MONTPELIER — The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department wants to make it easier for people to go fishing by simplifying its fishing regulations. Fishing regulations have become increasingly complex over time as amendments were added, making the rules more difficult for anglers to understand and challenging for the department to administer and enforce.
“We want to make fishing rules easier to understand while continuing to protect Vermont’s abundant fisheries resources,” said Vermont Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Louis Porter. “Our fisheries biologists and wardens have proposed changes to our primary fishing regulation that will simplify and standardize the rules, rather than having them be slightly different, depending on what lake or stream section you are on.”

The proposed changes to the Fish Management Regulation (10 V.S.A. Appendix §122) can be seen on the Vermont Fish and Wildlife website at vtfishandwildlife.com by searching for Board Rules in the top right hand corner of the home page. The Fish and Wildlife Board reviewed the proposed changes at its Jan. 20 meeting.

Public comments may be emailed to [email protected]. Virtual public hearings will be announced in March.