Pennsylvania § 2506 Commonwealth actions for damage to fish

Pennsylvania Statutes

§ 2506 — Commonwealth actions for damage to fish

Pennsylvania § 2506

Title 30FISH

PartPART II

Ch. 25PROTECTION OF PROPERTY AND WATERS

This text of Pennsylvania § 2506 (Commonwealth actions for damage to fish) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

30 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 2506 (2026).

Text

(a)Declaration of policy.--The Commonwealth has sufficient interest in fish living in a free state to give it standing, through its authorized agencies, to recover damages in a civil action against any person who kills any fish or who injures any streams or streambeds by pollution or littering. The proprietary ownership, jurisdiction and control of fish, living free in nature, are vested in this Commonwealth by virtue of the continued expenditure of its funds and its efforts to protect, perpetuate, propagate and maintain the fish population as a renewable natural resource of this Commonwealth.

(b)General rule.--The commission, as an agency of the Commonwealth authorized to regulate, control, manage and perpetuate fish may, in addition to criminal penalties provided in this title, bring

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(a) Declaration of policy.--The Commonwealth has sufficient interest in fish living in a free state to give it standing, through its authorized agencies, to recover damages in a civil action against any person who kills any fish or who injures any streams or streambeds by pollution or littering. The proprietary ownership, jurisdiction and control of fish, living free in nature, are vested in this Commonwealth by virtue of the continued expenditure of its funds and its efforts to protect, perpetuate, propagate and maintain the fish population as a renewable natural resource of this Commonwealth.

(b) General rule.--The commission, as an agency of the Commonwealth authorized to regulate, control, manage and perpetuate fish may, in addition to criminal penalties provided in this title, bring civil suits in trespass on behalf of the Commonwealth for the value of any fish killed or any stream or streambed destroyed or injured in violation of this chapter. In determining the value of fish killed, the commission may consider all factors that give value to such fish. These factors may include, but need not be limited to, the commercial resale value, the replacement costs or the recreational value of angling for the fish killed. In addition, the commission is entitled to recover the costs of gathering the evidence, including expert testimony, in any civil suit brought under this section where the defendant is found otherwise liable for damages.