Dear Fellow Anglers and Citizens,

     Our Vermont fisheries have come to an important crossroad and we now have an opportunity to help "do the right thing".  The potential closing of the Salisbury Hatchery is an important one.  By closing this hatchery, and less trout to stock,  the state  will need to re-think their fisheries management plan.  For decades the state has consistently relied on creating thousands upon thousands of pellet raised trout to define Vermont's "quality angling experience".  As such, a myth has been created in which we are all to believe that resident and non resident  fishing dollars can  be generated only as a result  of stocked  trout. This idea is flawed and raises many questions; 

1) Do anglers prefer to pay to catch stocked trout?  
2)  If given the opportunity, would anglers prefer the choice of fishing certain rivers that offer only wild trout versus certain rivers that provide only stocked  trout?  
3) Would Vermont become a greater angling destination if more of our rivers and ponds offered only wild & native trout as an option ? 
4) Would greater commerce  come to our businesses,  inns & hotels, restaurants, grocery & convenience stores, fly and tackles shops  as a result?  
     The fact is that many Vermont rivers and ponds already support self sustaining populations of native and wild trout.  The state should close the Salisbury Hatchery and move forward with a more holistic approach including  greater selectivity in rivers stocked combined with a more robust wild trout management plan.  Continue to stock  rivers and ponds that can no longer self sustain wild trout populations and end or severely limiting stocking of rivers and ponds  known to have self sustaining wild and native populations. Rather than stocking hatchery fish over wild and native trout, allow the wild and native populations to propagate naturally,  helping them by improving their riparian habitat.

     Sign this petition today if you agree the Salisbury Hatchery is no longer necessary, that by selectively stocking more efficiently,  the four remaining hatcheries will provide ample amounts of hatchery fish to stock in only those rivers deemed  truly in need of trout supplementation. Sign this petition today if  you agree the state needs to work  toward a more holistic trout management plan that promotes less reliance on stocking and more reliance on wild and native propagation through river conservation and restoration. Sign this petition today because it is "the right thing to do".

Sincerely,
Concerned Anglers and Citizens of Today For a Better Vermont Fishery Tomorrow.