known for being one of Baseball’s greatest, but he also known for
snagging fishing records in the Keys. Several of his old fishing buddies will
recount their stories of Ted this Sunday at 4 pm at Robbie’s Marina at 77522
Overseas Highway in Islamorada FL.

Legendary
pro fisherman Stu Apte will recount how he met Williams in 1948, share his
secret fishing spots for three months before he know Williams was a baseball
player. Williams signed his $100,000 annual endorsement with Sears at Apte’s
home in the Keys because Williams didn’t
want to miss out of three days on fishing with a trip to Chicago. He also
attended two thanksgiving dinners at Williams’ FL home (hosted separately by
two of Williams’ wives).

On
Sunday, December 16, South Florida postal officials will present enlargements
of the Ted Williams stamp to Irving R. Eyster, President, Matecumbe Historical
Trust, and Stu Apte, Skip Bradeen, Hank Brown, Gary Ellis, and Tony Hammon who
will share their recollections of fishing with “The Kid.”

During
World War II, while in the prime of his career, Wil­liams
enlisted in the Navy and began a flight training pro­gram after the 1942
season. He earned his wings as a second lieutenant in the Marines and became a
flight instructor. He missed three full seasons of baseball during the war. He
also missed most of two seasons in 1952 and 1953 while flying combat missions
during the Korean War.

Despite
the interruptions to his career, Williams man­aged
to win six American League batting titles and four home-run titles, even though
Boston’s Fenway Park was difficult for
left-handed power hitters like Williams. He also was voted the American
League’s Most Valuable Player twice. In 1947, his second season after returning
from World War II, he won his second Triple Crown. In 1957, at age 39, he hit
.388 and became the oldest player in the his­tory of the majors to win a
batting championship; he then led the league in batting again the next year at
age 40. He even batted a more than respectable .316 his final season, in 1960,
at age 42.

Williams
was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966.
In 1969, he became manager of the Washington Sen­ators and was named American
League Manager of the Year. After four years, he retired from managing and
moved to Florida to pursue a lifelong passion for fishing.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's Atlantic Menhaden Management Board will meet on December 14, 2012 from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM in Baltimore, Maryland to consider approval of Amendment 2 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden. The meeting will take place at the Best Western Plus Hotel and Conference Center, Chesapeake Room, 5625 O’Donnell Street, Baltimore, Maryland; 410.633.9500. The Business Session of the Commission will meet immediately following the Atlantic Menhaden Board meeting to consider final approval of Amendment 2. Meeting materials are now available at http://www.asmfc.org/meetings/atlMenhadenBoardMaterials_Dec14_2012.pdf. Supplemental materials will be posted to the Commission website on the Meetings page prior to the meeting; a subsequent press release will announce their availability.

The public is welcome to attend the meeting or listen to the proceedings via webinar. While the meeting venue will be able to accommodate a large audience (~175 seats), interested parties are invited to listen to the proceedings via the Internet Webinar (both presentations/motions and audio) or conference call (long distance charges will apply). Additional details on the webinar and conference call will be released later this week. Please note that since the Commission has already sought public comment on the main agenda items for the meeting (received 128,333 comments and held 13 public hearings from Maine through North Carolina), there will be limited opportunity for public comment at the meeting. Public comment may be accepted on issues that were not addressed during the public comment process or items that are not on the agenda.

At the meeting, the Board will select the final measures to be included in the Amendment as well as an implementation timeline. Draft Amendment 2, which was available for public comment from September 14 – November 16, 2012, presents a suite of options to manage and monitor the stock in both the short and long-term. These include options to end overfishing; change the biomass reference points to match the fishing mortality reference points; and establish a specification process to set and allocate total allowable catch (TAC), including procedures to close the fishery when a certain percentage of the TAC has been projected to be landed. It presents accountability measures to address quota transfers, rollovers, and overage payback, as well as options to allow for a specified amount of the TAC to be set aside for small scale fisheries and episodic events. To address monitoring and data collection needs, the Draft Amendment also presents options for timely quota monitoring and the collection of biological data through catch sampling.

Draft Amendment 2 responds to the findings of both the 2010 benchmark stock assessment and the 2012 stock assessment update that indicate the stock is experiencing overfishing but may or may not be overfished depending on the reference points chosen. The stock is not overfished based on the current reference points used in the most recent assessment. Given that the stock is experiencing overfishing, the Draft Amendment’s immediate goals are to take steps to end overfishing and manage Atlantic menhaden not only as a fishery but as a critical ecosystem component. However, uncertainties in the 2012 stock assessment update make it difficult to quantify the level of reductions needed to meet those goals. Therefore, the Draft Amendment includes a range of harvest reductions from 0 – 50% from current harvest levels. The broad range of potential harvest reductions and allocation scenarios enables the Board and the public to consider management options beyond the historical allocations and traditional quota setting approaches to best manage this fishery.

After a two-week investigation by New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation (DEC) Environmental Conservation Officers (ECOs), two people were charged with selling 150 illegal tautog, locallaly known as blackfish. A thrid person has also been charged for purchasing the fish illegally.

ECOs nailed the two unlicensed fisherman, Matthew Ervolino and Matthew
J. Savarese as they were weighing the fish before exchanging money with Ding
Hai Yen from New Harbor Food, Inc in Flushing, NY The total weight of the fish came to more than 382 pounds.

"DEC establishes recreational fishing limits so individuals can enjoy a
fishing resource at a sustainable level," said DEC Region 1 Regional
Director Peter A. Scully. "When individuals drastically overfish their
recreational limit and then attempt to sell these fish, they are not
only depleting the fishing stock, but taking advantage of commercial
fisherman who are playing by the rules and harvesting fish at their
quota limits."

The arrests were made at a West Islip residence where they kept pens to
sell live tautog to the New York City market. The fish have an
approximate value of $2,000 on the black market.

Ervolino, 34, of West Babylon and Saverese, 36, of Holbrook were each
charged with unlawful possession and sale of the blackfish, selling
without a commercial food fish license, and possessing over the limit
and undersized blackfish, each a misdemeanor under the Environmental
Conservation Law (ECL) carrying fines of up to $5,000 for each charge and/or
one year in jail.

Yen, 56, was charged with purchasing fish from the unlicensed fishermen,
also a misdemeanor carrying fines of up to $5,000 for each charge
and/or one year in jail under the ECL.

Suffolk County District Attorney's Office is reviewing the case and may have additional charges

Monday, December 10, 2012

On September 14, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released
its recommendations for budget cuts that include withholding parts of
the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund, a move that would
have a significant impact on fisheries conservation and the jobs it
supports. OMB’s action was triggered by the failure of the Congress and
the Administration to enact a plan to reduce the deficit by $1.2
trillion, as required by the Budget Control Act of 2011.

“The angling and boating community was shocked to learn that for the
first time in its 62-year history, the Sport Fish Restoration and
Boating Trust Fund – the backbone of fisheries conservation in the
United States - is recommended for a cut under sequestration totaling
$34 million,” said Gordon Robertson, vice president of the American
Sportfishing Association.

Robertson further said, “This conservation trust fund, established in
1950 with the support of industry, anglers and state conservation
agencies, is an outstanding example of what good government should be
and is the backbone of the user-pay model of funding conservation in
this nation. It is essential that it remain untouched. The sportfishing
and boating communities are ready to work with Congress and the
Administration to solve this problem.”

The Sport Fish Restoration Act of 1950 placed a federal excise tax on
all recreational fishing equipment, which manufacturers pay and is then
incorporated into the cost of the equipment that anglers purchase. In
1984 the Act was amended to include that part of the federal gasoline
fuel tax attributable to motor boat use. The total annual value of the
Trust Fund is approximately $650 million. The monies from the fund are
apportioned to state conservation agencies for sport fish restoration,
boating safety, angler and boater access and other fishing and boating
programs.

“When anglers and boaters pay the equipment tax or the fuel tax they
are doing so with the understanding that this money is going to a trust
fund dedicated - by law - to the resources they enjoy,” said Robertson.
“Withholding funds from this essential program at a time when state
fishery programs are already struggling to ensure the best quality
service to anglers and resource management will only cause fishery
resources to suffer even more and cause job losses associated with the
loss of recreation fishing boating programs. The sportfishing and
boating industries as well as anglers and boaters themselves fail to
understand how cutting a user-pay trust fund helps the economy.”

Recreational fishing adds $125 billion each year to the nation’s
economy and supports more than one million jobs. Since its inception,
the Sport Fish Restoration Act has pumped $7 billion into habitat
restoration, access and boating safety programs.

The Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund’s older sibling, the
Wildlife Restoration Act of 1936, after which the Sportfish Trust Fund
was patterned, is slated for a $31 million freeze. That Act is funded by
hunters and men and women who engage in the shooting sports and
archery, who pay a similar tax to support wildlife restoration. “This
level of cuts to conservation programs that pay their own way is
unprecedented and all anglers, hunters and shooting sports enthusiasts
must speak up to prevent these cuts,” Robertson concluded.

Along with these two cornerstone conservation acts, many other critical
conservation funds are also listed for significant cuts. Congress, with
the cooperation of the Administration, must address the sequestration
schedule and they will not occur until after the elections and possibly
not until early 2013 and with a new Congress.

“We encourage all anglers to go to www.KeepAmericaFishing.org
for information about when Congress may act and when anglers should
speak up to maintain critical conservation funding,” Robertson said.

The American Sportfishing Association (ASA)
is the sportfishing industry's trade association, committed to looking
out for the interests of the entire sportfishing community. We give the
industry a unified voice speaking out when emerging laws and policies
could significantly affect sportfishing business or sportfishing itself.
We invest in long-term ventures to ensure the industry will remain
strong and prosperous as well as safeguard and promote the enduring
economic and conservation values of sportfishing in America. ASA also
gives America's 60 million anglers a voice in policy decisions that
affect their ability to sustainably fish on our nation's waterways
through KeepAmericaFishing™,
our angler advocacy campaign. America's anglers generate over $45
billion in retail sales with a $125 billion impact on the nation's
economy creating employment for over one million people.

Thursday, December 06, 2012

Wow, I would thought this was something that would have been banned long ago! But, under the category of better late than never, The EPA figures the time has finally come to establish a “no discharge zone”. This 593 square mile area takes in several bays and tributaries along 84 miles of coastline.The no discharge zone means that boats would be banned from discharging sewage into the water.

EPA Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck said, "Creating a no discharge zone for the
New York portions of Lake Erie is an important step in protecting this amazing
water body.”

Wednesday, December 05, 2012

With more than a month left in 2012, state game wardens already are
looking at a record number of seizures of illegal gill nets and long
lines in Texas and U.S. waters along the lower coast.

On Nov. 20, the U.S. Coast Guard notified the Texas Parks and
Wildlife Department that following a three-mile pursuit by one of its
boats, coast guardsmen had apprehended a commercial fishing vessel from
Mexico in Texas waters. At the South Padre Island Coast Guard station,
game warden Sgt. James Dunks removed an illegal gill net from the seized
Mexican “launcha” and found some 180 sharks entangled in it.

The captain of the seized vessel, a Mexican national, was taken
before a South Padre Island justice of the peace and charged with
possession of an illegal fishing device and operating an unregistered
vessel. The other person on the boat, a 16-year-old male, was released
to the U.S. Border Patrol.

On Nov. 7, the TPWD patrol vessel Captain Williams discovered a
three-mile-long gill net about 6 miles north of Brazos Santiago Pass and
7 miles offshore.

Dropping 30 feet deep, the net contained 17 greater hammerhead
sharks, 13 unidentified sharks (because of their advanced
decomposition), 8 black drum, 6 tripletail, 1 large red drum, and
several hundred triggerfish. Game wardens confiscated the net and
released all live fish entangled in the net.

So far this year, game wardens working aboard the Captain Williams
operating along the lower Texas coast have seized 138,080 feet of long
line; 53,840 feet of gill net; more than 6,000 sharks, 300 red snapper,
211 red or black drum; 21 gag grouper and 2 sailfish.

All of the illegal fishing devices are believed to have been set in
Texas or federal waters by commercial fishermen operating out of Mexico,
particularly from the village of La Playa Bagdad, which lies about nine
miles south of the Rio Grande.

“Illegal gill netting has an adverse impact on shark species and also
traps a wide variety of Texas game fish,” says Special Operations Chief
Grahame Jones of the TPWD Law Enforcement Division.

Sharks, the most common target of these vessels, are harvested not
only for their meat, but also for their fins. Shark fins, used for
soup, are considered some of the world’s most expensive seafood and its
high demand supports a world-wide black market.

In another recent trend, the U.S. Coast Guard recently found illegal
long lines with hooked live brown pelicans being used as floats.

“They sometimes use live pelicans in an attempt to hide the lines,
since they know we are looking for more traditional floatation devices,”
explains Sgt. Dunks, who pilots the Captain Williams.

Dunks says that arrests in gill netting or long line cases are rare.
When the commercial fishermen are caught in the act, the only charges
that can be filed are misdemeanors punishable by fines. However, the
illegal fishing equipment and vessel can be seized.

Marine interests spotting gill nets or long lines in Texas waters are
urged to call the Operation Game Thief hotline at 1-800-792GAME (4263),
contact a game warden or notify the U.S. Coast Guard.

A comprehensive study by an international group of scientists
suggests that the global oceans may be home to up to one million
species, of which only about 226,000 have been identified and described
to date. This means that as much as 75 percent of all marine species
have yet to be discovered. The rate of discovery has accelerated in
recent decades, and most unknown species could be identified, named, and
described by the end of this century.

Zanclea orientalis, a small jellyfish of the
class Hydrozoa, from Moorea. The bell is less than one centimeter (about
one-third of an inch) across. Collected as part of the Moorea Biocode
project. Photo credit: Allen Collins, NEFSC/NOAA

Understanding how many marine species exist is important to provide
a baseline for what we know or don’t know about life in the ocean.
That knowledge also aids conservation and global biodiversity efforts
as information about extinction rates become better known.

NOAA zoologist Allen Collins from the NEFSC’s National Systematics
Laboratory is a co-author of the study, considered the first
comprehensive inventory of marine species world‑wide. “The Magnitude
of Global Marine Species Diversity” was published online November 15
in Current Biology and is scheduled to appear in print December 4.

While many of the unknown species are thought to be smaller
organisms, such as plankton and tiny bottom dwellers, where animal
diversity is likely to be high, there are most likely some large
animal species that are still unknown. Researchers estimate that as
many as eight new species of cetaceans (whales, dolphins and
porpoises) have yet to be identified.

Collins was among more than 120 of the world’s leading taxonomists
and species identification experts to contribute to the study of
global biodiversity using the World Register of Marine Species
(WoRMS). The registry, an open access, online database created by
scientists from 146 institutions in 32 countries, serves as a central
repository to access information. WoRMS is maintained at the Flanders
Marine Institute in Belgium.
Lead author Ward Appeltans of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic
Commission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO), says the team has catalogued about 226,000
marine species, excluding marine bacteria. An estimated 58,000-72,000
species in museums and collections are waiting to be described.

Previous estimates of the number and diversity of global marine
species have ranged from 500,000 to as many as ten million, with most
estimates exceeding one million. The widely varying estimates came
from a variety of methods, ranging from expert opinion polls to models
projecting rates of species descriptions based on the accumulation of
higher taxa. Once the database was set up for this new study, experts
in each area of expertise estimated how many species they thought
were undiscovered. Those estimates were checked against a statistical
model the WoRMS team constructed based on the rate of species
discovery. The result was a total number of undiscovered species
somewhere between 320,000 and 760,000. When added to the roughly
226,000 marine species already described and in the register, the
revised total is closer to one million.

Collins says a lot of scholarly work has been duplicated because of
a lack of a central database to check information about what has
already been found. “It takes a lot of time and careful examination of
historic records and specimens to determine correct species names,
especially when there may be many different names and descriptions of
the same animal, commonly known as synonyms.”

Collins, an expert in jellyfish, hydroids, corals, and glass
sponges, began working on the study more than two years ago, and is
one of two NOAA Fisheries scientists involved in the project. William
Perrin of the Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla,
California, a marine mammal specialist, studies the species
classification and ecology of cetaceans.

In the past decade, more species have been discovered than ever
before, an average of 2,000 discoveries each year. The rate of
discovery is increasing because of a greater focus on biodiversity and a
growing number of researchers interested and involved in describing
new species. New technologies are available that allow researchers to
access previously unexplored areas of the world and to better study
specimens in the laboratory.

This new study complements the Census of Marine Life and other
recent efforts to understand what lives in the oceans. Mike Vecchione,
Director of the National Systematics Laboratory and a researcher
actively involved in global species exploration, says a better
understanding of marine species is critical for managing the
ecosystems in which these species live.

Vecchione notes that scarce conservation resources cannot be
allocated rationally without knowing what lives where. “This requires
the ability to identify species so that we can determine their
distribution and monitor their abundance. Basic observations are
needed before hypotheses about patterns and trends of biodiversity can
be proposed and tested. Consistent species names are needed for
scientists, managers, and the public to communicate with each other in
addressing problems and developing solutions.”

“It is very exciting, and pretty amazing when you look at the
numbers,” Collins said of the recent report. “While these are best
estimates from a group of researchers considered experts in their
respective areas, people have taken a more careful approach in the
past few years to track species and their names, top to bottom.”

The scientists at NOAA’s National Systematics Laboratory, located
in the National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian
Institution in Washington, DC, each year identify new species from
around the world. Collins says he and his colleagues receive a steady
stream of inquiries from researchers seeking help in identifying
species, “and the numbers grow each year.”

Friday, November 30, 2012

U.S. Senators Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) yesterday
introduced a bipartisan bill to help prevent the invasion of Asian carp into the
Ohio River basin.

Although several federal agencies have been
combating Asian carp, none have been designated as the lead agency to coordinate
the federal response with state and local partners in the Ohio and Upper
Mississippi River basins.

The Strategic Response to Asian Carp Invasion
Act would allow the federal government to build a more effective partnership
with state and local entities fighting to end the spread of Asian carp. This
bill would place the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in charge of coordinating a
new federal multi-agency effort, which would include the National Park Service,
U.S. Geological Survey, and Army Corps of Engineers. This multi-agency effort
would include providing technical assistance, best practices, and other support
to state and local governments working to stop the spread of the Asian
carp.

“Southwestern Pennsylvania’s iconic three
rivers – the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio – are vital for both commerce and
recreation. The spread of Asian carp in the Ohio River threatens this, and the
federal government must act as a cooperative partner with state and local
governments to stop this invasive species and protect the Ohio River basin’s
ecosystem and economy. The Strategic Response to Asian Carp Invasion Act will
help do just that, and I urge my colleagues to join us in defending the Ohio
River basin against this invasive species,” Sen. Toomey said.

“The continued movement of Asian carp up the
Ohio River could grind to a halt Ohio’s multi-million dollar fishing and boating
industries,” Sen. Brown said. “The Ohio River basin remains dangerously
vulnerable to an Asian carp invasion. The Strategic Response to Asian Carp
Invasion Act is a bipartisan bill that would ensure a definitive plan to control
and prevent Asian carp from entering streams and rivers in our state. We must
move aggressively and quickly to protect our waterways.”

Sen. Toomey sent a letter to Pennsylvania
Fish and Boat Commission Executive Director John Arway in October, asking him to
identify ways the federal government can work with states to combat the spread
of Asian carp in the Ohio River. The full letter is available here.

Executive Director Arway thanked the senators
for this bipartisan bill.

“The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission
appreciates and applauds Sen. Toomey’s leadership in addressing the Asian carp
invasion front on the Ohio River. Counties in Pennsylvania’s portion of the
Great Lakes and Ohio River watersheds account for more than one-third of all
fishing licenses and boat registrations sold in the commonwealth. As an Ohio
River and Great Lakes state, we see the bill as complementary to efforts to keep
Asian carp from entering Lake Erie by attacking the problem further downstream
before the destructive fish get closer to potential pathways between the Ohio
River and Great Lakes watersheds,” Executive Director Arway said.

Environmental and waterway organizations
praised this effort to protect our waterways from this invasive
species.

“We must preserve the rich resources of
Pennsylvania, and we thank and support Sen. Toomey in this legislative effort to
protect what belongs to the citizens and is in the public interest. Asian carp
must be stopped before they decimate the biology of this great part of our
state,” said R. John Dawes, executive director of the Foundation for
Pennsylvania Watersheds.

“Asian carp infiltration up the Ohio River
poses a serious threat to the aquatic life in some of our most invaluable
waterways in Western Pennsylvania. Any efforts to more effectively combat these
invasive species are very welcome and badly needed,” said Charles Bier, senior
director of conservation science at the Western Pennsylvania
Conservancy.

“Pennsylvania Sea Grant applauds this
important effort, and supports increased coordination among state and federal
agencies to protect our waters from the spread of Asian carp. It is essential
that states, beyond just those in the Great Lakes basin, receive the support and
resources needed to battle this destructive invader. Without a well-coordinated
approach, Asian carp, which can act like giant aquatic vacuum cleaners, threaten
to transform the food web in our rivers, impacting both environmental and
economic value, and potentially wiping out our most valuable native species,”
said Sara Grisé, coastal outreach specialist for Pennsylvania Sea
Grant.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Department of Environmental Protection to Assess Economic Impacts of Storm on Industry

The U.S. Department of Commerce approved
Governor Christie’s request for a declaration of a federal fishery
resource disaster as a result of the devastation to the commercial and
recreational fishing industries caused by Hurricane Sandy.

“I sincerely thank Acting Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank for acting
swiftly to respond to my request for help for New Jersey’s fishing
industries, which sustained serious losses during the storm,” Governor
Christie said. “My administration will be working closely with federal
officials in assessing the extent of the storm’s economic impacts and
in developing a response that will help the fishing industry in this
time of great hardship.”

Sandy resulted in significant losses for the industry in
New Jersey, damaging or destroying vessels, ports, facilities, and
equipment. It also left coastal areas that the industry needs severely
damaged or inaccessible. The Commerce Department’s declaration also
applies to New York’s fishing industries, which also sustained heavy
losses during the storm.

"We are taking action because of the storm's devastating impact on the
people who live and work in coastal communities that were hit hard by
Sandy,” said Acting Secretary Blank. “Many of these hardworking
Americans depend on a robust fishing industry to support their families
and local economies. This disaster declaration is part of a
coordinated federal effort to help the region rebuild. The Obama
Administration is committed to bringing all available resources to bear
to support state and local partners as well as affected communities as
recovery continues.”

A federal fishery disaster declaration triggers a federal
economic transition program to provide disaster relief for impacted
aspects of the industry, including commercial fishing operations,
charter fishing operators, processors and owners of related fishery
infrastructure affected by the disaster.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has
already begun preliminary work to assess economic impacts of the storm
to the industry and will be teaming up next week with officials from
the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Atlantic States Marine
Fisheries Commission to visit commercial and recreation fishing
operations that were impacted. They will also be assessing the
cascading impacts of storm had on other parts of the state’s economy
that support the commercial and recreational fishing industries.

“Our fishing industries need our help recovering from the devastating
affects of this natural disaster,” DEP Commissioner Bob Martin said.
“This formal disaster declaration is the first step in the road to
recovery for industries that are important to the economy and identity
of shore and to the entire state. We will continue to work closely with
the industry as we work through this process.”

In 2011, New Jersey’s commercial fishing industry landed
roughly 175 million pounds of seafood, generating over $1.3 billion in
economic activity. The economic impact of recreational fishing also
supports approximately 8,500 jobs and $1.4 billion in annual sales.

The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management
Act authorizes the Commerce Secretary to declare a fishery resource
disaster and a catastrophic regional fishery disaster, respectively,
which allows Congress to appropriate federal relief funds for
assistance to alleviate harm resulting from a natural disaster.

Upon appropriation of funds by Congress, Commerce's
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will work
closely with members of Congress and the governors of impacted states
to develop financial assistance plans to help coastal communities and
the fishing industry.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

The
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today released its Candidate Notice of
Review, a yearly appraisal of the current status of plants and animals
considered candidates for protection under the Endangered Species Act
(ESA). Three species have been removed from candidate status, two have
been added, and nine have a change in priority from the last review
conducted in October of 2011.There
are now 192 species recognized by the Service as candidates for ESA
protection, the lowest number in more than 12 years. This reduction
reflects the Service’s successful efforts to implement a court-approved
work plan that resolves a series of lawsuits concerning the agency’s ESA
Listing Program. Since its implementation, this agreement has
significantly reduced litigation-driven workloads and allowed the agency
to protect 25 candidate species under the ESA, and propose protection
for 91 candidate species.The
agreement will continue to allow the agency to focus its resources on
the species most in need of the ESA’s protections over the next five
years, said Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe.\“We’re
continuing to keep the commitments we made under this agreement, which
has enabled us to be more efficient and effective in both protecting
species under the ESA, as well as in working with our partners to
recover species and get them off the list as soon as possible,” said
Director Ashe. “Our ultimate goal is to have the smallest Candidate List
possible, by addressing the needs of species before they require ESA
protection and extending the ESA’s protections to species that truly
need it.”Ashe
noted that the work plan will enable the agency to systematically
review and address the needs of every species on the 2011 candidate list
– a total of more than 250 unique species – over a period of six years
to determine if they should be added to the Federal Lists of Endangered
and Threatened Wildlife and Plants.Candidate
species are plants and animals for which the Service has enough
information on their status and the threats they face to propose them as
threatened or endangered, but developing a proposed listing rule is
precluded by the need to address other higher priority listing actions.
Candidate species do not receive protection under the ESA, although the
Service works to conserve them. The annual review and identification of
candidate species provides landowners and resource managers notice of
species in need of conservation, allowing them to address threats and
work to preclude the need to list the species. The Service is currently
working with landowners and partners to implement voluntary conservation
agreements covering 5 million acres of habitat for more than 130
candidate species.Today’s
notice identifies two new candidate species: Peñasco least chipmunk
(Sacramento and White Mountains, New Mexico) and Cumberland arrow darter
(Kentucky and Tennessee). All candidates are assigned a listing
priority number based on the magnitude and imminence of the threats they
face. When adding species to the list of threatened or endangered
species, the Service addresses species with the highest listing priority
first. The nine changes in priority announced in today’s notice are
based on new information in the updated assessments of continuing
candidates. These changes include five species that increased in
priority and four that lowered in priority.The
three species removed from the candidate list include elongate mud
meadow springsnail, Christ’s paintbrush, and bog asphodel. Based on
protections for almost all sites, the identification of additional
sites, and updated information on threats, the bog asphodel no longer
needs the protection of the ESA. The removal of the springsnail and
paintbrush is based on the successful conservation efforts by other
federal agencies. Efforts by the Bureau of Land Management for the
springsnail fully addressed the threats from recreational and livestock
use of the springs where the snail exists. Also, three additional
populations of the springsnail have been discovered, making this species
less vulnerable to random, naturally occurring events than previously
thought. For Christ’s paintbrush, the U.S. Forest Service has
successfully implemented numerous conservation actions that have
ameliorated most of the previously known threats and established
long-term monitoring programs to document their effectiveness on
conservation actions. There is a long-term commitment by the Forest
Service, through a 2005 Candidate Conservation Agreement and 2012
Memorandum of Agreement with the Service, to continue to implement
conservation actions for this species.The
Service is soliciting additional information on the candidate species,
as well as information on other species that may warrant protection
under the ESA. This information will be valuable in preparing listing
documents and future revisions or supplements to the candidate notice of
review.The
Service also has multiple tools for protecting candidate species and
their habitats, including a grants program that funds conservation
projects by private landowners, states and territories. In addition, the
Service can enter into Candidate Conservation Agreements (CCAs), formal
agreements between the Service and one or more public or private
parties to address the conservation needs of proposed or candidate
species, or species likely to become candidates, before they actually
become listed as endangered or threatened. CCA participants voluntarily
commit to implementing specific actions removing or reducing the threats
to these species, thereby contributing to stabilizing or restoring the
species. Through 110 CCAs, habitat for more than 100 species is managed
on federal, state, local agency, tribal and private lands; many CAAs
have multiple cooperators focusing conservation actions in an area
supporting a single or multiple species.Another
similar tool is the Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances
(CCAAs). While these voluntary agreements are only between the Service
and non-Federal landowners, they have the same goals as CCAs in
addressing threats to candidate species, but with additional incentives
for conservation actions on non-Federal lands. More than 71 landowners
in 18 states have enrolled in CCAAs that cover over 1 million acres of
habitat for 41 species.The complete notice and list of proposed and candidate species appears in the Federal Register and can be found online at http://www.fws.gov/endangered/what-we-do/cnor.html.The
mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others to
conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants, and their
habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. We are both a
leader and trusted partner in fish and wildlife conservation, known for
our scientific excellence, stewardship of lands and natural resources,
dedicated professionals, and commitment to public service. For more
information on our work and the people who make it happen, visit www.fws.gov. Connect with our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/usfws, follow our tweets at www.twitter.com/usfwshq, watch our YouTube Channel at http://www.youtube.com/usfws and download photos from our Flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwshq.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Gov. Tom Corbett has signed into law tougher anti-poaching legislation which
increases the maximum fine for illegally harvesting fish from $200 to $5,000 and
extends the period the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) can revoke
fishing and boating privileges from two to five years.

“This new law will have an immediate
impact on our ability to deter large-scale poachers from illegally taking fish,”
said PFBC Executive Director John Arway. “These are the individuals who
deliberately come in after dark and take large amounts of game fish,
often by using illegal methods such as netting or spearing in the
streams. In the past, poaching was subject to a $200 maximum fine. Now we can
hit violators with up to $5,000 in fines, as well as the cost of replacing the
fish they illegally harvest.”

The legislation was signed into law by
Gov. Corbett last night and took effect immediately.

“Weak laws made our waterways extremely
vulnerable to poaching, with highly sought-after trophy species of fish
repeatedly stolen from our waterways and sold on the black market,” said Rep.
Michael Peifer (R-Greentown), who sponsored the legislation as House Bill 2293.
“This is a serious problem that has a detrimental impact on our regional
economy. Under this law, we finally have a punishment that fits the crime."

The law creates a new section in the Fish
and Boat code for “serious unlawful take,” which increases the penalty for
harvesting more than the legal daily limit of fish from a summary offense of the
first degree to a misdemeanor of the second degree. It also allows the PFBC to
collect from violators the costs to replace the poached fish, and it increases
the amount of time a violator can be sentenced to prison from a maximum of 90
days to two years.

The law will be particularly beneficial in
the Erie watershed, where the annual steelhead season is just beginning.
Annually, PFBC waterways conservation officers (WCOs) apprehend and cite 5-6
individuals for large cases of poaching. These individuals typically have in
their possession dozens of fish over the legal creel limit.

“We’ve had violators in the past who have
simply handed the WCO cash to pay the small fine,” added PFBC Commissioner Glade
Squires, who represents the agency’s southeast region and chairs the Law
Enforcement Committee. “Now our WCOs have the tools to hit them hard in the
pocketbook and to send them to jail for a longer time. And if a poacher has a
current license, we can suspend that license for up to five
years.”

The law also substantially increases the
penalties for individuals who fish while their license is suspended. Previously,
that violation was a summary offense of the first degree, subject to a $200
fine. The penalty is now a third degree misdemeanor, subject to a fine up to
$5,000.

Also last night, Gov. Corbett signed into
law House Bill 1417, another piece of legislation sought by the PFBC to better
protect and equip its WCOs for the challenges they face in the field. The new
law adds waterways conservation officer and deputy waterways conservation
officer to the list of individuals who are protected under the aggravated
assault provisions of the Pennsylvania Crimes and Offenses code. It takes effect
in 60 days

Monday, October 22, 2012

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and the Mid-Atlantic
Fishery Management Council have established commercial quotas and
recreational harvest limits for summer flounder, scup, black sea bass,
and bluefish for the 2013 fishing season and beyond.

The
Commission’s actions are final and apply to state waters (0-3 miles from
shore). The Council will forward its recommendations to NOAA's
Northeast Regional Administrator for final approval.

For summer
flounder, the Commission approved and Council recommended a commercial
quota of 11.44 million pounds for the 2013 fishing year, a decrease from
2012 levels. This decrease is in part due to the drop in the spawning
stock biomass estimate in the most recent assessment.

For the
2013 scup fishery, the Commission approved and Council recommended a
commercial quota of 23.53 million pounds, a decrease of 3.97 million
pounds, compared to 2012 levels.

For black sea bass, the Commission approved and Council recommended a commercial quota of 1.78 million pounds.

Finally
for the bluefish fishery, the Commission approved and the Council
recommended a commercial quota of 9.08 million pounds for 2013 and 2014.
The levels represent a decrease from 2012 levels due in part to the
poor year classes observed in the most recent stock assessment update.

The
Commission and Council maintained the 2012 commercial management
measures for all four species and approved a Research Set-Aside (RSA)
quota of up to three percent for each fishery.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Though the lakes aren't yet covered in ice in this part of the country, it's a good idea to become familiar with safe ice thickness prior to the winter season.

Here is a chart that shows how thick ice needs to be to support specific activities. This is only a suggestion provided courtesy of the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission. Remember that varying factors can require thicker ice to be safe. Also, certain locations, like areas near shore, near "stickups" like brush, trees, logs, rocks and the like are inherently more dangerous. Pressure cracks should also be avoided.

For more information on ice safety you should consult the Fish & Game Department of the state in which the frozen body of water is located.