For Pennsylvania pond and lakefront owners. Every fact carries the date we checked it.
Pond & Shore PAlakepennsylvania.us
Menu
Check my project
Educational summary, not legal or engineering advice. Confirm with the agency before you start. Checked Oct 4, 2026.

Permit plan · Stock bass, bluegill or other fish

Your permit plan: Stock bass, bluegill or other fish

Based on your answers. Cards are in the order you'll usually need them. Checked Oct 4, 2026.

Your answers (change any of them)
  1. Who owns the water and the lakebed? A federal reservoir (Army Corps of Engineers) · change
  2. What kind of water is it? A pond or lake (farm, fishing or backyard pond) · change
  3. Where are the fish coming from? A hatchery or dealer in another state · change
State

PFBC Notice of Stocking (free, before you stock)

Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC)

Form: HuntFishPA online, or form PFBC-NOS-001 on paper

Timing: File before you stock; keep a copy at the pond.

Since January 1, 2024, anyone who stocks fish into Pennsylvania waters, including private and farm ponds, must file a Notice of Stocking with PFBC first. It is free, filed online through HuntFishPA or on paper form PFBC-NOS-001, one notice per waterbody (one notice can cover several stockings there in the same calendar year), and your hatchery or dealer may file it for you. A copy must be at the pond while fish are stocked. Not needed: closed decorative ponds with no outflow to other waters, aquarium fish kept indoors, stocking under a grass carp permit, and waters inside a licensed propagation facility. Fish from another state need PFBC's written permission before release, and fish from pet stores or ornamental fish dealers may never be released. A Waterways Conservation Officer may warn you or issue a $150 citation.

What to have ready

  • Your name and address.
  • The waterbody's name and location (latitude and longitude preferred) and the size of the stocking area.
  • The stocking date range and how many stocking events.
  • Each species, its size, and the approximate number or pounds.
  • The producer, hatchery or dealer, and its state.
  • A printed or electronic copy to keep at the pond on stocking day.

Checked Oct 4, 2026 · Source: 58 Pa. Code § 71a.5, Notice of Stocking to the Commission This may be outdated

State

Fish from another state: written permission first

PFBC

Separate from the Notice of Stocking, fish brought into Pennsylvania from another state, province or country need PFBC's prior written permission before they are released. Requests go to PFBC's Executive Director; the address is on PFBC's Notice of Stocking page. A fish health certificate may be required for fish brought into Pennsylvania or stocked into its waters; PFBC's Fish Health Inspection Protocol sets out when and how.

Checked Oct 4, 2026 · Source: Notice of Stocking: Fish Health Certificate Requirements This may be outdated

State

Stock only approved species for your watershed

PFBC

Fish you stock must also appear on PFBC's "Species by Watershed Approved for Open System (Flow Through) Propagation and Introductions" list for your watershed (Ohio, Erie/Genesee, Susquehanna, Potomac or Delaware). The 2026 list is posted on PFBC's Notice of Stocking pages. Penn State Extension notes that tilapia are considered a non-native, invasive fish in Pennsylvania and are illegal to stock here except as permitted in controlled aquaculture facilities.

Checked Oct 4, 2026 · Sources: Species by Watershed Approved for Open System (Flow Through) Propagation and Introductions; Fish for Pennsylvania Ponds (updated May 19, 2025) This may be outdated

Also check

Owner

Army Corps lake: ask the project office first

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the lake's project office)

Ask the lake's Corps project office first; Corps shoreline rules apply. At lakes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers manages, private docks and other private shoreline uses are allowed only in areas the lake's Shoreline Management Plan designates, and not at all on lakes where construction began after December 13, 1974 or where no private uses existed by then (older permitted facilities can continue).

Checked Oct 4, 2026 · Source: 36 CFR § 327.30, Shoreline Management on Civil Works Projects This may be outdated

A summary, not legal or engineering advice. The regulation, the permit documents and the product label control. Confirm with the agency before you start.

Pros for this work

Optional. We use it only to show pros who serve your area. It isn't saved with your plan.

Get this plan as a PDF, $9

Your cards plus a timeline counted back from your start date, a document checklist for each permit, a call list with links, questions to ask contractors and a tracker. Delivered instantly.

This is not a permit or an application. We don't file anything for you. Agency fees are paid only to the agency.

Have a credit code?

Pond & Shore PA plan · lakepennsylvania.us/plan/2rv0g · Checked Oct 4, 2026

Get PDF ($9)