February 22, 2003 (rt23 news) - The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Fish and Wildlife will present its recommended 2003 trout stocking plan to the Fish and Game Council at 10 a.m., Saturday, February 15, at the Pequest Trout Hatchery and Natural Resource Education Center in Warren County.

DEP Commissioner Bradley Campbell will attend the meeting and be available to discuss the trout plan as well as Governor McGreevey’s recent budget address. He will also answer questions relating to the future of the status of the Lebanon State Fish Laboratory.

Agenda topics include the discussion of trout hatchery production numbers and changes to individual trout stocking allotments, as well as ongoing renovations to the Hackettstown Hatchery and the status of warmwater fish production.

The plan calls for 575,000 - 600,000 trout to be released during the spring trout-stocking season. The number of trout stocked in 2003 will be similar to past years including a fall stocking.

The Pequest facility is located on Rt. 46, nine miles west of Hackettstown in Oxford, Warren County.

A copy of the spring allocation schedule will be made available upon council approval and can be obtained by sending a self-addressed, stamped, business-sized envelope to the: NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife, Bureau of Freshwater Fisheries, P.O. Box 400, Trenton, NJ 08625-0400, Attn: Spring Allocation Schedule.