New Hampshire stocks more than one million trout each year.

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – Anglers will soon be told where fish stocking has taken place in the state, after Gov. Craig Benson signed a bill yesterday making timely disclosure legal.

Currently, the state Fish and Game Department does not release fish stocking information for 30 days. Now, fishermen can read a weekly stocking report on the state wildlife Web site, http://wildlife.state.nh.us.

At Sewalls Falls recreation area on the Merrimack River in Concord yesterday, Benson stocked a number of year-old rainbow trout and showed a photocopy of a fishing license he purchased online, ten minutes before the event.

The law does not give fishermen prior information about stocking, nor does it give specifics about where. It will indicate the water body and the week stocking occurred.

According to Dave Carney of New Hampshire Wildlife Federation, who lobbied to get the state to make stocking information available, most states already disclose stocking information.

Annually, the state stocks more than a million trout, with six hatcheries across the state raising fish from eggs.

Fish are stocked into 263 lakes or ponds and 1,473 miles of streams.

AP-ES-05-01-04 1228EDT

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