At a hearing Tuesday night in St. Albans, commercial anglers and fish buyers urged state regulators to table aspects of proposed fishing regulations that they say would hinder their ability to buy and sell local fish.
The new rules 鈥� which still have to be approved by the Fish and Wildlife Board 鈥� include a statewide ban on commercial crappie fishing, as well as a new requirement that commercial anglers register, for free, with the state and report their annual catch to Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Jud Kratzer, a fisheries biologist with Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife, said the ban on commercial crappie sales is intended to dissuade illegal activity among anglers, like selling fish not caught in Vermont to local buyers, or people catching more crappies than is allowed.
Between 1998 to 2023, crappies accounted for just 4% of the total commercial fish harvest and sale in Vermont, Kratzer said.
鈥淏ut despite them being such a low proportion by weight of the total commercial harvest, they're a much larger law enforcement problem,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ecause they have that high value, there's a higher incentive to go over the limit on these species, which is a challenge to enforce.鈥�
But commercial anglers pushed back on that.
鈥淚t appears to me that what's going on here is they want to eliminate the sale strictly because there's some abuses, because of the high retail value of these fish,鈥� said Frank Dattilio of North Hero. 鈥淪eems like the population is doing fine. If there is a problem of people violating the rules, then it's up to our law enforcement people to handle that.鈥�
Vermont has long had a commercial panfish industry that鈥檚 served as supplemental income for many people, especially in communities around Lake Champlain. Panfish include species like sunfish, perch, bluegill, bullhead, crappie and rock bass.
Most of these fish are caught by hook and line during ice fishing season and sold the same day to regional buyers. Over 90% of commercial fishing in Vermont happens on Lake Champlain, according to Kratzer, with the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife.
But fish buyers said Tuesday night that these new restrictions on panfish will hurt their already struggling businesses.
Scott Mobbs owns Big Scott鈥檚 Bait and buys panfish from anglers in St. Albans Bay.
He says three factors are hurting his business: fewer young people fishing commercially, shorter and shorter ice fishing seasons, and cormorants.
鈥淟ast year I bought fish for six weeks in the winter, where we used to buy for four months,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o it kind of hurts business. And these are the numbers the state鈥檚 getting. They get our numbers from us as to what we buy.鈥�
Mobbs and other fish buyers said the new reporting requirements will dissuade the casual commercial anglers they rely on for business and that they鈥檙e already required to report their sales to the state.
Last year I bought fish for six weeks in the winter, where we used to buy for four months.Scott Mobbs, commercial fish buyer in St. Albans
Among the proposed rule changes are a stricter statewide bag limit for panfish on inland lakes and ponds. The changes also include new daily limits on steelhead and trout in Lake Memphremagog, and new restrictions on a few rivers around the state to protect spawning fish.
The proposal would also allow anglers to set larger minnow traps and loosen restrictions on fishing with roe, a practice that鈥檚 common when fishing for steelhead.
The rule changes were prompted by a signed by more than 200 people, which raised concerns about the impact of commercial fishing on aquatic ecosystems and called for a statewide ban.
Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife is holding regarding the proposed rules over the next week.
The deadline to file public comment is April 7. The state Fish and Wildlife Board, which approves new regulations governing hunting and fishing, is expected to vote on the proposed rules on April 30.
