LINESVILLE — A tradition that is almost 70 years old at Pymatuning Spillway will come to an end Jan. 1.

Visitors to the spillway will no longer be allowed to throw bread or bread products to the thousands of carp below. Known nationwide as the place where “ducks walk on the fishes’ backs,” the area has been featured in various publications and is one of the most-visited attractions in Pennsylvania.

Pete Houghton, manager of Pymatuning State Park, said visitors have been tossing a little bit of everything to the fish — including cupcakes, bagels, doughnuts, buns and other items, some of which are not good for fish.

Visitors can still feed the fish, but soon will have to use specially developed pellets labeled as “fish food” that will be available for sale.

Officials said because most human foods are unhealthy for wildlife, state park regulations prohibit the feeding of all wildlife. However, given the cultural, historical and tourism value of the spillway, officials have agreed to allow the recently-approved fish food to be used there.

Located just south of Linesville, the spillway is on a two-mile barrier — an old railroad bed, actually — that separates a small portion of lake water from one end of Pymatuning Reservoir, the largest lake in Pennsylvania. Water flows freely between the two bodies of water at the bridged spillway area that is heavily visited by fish and waterfowl.

“It would be disappointing (to not be able to feed the fish),” said Gloria Hacker of Hermitage, who saves bread all winter in a freezer to take to the spillway.

“It’s a nice thing to come do with the family. With times the way they are, it’s hard to find things to do that are free. The taxes are high in Pennsylvania. They need to have things like this to show the good they are doing with (our tax money).”

“One of the goals of the Bureau of State Parks is to provide our visitors and wildlife with a clean and healthy environment,” said a news release from the park. “By eliminating bread and the associated litter and health problems that it creates, the park is closer to reaching this goal at the spillway.

“Through the years we have seen a migration away from the traditional single sliced bread to a variety and abundant amounts of undesirable products which we feel could be detrimental to the wildlife and this facility. We have an obligation to be better stewards of this unique resource so that future generations have the same opportunity that our visitors have today,” said Houghton in the news release.

The spillway, which dates back to the 1930s, was closed for renovations in 2006 and reopened last year after the $2.6 million upgrade was complete. Among the improvements were stabilization of the shoreline and renovation of the concession stand. The tourist attraction has more than 300,000 visitors annually and is part of Pymatuning State Park, which is the number one tourist attraction in Crawford County.

So, those who want to feed bread to the fish at the spillway have from now until the end of December to take advantage of that tradition.