The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) has granted $60,000 in funding to organizations involved in its Cooperative Nursery Program.

The program is collaborative between the PFBC and private, non-profit organizations. The PFBC provides individual cooperative nurseries (co-ops) with adolescent fish. The co-ops then voluntarily raise the fish at their own cost prior to stocking them for public angling. In 2005, 171 nurseries stocked 1,056,706 trout statewide, along with a million yellow perch, one million walleye and 126,300 steelhead into Lake Erie and its tributaries.

In addition to supplying fish for the program, the Commission also provides guidance and support. In 1996, the PFBC created the co-op grant program to aid nurseries with new construction, equipment to improve water quality, structures to enhance facilities, etc. Co-op sponsors may apply for up to $3,000 annually. This year, 31 applicants were selected for funding.

Grants were approved for the Wycoff Run Fish Nursery, Inc., Cameron County: $3,000. Grant monies will be used to rebuild a nursery damaged during Hurricane Ivan. Wycoff Run Fish Nursery has participated in the program since 1987 and rears 5,500 trout annually