As fishing season is fast approaching, agencies that oversee a body of water in Bucks County are implementing new fishing regulations. Mark Demko wrote about the regulations for LehighValleyLive.com.

A new fishing regulation from the Delaware River Basin Fish and Wildlife Management Cooperative, a collective of fish and wildlife agencies that works on monitoring the health of the shad population in the region, aims to stabilize the Delaware River’s shad population.

Each spring, shad draw anglers from the region and all over the country to the Delaware River, giving a boost to the local economy and providing countless hours of enjoyment for fishermen.

However, the American shad is now in so much trouble as a specie that fisheries biologists and managers continue to implement changes to the limits on the commercial and recreational fishing harvest. The goal is to help the river’s shad population stay sustainable well into the future.

Starting in 2023, the states that comprise the Delaware River Basin Fish and Wildlife Management Cooperative are implementing a reduction of 33 percent in the shad harvest for the commercial and recreational shad fisheries.

As a result of the change, fishers who decide to harvest shad can only keep two fish per day, which is a reduction from the three-per-day limit that has been allowed in recent years.

Read more about Delaware River’s shad population at LehighValleyLive.com.

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