PA Fish & Boat Commission Names New Executive Director

Harrisburg, PA – A 30-year veteran of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) has been chosen as the agency’s next executive director. During a special public meeting today, the Board of Commissioners selected John Arway to lead the Commission, one of the oldest and most effective conservation agencies in the nation.

“John brings a wealth of professional experience and institutional knowledge to the executive director post,” said Commission President Thomas Shetterly. “He is an avid angler, boater and hunter with a passion for the outdoors. He embraces the Resource First management philosophy and understands that only by protecting aquatic resources can we accomplish the other part of our mission, which is to also provide fishing and boating opportunities.”

The 57-year-old Mr. Arway had served as chief of the Environmental Services Division within the Bureau of Fisheries.

“I am grateful to the board for providing me the opportunity to lead the agency where I have devoted most of my professional life,” said Mr. Arway, who becomes the agency’s 10th executive director. “Our agency has a tremendous responsibility to the resource and to the anglers and boaters who enjoy and benefit from the resource. We have a very dedicated staff that I am looking forward to working with on the many challenges ahead of us – including the protection of water quality from future pollution events, the threat of aquatic invasive species, the increasing loss of habitat and the restoration of American shad to the Susquehanna River. I am also looking forward to working with our staff and the anglers and boaters on improving recreational fishing and boating opportunities throughout the Commonwealth.”

Mr. Arway has been the environmental advisor to the executive director and other agency staff for more than 20 years. In addition to leading the Environmental Services Division, he represents the Commission on numerous committees and boards, including the Director’s alternate on the Environmental Quality Board; the Pennsylvania Biological Survey’s Steering Committee; PA Council of Trout Unlimited’s Environmental Committee and Rivers Conservation Camp and Fly Fishing School’s Board of Directors; Governor’s Pesticide Advisory Board; Governor’s Green Government Council; Coldwater Heritage Partnership Program; and the Susquehanna River Smallmouth Bass Water Quality Workgroup.

A native of North Huntingdon, Mr. Arway holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Pittsburgh and a master’s degree in biology from Tennessee Technological University. He holds memberships in numerous organizations, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science; American Fisheries Society (currently first Vice President of the Northeast Division); North American Benthological Society; Ducks Unlimited; PA Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs; National Trout Unlimited; and the SONS of Lake Erie.

The mission of the Fish and Boat Commission is to protect, conserve, and enhance the Commonwealth’s aquatic resources and provide fishing and boating opportunities. For more information about fishing and boating in Pennsylvania, please visit our website at Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.