DOVER (April 10, 2013) – DNREC’s Division of Fish and Wildlife is continuing to accept applications from Delaware residents for its annual low-number hunting license lottery. The Division of Fish & Wildlife will conduct the lottery drawing for 20 available low-number Delaware hunting licenses with numbers under 1,000 at 9 a.m. Tuesday, June 4 in the auditorium at DNREC’s main office in the Richardson & Robbins Building in Dover.

Licenses will be awarded to the applicants whose names are drawn starting with the lowest and ending with the highest number available via a live drawing. The lottery is open to the public but successful applicants do not need to be present as they will be notified by phone or mail.

The following information applies to the low-numbered licenses:

• The license will be assigned to the successful applicant.
• An applicant must be a Delaware resident, having lived at a primary residence in the state for at least one year.
• An applicant must be at least 15 years of age, and not older than 64 years of age on July 1, 2013.
• The license holder will be notified annually by mail for renewal.
• The license is not transferable by the selected applicant to any individual.
• Individuals who currently hold a low-numbered license are not eligible.
• To be considered, an applicant must submit one and only one postcard, either by mail or hand-deliver it to the Richardson & Robbins building in Dover.

Postcards must be addressed to:

Candace Dunning
Low-Number Hunting License Lottery
Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife
89 Kings Highway
Dover, DE 19901

 Also, the following information must be included on the reverse side of the postcard: applicant’s name, street address, city, state, ZIP code and daytime phone number. Applications will not be included in the drawing if there is more than one postcard per applicant, or if postcards are received without the information above. 

Applications must be postmarked on or before Tuesday, May 21 or hand-delivered to the Richardson & Robbins Building by 4:30 p.m. Friday, May 24. No applications will be accepted after that date under any circumstances. 

For more information about the low-number drawing, please call Candace Dunning, Division of Fish and Wildlife Licensing Section, at 302-739-9918.

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DOVER (April 3, 2013) – During the 2012-2013 deer season, hunters donated 18,761 pounds of venison from 708 deer to the Delaware Sportsmen Against Hunger Program. DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife staff is working to distribute the frozen ground venison to more than 30 charitable organizations and food pantries throughout the state to provide meals for needy Delawareans.

The venison was processed by nine participating private butchers plus a butcher shop located at the Sussex Community Corrections Center in Georgetown. The venison processing facility is staffed by offenders in the SCCC’s Violation of Probation Center, who have been specially trained as butchers. Since the Delaware Department of Correction program began in 2005, the Sussex facility has processed more than 70,000 pounds of venison. This year, the facility processed 268 deer into 7,636 pounds of venison at substantial savings to the Sportsmen Against Hunger program.

Since Delaware Sportsmen Against Hunger was founded in 1992 by a coalition of sporting groups, hunters have donated more than 400,000 pounds of venison, providing nearly 1.5 million meals to Delawareans in need. The amount of venison donated this year was less than the 2011-12 season, in which 23,762 pounds of venison was donated from 725 deer.

For more information, please visit the DNREC Division of Fish & Wildlife website at Sportsmen Against Hunger, or call 302-284-1077. 

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DOVER – DNREC’s Division of Fish and Wildlife reminds recreational anglers and commercial watermen that harvest or possession of river herring, a popular baitfish, is illegal in Delaware. Anglers must have a valid receipt from a state or jurisdiction where harvest is still permitted to possess river herring. 

New Delaware Fisheries regulations took effect in February 2012, closing the recreational and commercial harvest of river herring (also known as blueback and alewife herring). The closure was made to bring Delaware into compliance with Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) requirements. 

Much of the commercial river herring catch in Delaware traditionally has come from the Nanticoke River and its tributaries. Maryland’s river herring fisheries are closed statewide, including Maryland’s portion of the Nanticoke River. New Jersey has closed its river herring fisheries in the Delaware River and Bay.

In the past, recreational anglers targeted river herring as the fish gather to spawn in the spring for use as bait in the striped bass hook-and-line fishery. With Delaware’s river herring fisheries closed, recreational anglers are no longer permitted to catch river herring and must use alternate bait for stripers. Signs informing the public of the fisheries closure are posted at various fishing locations.

For more information, click on river herring regulations.

With fish entering the spillways this spring, anglers are also reminded that using any type of net to catch fish within 300 feet below a dam or spillway is illegal, with the exception of using a landing net on a fish caught with hook and line.

For more information on fishing in Delaware, please visit www.dnrec.delaware.gov/fw/Fisheries/ .  

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DOVER (March 27, 2013) – Delaware’s spring 2013 upstate trout season will open at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, April 6, the DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife announced today. Six designated trout streams in northern New Castle County – White Clay Creek, Christina Creek, Pike Creek, Beaver Run, Wilson Run and Mill Creek – will be stocked and ready with thousands of rainbow and brown trout, including some trophy-sized fish. Trout stocking will continue on a regular weekly basis through Thursday, May 2.

For most anglers wishing to try their luck at trout fishing, a Delaware fishing license is required. A resident annual fishing license, which covers fresh and tidal waters as well as crabbing and clamming, costs $8.50 for ages 16 through 64. Persons under the age of 16 and residents age 65 and older are not required to purchase fishing licenses in Delaware, although exempt persons may purchase fishing licenses and trout stamps if they so choose to help support fisheries management and trout stocking efforts. For non-resident anglers age 16 and older, a Delaware fishing license costs $20. 

Both resident and non-resident anglers age 16 and older are required to obtain a Delaware Fisherman Information Network (F.I.N.) number. The free number is included as part of a Delaware fishing license purchase. License-exempt anglers, including Delaware residents 65 and older, may visit www.delaware-fin.com or call 800-432-9228 toll-free to obtain their free F.I.N. number.

In addition to Delaware’s normal fishing license requirements, most trout anglers also must purchase a Delaware Trout Stamp. For residents age 16 through 64, a trout stamp costs $4.20. For residents age 12 through 15, a youth trout stamp costs $2.10. Resident anglers younger than age 12 or age 65 and older are not required to purchase a trout stamp. For non-residents, a trout stamp is required for all anglers age 12 and older and costs $6.20.

All proceeds from the purchase of Delaware Trout Stamps are used to help purchase next year’s fish. The popular fishery also is supported by Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration funds generated from anglers purchasing fishing equipment.

Downstate trout season remains open in Tidbury Pond in Dover and Newton Pond near Greenwood, both of which were stocked in March. Trout are a cold water species and can only survive while water temperatures in the ponds remain cool. 

For more information about trout stocking, click Trout Stocking Schedule. To purchase a fishing license or stamps, visit www.fw.delaware.gov/fisheries, or call the Fisheries Section at 302-739-9914.

 Contact: Joanna Wilson, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

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DOVER (March 27, 2013) – On March 23, artistic entries from students in grades K through 12 throughout the state were judged in the 2013 Junior Duck Stamp Contest. Winners are on display at the Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center near Milton now through Saturday, March 30. 

Elizabeth Vander Laan, a 12-year-old from Greenville, won best of show in her first year entering the competition. Her watercolor painting of a harlequin duck, titled “Cruising Downstream,” also won first place for grades 7 through 9. Elizabeth’s winning Duck Stamp entry will be judged along with other state winners on April 19 in the Federal Junior Duck Stamp Design Contest, sponsored by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Office of the Interior and slated to be held this year at the National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, W.Va. The best of show winner of the federal competition will become the 2013-2014 Junior Duck Stamp and will also receive a $5,000 scholarship.

“The Junior Duck Stamp program is unique because it teaches biology and habitat conservation through scientific observation and artistic interpretation to K through 12 students,” said Dawn Webb, coordinator of the Delaware Junior Duck Stamp program.

Sponsored by the Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife in partnership with Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge, the Junior Duck Stamp competition provides an opportunity for students throughout Delaware to participate in a national art competition keyed to native waterfowl and wetland values. Students learn hands-on activities in waterfowl, wetland and habitat education and conservation while completing duck stamp art entries.

The judging panel included Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife Biologist Matt DiBona; retired wildlife biologist Bill Whitman, who founded the Delaware Junior Duck Stamp Contest in 1994; well-known wildlife artist and Federal Duck Stamp Competition winner Richard Clifton of Milford; and Biologist Bill Jones, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Judges base their decisions on anatomical accuracy of the waterfowl depicted, how well the work illustrates the species and its habitat, and which artwork would translate best into a stamp.

Runners-up for Best of Show were:

Second runner-up: Alicia Hale, age 16, Bridgeville, “Sunset Melody”

Third runner-up: Sarah Ding, age 9, Newark, “The Swimming Snow Geese”

First place winners are:

Grades K-3: Samuel Winston, age 6, Milford, “Mallard”

Grades 4-6: Sarah Ding, age 9, Newark, “The Swimming Snow Goose”

Grades 7-9: Elizabeth Vander Laan, age 12, Greenville, “Swimming Downstream”

Grades 10-12: Alicia Hale, age 16, Bridgeville, “Sunset Melody”

Second place winners are:

Grades 4-6: Kayla Booros, age 12, Bridgeville

Grades 7-9: Rachael Winston, age 14, Milford

Grades 10-12: Josiah Winston, age 16, Milford 

Third place winners are:

Grades 4-6: Tony Monaco, age 12, Seaford

Grades 7-9: Hannah Doyle, age 14, Seaford

Honorable mentions are:

Grades 4-6: Dorothy McCormick, age 9, Millsboro; Mercy Winston, age 9, Milford; Mckenna Breeding, age 10, Felton; Grace Winston, age 11, Milford; Marley Fishburn, age 11

Grades 7-9: Daniel Winston, age 13, Milford

Conservation message winners are:

First Place: Hanna Doyle, age 14, Seaford – “It is important to conserve today to ensure that wildlife will have a home tomorrow.”

Second Place: Kayla Booros, age 12, Bridgeville – “Protect and preserve our wetlands so that wildlife can have a place to call home.”

Third Place: Josiah Winston, age 16, Milford – “Let us safeguard our wetlands and wildlife habitats, so as to safeguard our country’s beauty!”

Honorable Mentions:

• Samuel Winston, age 6, Milford – “Keep the ducks home clean and safe!”
• Elizabeth Yocher, age 9, Dover – “Wetlands provide clean water for many animals.”
• Sarah Ding, age 9, Newark – “Protect our wetlands to insure strong ecosystems.”
• Dorothy McCormick, age 9, Millsboro – “The paddle of webbed feet, recycling a can, will make a difference in God’s wildlife plan.”
• Mercy Winston, age 9, Milford – “Keep our waters clean!”
• Mckenna Breeding, age 10, Felton – “In order for wildlife to survive, and focus to have clean water, we have to take good care of our wetlands.”
• Marley Fishburn, age 11, Seaford – “I live on the water and can’t imagine life without ducks, geese, and herons!”
• Grace Winston, age 11, Milford – “Protect, preserve and keep habitats safe!”
• Tony Monaco, age 12, Seaford – “Protecting our wildlife and their habitats will help to keep them alive for years to come.”
• Elizabeth Vander Laan, age 12, Greenville – “Keep wetland water clean so ducks can swim.”
• Daniel Winston, age 13, Milford – “Don’t let the duck sit in the muck!”
• Rachel Winston, age 14, Milford – “Keep duck habitats clean, and they will be able to soar to new heights.”
• Alicia Hale, age 16, Bridgeville – “Conservation: Fighting for a brighter future.” 

All 16 participants in the 19^th annual contest received a certificate, ribbons and prizes from sponsors. Entries, which depict a species chosen from a list of North American waterfowl, were sponsored by teachers, schools, organizations and individuals.

Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center is located at 11978 Turkle Pond Road, Milton. The refuge’s visitor center is currently open from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, and from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through March 31. Beginning April 1, the visitor center will stay open until 4 p.m. on weekends. Entrance fees apply. For more information about the refuge, please visit www.fws.gov/northeast/primehook.

The 2013 Junior Duck Stamp entries also will be displayed along with this year’s Delaware Waterfowl Stamp and Delaware Trout Stamp entries at the Delaware Agriculture Museum and Village in Dover for two weeks beginning Thursday, April 11.

For more information about displaying the artwork or about the Delaware Junior Duck Stamp Contest, please contact Dawn Webb, contest coordinator, 302-422-1329.

The Delaware Junior Duck Stamp Competition supports Delaware’s Children in Nature Initiative, a statewide effort to improve environmental literacy in Delaware, create opportunities for children to participate in enriching outdoor experiences, combat childhood obesity and promote healthy lifestyles. Delaware’s multi-agency initiative, which partners state and federal agencies with community organizations, is part of the national No Child Left Inside program.

CONTACT: Joanna Wilson, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

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