Nuisance Beavers Threaten Area Trout Nursery

We, the undersigned are requesting that the Pennsylvania State Game Commission allow workers at the Albion Sportsmens Club Cooperative Nursery to trap and remove several nuisance beavers (along with their dams) that have cut off the nurserys water supply and have already killed most of our fish.

This nursery was started over 35 years ago and has since become one of the larger cooperative nursery units in the area, raising 20,000+ trout each year. In addition to raising the fish and stocking them in the local streams, the hatchery also supports many local activities including the Soldiers and Sailors fishing derby, the Northwestern Sportsmens Club Kids Fishing Derby, The Albion Area Kids Fishing Derby, and the Malerie Run Kids Fishing Area project. With out fish these events, along with a local trout fishing season, would not be possible.

The lack of fresh water coming into the hatcherys runways increases overall water temperature, severely increases the risk of bacterial infections such as Ick, and greatly lowers dissolved oxygen content. Treatment for infections such as Ick also requires good water flow, otherwise the medicine will remain to potent in the water and harm the fish.

Currently the Game Commission has been unwilling to cooperate in any way with our efforts to save the hatchery, informing us that if we touch the dams or the beavers that we will be arrested. Though the fish we received this year are already lost, we can receive new replacement fingerlings from the Fish Commission to save these events. However to do so would require the return of our water flow and thus the removal of the beavers before too much more time passes otherwise the fish will not reach the legal size for stocking next spring.