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Date: April 20, 2006 at 23:45:52
From: Paul M., [dialup-4.155.241.147.dial1.baltimore1.level3.net]
Subject: Re: RI SW liscencing,, again! by riarcher


Unfortunately, there are very strong forces at work on this one. Most
of it is driven by interworkings of the Federal Govt. It will be
interesting to see how RI deals with the issues since what Ken say's
about the RI constitution banning saltwater fishing licenses. This
round of the issue derives from the Presidential Ocean Commission
that reported out last year and the Pew Ocean Commission
(Independent) that reported out last year or the year before. Both
reports addressed the recreational fisheries and indicated that the
federal govt do something to manage those fisheries better and more
consitently across the states. One of the recommendation of the
Presidential Ocean Commission was to have a national registry of
saltwater recreational anglers so that the feds in charge of fisheries
could collect more an better data. Most coastal states (I believe it is
more than 50%) have some form of saltwater fishing license, so there is
also an issue of equity between states. As a result of the
recommendation Congress is trying to address it in the renewal of the
Magnussen-Stevens act and they believe that they have been given a
mandate to establish a national fishing registry and some are reading
that as a national saltwater fishing license. Down here both Delaware
and MD are dealing with it different ways. One of the MD congressman
has actually introduced a bill for a national license in the house.
Delaware is trying to get a state license in place before the feds take
over.
The interesting point of all this is that the Commission didn't really say
anything about a license, they said and meant a registry, but they also
recommended that the states be allowed to implement that any way
they saw fit, just as long as the fisheries folks could collect the data
they need to manage the fisheries.
From watching three states (MD, RI and DE) deal with this issue first
hand and having lived in two and a half states that already have a
saltwater fishing license (FL and MS, MD has a tidal waters (bay and
estuary) license) it is my pesonal opinion that the misinterpratation of
the commission recommendation by state legislators and the congress
is leading down the path toward everyone having some form of
saltwater license. The problem I see particularly at the state level is
that they are going to use it as a revenue generator and that the fees
will be disparate between states and for those of us who fish in more
than one state it will cost of freakin fortune to persue our past time.
That being said, it is no different than freshwater as all states already
have freshwater licenses and while we gripe, we usually pay if we want
to fish.
I would prefer some type of regional management setup where fishing
licenses were reciprocal between adjoining states at a minimum and
maybe even in a given region - let say New England regions would
encompass Maine, NH, Mass, RI and Conn; mid-Atlantic would cover
NY down to VA (including Chesapeake and Del Bays) South East would
cover, North Carolina to FL and the Gulf States would cover FL to
Texas. The West Coast would be covered by one region.
Another issues involved in all of this is the migratory nature of many of
the saltwater species, Striped Bass for example. If MD is spending my
license money on the management of the Chesapeake Spawning
Grounds, isn't that also benefitting New England fisherman as all of the
Chesapeake fish end up joining the migration north after the 3rd, 4th
or 5th year. Should New Englanders pay to manage the spawning
grounds and the stock during their first years of life?
To wrap this up - Stay Tuned and write your congressmen and
senators if you want to get involved.
Paul M.


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