Anglers are using the Freedom of Information Act to jump the gun on fishing trout as soon as they are released into Virginia’s many freshwater creeks, rivers and lakes.
The exploit was brought up during a Department of Wildlife Resources meeting in August by Kent Sylvester, a retired Army aviator living in Virginia who enjoys fly-fishing.
“I would talk to guys [in Bath County], and they’re like, ‘Yeah, the trout truck is going to come tomorrow,’” Sylvester recalled. “And I’m like, ‘How do you know about it tomorrow?’ … Well, it’s called FOIA.”
Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, is often used by journalists. But it allows any citizen to request public records held by state or local officials. As it turns out, that includes the exact schedule for when the department plans to stock bodies of water with trout.
The department runs an annual, multimillion-dollar operation in which over 1.2 million catchable-size trout are raised in one of five state hatcheries and then released into some 180 waters between October and June.
The program bolsters Virginia’s recreational freshwater fishing scene, which greatly contributes to the $1.3 billion economic impact fishing as a whole has on the state, according to the department.
Historically, the department has only announced ahead of time when trout would be stocked for the celebratory opening day of the season or for certain urban waters in order to mitigate predatory birds eating all the fish too fast, according to Mike Bednarski, the department’s chief of fisheries.
Otherwise, anglers have had to wait until after 4 p.m. on stocking days to find out where trout were released.
But now the department receives approximately 700 FOIA requests related to trout stocking every year, according to its spokesperson, Shelby Crouch.
‘It’s akin to a Taylor Swift concert’
With the public records, anglers are able to show up to waters right after they are stocked with trout, or sometimes even beforehand.
“There were issues with people following the stocking truck,” Bednarski told Cardinal News. “They would see the truck going down the road or they’d wait for the truck to leave, and they’d follow it and go fishing immediately when the trout were stocked.”
The department is seeing regular crowding issues as a result of anglers knowing exactly when and where to show up, according to Bednarski. Often streams will be lined with up to 100 cars, which creates a safety concern that requires the use of law enforcement and traffic control — sometimes hindering the department’s ability to carry out the stocking.
Bednarski has witnessed the crowding firsthand at streams like Jennings Creek in Botetourt County.
“It’s akin to a Taylor Swift concert,” said department board member James Edmunds. “Everybody wants to get there early so they can get front-row seats in the pit.”
Could trout stocking schedules become Virginia’s newest FOIA exemption?
The department is planning to start releasing trout stocking schedules ahead of time on the third Friday of every month, according to Bednarski.
“We’re trying to make sure it’s as fair as possible for everybody else,” Bednarski said. “One of the things with the FOIA setup is there were folks who had the schedule and folks who didn’t have the schedule.”
But some anglers are advocating for trout stocking schedules to be made entirely exempt from FOIA requests. It would not be the first exemption. Virginia FOIA laws already contain over 100 exemptions from information relating to active criminal investigations to personnel records for government employees.
Will Wampler, another board member, said the department should write to the General Assembly and ask that they create the exemption, though the board moved to shelve that idea pending a full report in October.
Sen. David Marsden, D-Fairfax, chair of the Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee, told Cardinal News he is “on the side of the trout” and would likely support creating a new FOIA exemption. He wants to see trout have more time to settle into waters, eat native food and become more elusive.
“When they first come out of the hatchery, they’ll bite just about anything that looks like hatchery food,” Marsden said.
Sen. Danica Roem, D-Prince William County, is a former journalist who often carries legislation related to FOIA. She said she is not interested in creating any new exemptions any time soon.
“Until they pass my [FOIA transparency] bill that I’ve been working on for 10 f*****g years, go fish,” Roem said.
Some anglers want to restore ‘chance’ in their sport
Mark Fox, 61, is from Rockbridge County and is living out his retirement in Loudoun County. He wrote a public comment to the department last month asking for the trout stocking schedule publicity to be overhauled to allow for more “chance” in the sport.
Fox, who likes to rent a cabin down south for fishing trips in the springtime, has noticed anglers camping out or chasing the stocking trucks to catch much of the larger fish before anyone else. He now uses the FOIA records to track trout stocking himself, feeling he has to “play the rules of the game” like everyone else.
“It almost becomes too easy,” Fox said.
Fox also expressed frustration with the department advancing its plan to stock about 35% fewer trout going forward amid budgetary constraints, while also raising fees for fishing licenses.
Jay Waide, the owner and operator of Roanoke Angler, said he is starting to see more crowding at some of his local waters. The Roanoke River can be particularly popular during cooler months when the state is stocking it with trout.
“It is very apparent when they have just stocked because you’re just seeing absolute mobs of people in one particular area,” Waide said. “A lot of why people are fishing is to not be in a mob scene, to be able to relax a little bit.”
