Do I need a permit to stock grass carp in Pennsylvania?

The permit. You need a Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission triploid grass carp permit for each waterbody before you buy or stock triploid grass carp. The application fee is $85, and PFBC returns it if the permit is denied. The application package is mailed to PFBC's Division of Environmental Services in Bellefonte, and PFBC processes it only when every item has arrived.

Checked Oct 4, 2026 · Source: 58 Pa. Code § 71a.10, Triploid grass carp This may be outdated

What to send. One application for each waterbody, with the fee; the exact surface area in acres (no range or estimate) plus maximum and average depth; a photo of the installed outlet screen; a DEP approval letter if the screen is on a DEP-regulated dam; latitude and longitude or a map with directions; the plants you want controlled and how dense they are. If the waterbody is not entirely on your land, every other landowner must also complete an application (no extra fee).

Checked Oct 4, 2026 · Source: 58 Pa. Code § 71a.10, Triploid grass carp This may be outdated

Larger ponds. Waterbodies larger than 5 surface acres need an Environmental Inspection Report completed by a qualified biologist, fisheries scientist or environmental scientist. PFBC publishes these applications in the Pennsylvania Bulletin for public comment, which PFBC says significantly increases review time. PFBC may also ask for a report on a smaller waterbody.

Checked Oct 4, 2026 · Source: Triploid Grass Carp Stocking Permit Application (PFBC-TGC-005, rev. 7/24), instruction 10 This may be outdated

Screening the outlet. Water leaving a grass carp pond must be screened so the fish cannot escape: PFBC's form calls for bars or grating with 1-inch vertical spacing and a photo of the installed device, even for repeat applicants. A device on a DEP-regulated dam or its outlet needs DEP approval before it is installed, with the approval letter sent in with the application. If the pond never overflows, you show that instead, with a photo looking toward the low point.

Checked Oct 4, 2026 · Source: Triploid Grass Carp Stocking Permit Application (PFBC-TGC-005, rev. 7/24), instructions 12 and 18 This may be outdated

Buying the fish. Only triploid (sterile) grass carp certified by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service may be stocked, bought from a PFBC-approved dealer, with a bill of sale showing the certification. The permit must be shown to an officer on request. See this year's approved dealers.

Checked Oct 4, 2026 · Source: 58 Pa. Code § 71a.10(f), Triploid grass carp: prohibited acts This may be outdated

How many, and how often. A grass carp permit is valid for the number of fish and the time period it states. PFBC policy is that permit holders wait two years before applying again for the same waterbody, and every new stocking needs a new application.

Checked Oct 4, 2026 · Source: Triploid Grass Carp Stocking Permit Application (PFBC-TGC-005, rev. 7/24), Additional Information This may be outdated

How long it takes. Apply well ahead of the season. Older PFBC guidance: the PFBC pond owner's guide from about 2012 (when the fee was $75) told applicants to allow about 40 days for a grass carp permit, or 60 days when an Environmental Inspection Report and a Pennsylvania Bulletin notice are needed. PFBC's current application form (rev. 7/24) gives no processing time.

Checked Oct 4, 2026 · Source: older guidance: Pond Owner's Guide to the Use of Triploid Grass Carp in Pennsylvania (PFBC, 6-12; copy hosted by Susquehanna County Conservation District) This may be outdated

What grass carp will and won't eat. According to PFBC, grass carp prefer pondweeds, common elodea, coontail, naiad, duckweed, watermeal, chara (muskgrass), watermilfoil, bladderwort and water-stargrass. They usually do not eat or control filamentous algae, large-leaf pondweed, cattail, bulrush, arrowhead, burreed, watershield, white water lily or spatterdock. Match this against what's actually in your pond with the plant guide.

Checked Oct 4, 2026 · Source: Using Grass Carp to Control Aquatic Plants (updated May 19, 2025) This may be outdated

No separate stocking notice. Grass carp stocked under a valid PFBC grass carp permit don't need a separate Notice of Stocking; report them as that program directs.

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

Good to know. Penn State notes grass carp can live up to about fifteen years, though their effect on plants falls off after about ten, and that copper-based algaecides can be toxic to them.