HARRISBURG, Pa. -- It will cost about 10 percent more next year to fish in Pennsylvania, under a license-fee plan given the OK by the state Fish and Boat Commission.
The fee hikes, which also must be approved by the state legislature, would go into effect beginning in December of this year. Most notably, a basic residential fishing permit – required of all Pennsylvanian anglers ages 16 and older -- would go from $23.50 currently to $26.
The Commission vote came during a meeting here on May 17.
“This comes following an identical $2.50 increase in the basic fishing license fee that was put in place for the current year,” according to the Commission. The Commission noted an additional $1.97 in processing fees are added, with the real cost of a current license at $25.47, for example.
A proposed regulation establishing the new fee schedule was published by the Commission on April 15, with a month-long public comment period and public hearing. The rule making would increase several fishing fees by about 10 percent in most cases, the Commission said.
The action is pursuant to Act 56 of 2020, the state law that gives the Fish and Boat Commission – controlled by a 10-member board appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the legislature – the power to initiate its own fee increases.
Before that, only the state legislature could propose a fee change – and had not done so since 2004, with the basic fishing license fee having remained at $21 from 2005 through 2021.
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