MSBA Action Alert--Protect Fishing License Bill Today

To All MA Recreational Angers:

MA House Bil #4224 is the fishing license legislation written by a steering committee of recreational fishing leaders and is currently at a critical point in the legislative process. The bill is now in the MA House Ways & Means Committee and is in danger of having monies diverted to the Environmental/State Police. This diversion will cause MA to lose millions of dollars in federal matching funds that pay for current fisheries programs and it will cause many organizations, including the MA Striped Bass Assn to withdraw support for any
State managed license.

Please take a moment to call your local State Representative and let him or her know that you support H4224 "as written" and that you would like to see the bill come out of Ways & Means ASAP.

The following link is an easy way for anyone to find the contact info to their local State Representative. Please act today. Together we can get this bil passed.


Thank You
MA Striped Bass Assn
Serving the MA Recreational Fishing Community since 1950

missing da link :grins:


or he just turned 55 :buds:

Sent to sen Morrisey

Massachusetts Legislators :: By City and Town (http://www.mass.gov/legis/city_town.htm#B_bookmark)


Time to walk the walk......... It will take no time at all, but needs to be done NOW!...

Done to both reps from my town.

This is what I sent to my rep. Cut and paste. Add your name, etc, edit, done. Easy

My name is xxxx xxxxxx, and I reside at xx xxxxxxx xx in xxxxxxxxx. I am writing you in regards to the above mentioned bill, as it has future ramifications to me, as an avid striped bass fisherman.

MA House Bil #4224 is the fishing license legislation written by a steering committee of recreational fishing leaders and is currently at a critical point in the legislative process. The bill is now in the MA House Ways & Means Committee and is in danger of having monies diverted to the Environmental/State Police. This diversion will cause MA to lose millions of dollars in federal matching funds that pay for current fisheries programs and it will cause many organizations, including the MA Striped Bass Assn to withdraw support for any State managed license.

I support H4224 "as written" and that you would like to see the bill come out of Ways & Means ASAP. Would you please take time to look into this on behalf of myself and all the other fishermen and women who reside in the seaside communities you represent? I look forward to hearing back from you.

Regards,

I have absolutely no faith, no matter how the legislation is written, that a license and it's associated fees would or will be off limits, as far as funds received from the sale of those licenses. The governors executive powers are being expanded all the time and it is inevitable that he will have the power to attch these funds to whatever he wants, especially in this economy. Were 600 million more in the hole now than we thought we were.

First a license to fish in saltwater is another layer of over regulation, the last free frontier is about to be taken away. I don't plan on buying one and how will they ever inforce it?

To support the notion of a license thinking that it will be administered correctly is just plain ignorance.

Will there be anything left in our world that our children and thier children will be able to enjoy freely without have to have a license, permit or entrance fee?

Having a license for saltwater and supporting it is as dumb a cause as building a statue to commemorate sport fisherman ( or woman) along the canal.

Wake up and smell the roses, it's another back door means of revenue for the state's ailing coffers and it will be raided, it cannot be effectively enforced.

Dumb assed idea all around.:smash:

Looks like RI. passed theirs today $7.50 starting in Jan.

I have absolutely no faith, no matter how the legislation is written, that a license and it's associated fees would or will be off limits,

Are you saying the sky is blue. You really think we should be worried about misuse of the license money. No %$%$%$%$. :smash:

The best protection our group of recreational fishing leaders have found available in this situation is a dedicated fund. Any use of the money from the fund is limited by the language in the legislation and expenditures must be approved by the legislature. Would you like chapter and verse from the MA Code of State Regulations (CSR) because I do have it?

By managing the monies with this method, using the money for other purposes would require a change in the legislation and that process will give the fishing community a chance to respond/defend as opposed to leaving the money vulnerabe to appropriation for purposes other than recreational fishing.

The battle is making sure there is no loophoes in the original legislation to begin with and that is going on right now. Did you call your representative or are you just getting in the way? Are you trying to prevent anglers from taking political action for some other reason?

as far as funds received from the sale of those licenses. The governors executive powers are being expanded all the time and it is inevitable that he will have the power to attach these funds to whatever he wants, especially in this economy. Were 600 million more in the hole now than we thought we were.

The above statement leads me to think that you have no idea about the Governor's authorities, what they are, how they can be used etc. Can you inform me what clause in the CSR you think could be mis used to raid the fund. I will gladly discuss this with the MSBA lawyers.

Those of us involved are worried about the legislature and what final language will control the dedicated fund. We are doing all we can to keep the license monies within the MA Division of Marine Fisheries and it is irresponsible nonsense as you have posted here that is our biggest hurdle.

I am happy to answer questions but that is not what you are doing is it? We need all anglers to contact their legislators or the only people that will benefit from the license monies will be a certain group of government employees.

First a license to fish in saltwater is another layer of over regulation, the last free frontier is about to be taken away. I don't plan on buying one and how will they ever inforce it?

To support the notion of a license thinking that it will be administered correctly is just plain ignorance.

To suggest that a license is merely a "notion" or is "about to" anything is what is ignorant. The reauthorization of the Magnuson Stevens Fisheries Act which requires all anglers be counted passed in 2006. That was THREE YEARS AGO. The delay of implementation that if I recall correctly and the search feature of this site will confirm you did not see coming was caused by the presidential election and resulting turnover within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) but make no mistake about it the license is coming. You can shout and pout all you want but it is already done and the adults amongst us are trying to prevent our monies from paying for the turnpike, big dig and whatever agenda inspired you to post here.

Will there be anything left in our world that our children and thier children will be able to enjoy freely without have to have a license, permit or entrance fee?

Only if we and hopefuly our children learn to step up and participate in democracy as I am asking all anglers to do in this thread. Your distracting response is exactly why we lose these political battles. I find your comments completely irresponsible.

Having a license for saltwater and supporting it is as dumb a cause as building a statue to commemorate sport fisherman ( or woman) along the canal.

I have no idea what this line means. It appears to me that Bassmaster and Flaptail have become one.:fury::fury: Actually, I suspect Flaptail knows exactly what he is doing.

Wake up and smell the roses, it's another back door means of revenue for the state's ailing coffers and it will be raided, it cannot be effectively enforced.

It surely will be raided if high profile anglers such as yourself react like this. Instead of being a part of the solution to dealing with what is being shoved down our throats you choose to cause a distraction and become part of the problem...Good Job :wall::wall::wall:

Enforcement will be the same as a state charter boat license, a hunting license, a trapping license, a lobstering license, a recreational gil net license and commercial fishing license etc etc. These are all currenty enforced and that will continue. Is enforcement perfect? Nope. Should the Environmental Police have switched from the Department of Fish and Game to the State Police a few years ago... Nope.

Will including enforcement money directed to the State Police in the legislation automatically eliminate over 5 milion in federal Wallup Rowe manufacturers tax reimbursements we already receive...YES.

Enforcement is what enforcement is. The EPO are already paid to enforce fishing regs. Whether they do or do not is another question and is not answered by the amount of money in the State Police Budget

[QUOTE=BasicPatrick;720449]
[B][I][COLOR="Blue"]To suggest that a license is merely a "notion" or is "about to" anything is what is ignorant. The reauthorization of the Magnuson Stevens Fisheries Act which requires all anglers be counted passed in 2006. That was THREE YEARS AGO. The delay of implementation that if I recall correctly and the search feature of this site will confirm you did not see coming was caused by the presidential election and resulting turnover within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) but make no mistake about it the license is coming. You can shout and pout all you want but it is already done and the adults amongst us are trying to prevent our monies from paying for the turnpike, big dig and whatever agenda inspired you to post here.

I don't have a dog i this fight, I don't live in or fish in MA, but the above statement is a bunch of B.S. that the proponents of a state saltwater license have been pushing since the MSA was reauthorized. The MSA does NOT require a license of any kind. It requires a "registry" but only of those anglers that fish in federal waters or fish for andromonous fish. For all practical purposes that is only striped bass fishermen. But the politicians have seen the $$$ signs on the wall and are hell bent to get it before Washington can.

Ask yourself this, if the states did NOTHING how could the feds enforce this? Anyone casting a plug or soaking a bait could simply claim to fishing for bluefish, flounder, fluke, scup, sea bass or any other species besides striped bass. The only guys that would have to worry are guys who fish from boats out past the three mile limit and even many of them would have been exempt because they had a HMS permit, which would exempt them from the registry.

Anyone who supports a state salt water license is either woefully misinformed or a supporter of a state permit for anything and everything.

Arguing the difference between the word "license" and the word "registry" is the exact same as arguing the difference between an ORV "permit" or "inspection sticker". We are required to be counted, analyzed and will pay to fish in salt water whether you call it a license, a registry or Schindler's list. It surely tastes bad but we lost that fight.

As far as the Feds managing the registry, I was one of the last recreational fishing leaders to abandon the position that we should let the Feds manage the registry.

I changed my mind after I attended a briefing where NMFS representatives explained that there would be no regional or national registry and even a federally managed program will be implemented on a state by state basis, 2) The cost would be "similar" to the that of the HMS(aka Tuna) Permit and would return no additional services for that price and 3)The interpretation of the anadramous fish language is not as you claim but is that all anglers in the mairne environment will be required to register. MSBA also submitted questions to NMFS that were answered and published as well.

I would rather not have a license but that ship has sailed. Either way I am convinced that after we are counted all bag limits will be reduced as I think there are more rec fishers than any of us think. The more of us there are the less fish we can harvest.

Arguing the difference between the word "license" and the word "registry" is the exact same as arguing the difference between an ORV "permit" or "inspection sticker". We are required to be counted, analyzed and will pay to fish in salt water whether you call it a license, a registry or Schindler's list. It surely tastes bad but we lost that fight.

As far as the Feds managing the registry, I was one of the last recreational fishing leaders to abandon the position that we should let the Feds manage the registry.

I changed my mind after I attended a briefing where NMFS representatives explained that there would be no regional or national registry and even a federally managed program will be implemented on a state by state basis, 2) The cost would be "similar" to the that of the HMS(aka Tuna) Permit and would return no additional services for that price and 3)The interpretation of the anadramous fish language is not as you claim but is that all anglers in the mairne environment will be required to register. MSBA also submitted questions to NMFS that were answered and published as well.

I would rather not have a license but that ship has sailed. Either way I am convinced that after we are counted all bag limits will be reduced as I think there are more rec fishers than any of us think. The more of us there are the less fish we can harvest.

I agree that the ship has sailed, but that doesn't change what I said. The ship sailed when the state politicos saw the money and decided to grab it. The feds were complicit, in that they didn't want to administer a "registry" so they pushed the states to enact licensing. As for the term andromonous, the feds can say anything they like (which they did to push for state licenses) but no court in this world would "interpret" that term the way they did.

As far as I am concerned if someone in this state buys a sporting liscence they should be covered for all fishing and hunting. :fury:

I agree that the ship has sailed, but that doesn't change what I said. The ship sailed when the state politicos saw the money and decided to grab it. The feds were complicit, in that they didn't want to administer a "registry" so they pushed the states to enact licensing. As for the term andromonous, the feds can say anything they like (which they did to push for state licenses) but no court in this world would "interpret" that term the way they did.

Mike...I agree with the general theory but in the real world it will not matter as no one will come up with the money to challenge it in court. Do you have half a million or so laying around. Just to get into a case like this it cost 500K. We are 700K plus into the Hatteras access law suits and are not even half way down the road.

Patrick, I respect you and think of you as a friend but I work for and have worked in the past for municipal and the state govt. Right now I get paid by three towns and one school district.

The reason we have the fisheries situation we now have is because of mis management, lobbys of the commercial fisheries and political cronieisms.

Your dreaming if you think that a license and it's associated fees will ever fix this mess. I see what the state promises and what it actually does and it's affect on childrens education, thier welfare and the programs that monies from tax revenues go to or have been earmarked for by legislation. Programs and services vital to that cause, once thought to be off limits and at times proposed and forwarded as such, are now fair game for the governor to plunder under emergency executive powers. Bussing, health care and health education, special education, nurses in schools, after school programs for disadvantaged kids and many others once funded by the state have seen huge cuts due to the governor asking for and being given executive emergency powers.

If you think that programs for fisheries management, research and enforcement will be held above all other state and municipal funded programs as untouchable while education and other essential services are felled by the governors budget cutting axe, your being mislead and misleading others into the same train of thought.

I have no other agenda than common sense. I beleive strongly that the marine fisheries of this state need help but to think that the revenue from licenses will remain in the sole possession and purview of the Div of Marine fisheries your wrong.

I live it every day, I deal with notifications weekly of what was supposedly untouchable funding being taken completely away or drastically cut to buoy up the states ailing coffers.

As a lobbyist for this you cerrtainly are going at it with a huge amount of passion. I know how many meetings and such you attend and the places you go and you obviously beleive that your right.

You are right, a license is coming, it's enevitable and politicians will support it, it draws in another segment of thier voting or potential voting constituency, something they all could use come election day.

But mark my words, the day will come when the revenue brought in by this will be attached by the governor by special executive emergency powers and all we will get is a burden of a license with no real enforcement, it will affect all the mom and pop tackle shops whose main business was not the sale of VanStals, custom rods and high end plugs but by the guy who buys a box of seaworms some hooks and simple weights to fish off of a bridge or pier or those who want to take thier kid out on the jetty a couple times while on vacation. A license for saltwater will deter a lot of that and that margin will make or break tackle shops already living on the edge.

I am against it, I am against it being forced down our throats to fund a mis managed state agency with a horrible track record in cod, flounder and other speicies management and most of all a realist after 20 odd years of intimately seeing how the state works and how funding comes and goes.

Clean house at these agencies, get real managers outside of the influence of special interests be it commercial or recreational fisherman, set new regualtions and have them enforced outside of the 9 to 5 workday.

It stinks, period.

Dear Scott:
Thank you for contacting my office regarding House Bill #4224: An Act instituting salt water fishing licenses. I appreciate you sharing your concerns about this proposal and where it stands in the legislative process. Please know I had the opportunity to discuss the issue yesterday with a key member of the House Leadership. I am of the understanding that the House Ways & Means Committee is definitely aware of the time sensitivity concerning potential loss of federal funds. I anticipate there is likely to be favorable action of the bill as early as next week in an effort to thwart the loss of funding of which I remain supportive. Thank you for reaching out on this important and timely measure. I appreciate your personal advocacy on the matter.



Sincerely,



Jennifer M. Callahan

State Representative

18th Worcester District

Dear Scott:
Thank you for contacting my office regarding House Bill #4224: An Act instituting salt water fishing licenses. I appreciate you sharing your concerns about this proposal and where it stands in the legislative process. Please know I had the opportunity to discuss the issue yesterday with a key member of the House Leadership. I am of the understanding that the House Ways & Means Committee is definitely aware of the time sensitivity concerning potential loss of federal funds. I anticipate there is likely to be favorable action of the bill as early as next week in an effort to thwart the loss of funding of which I remain supportive. Thank you for reaching out on this important and timely measure. I appreciate your personal advocacy on the matter.



Sincerely,



Jennifer M. Callahan

State Representative

18th Worcester District

Just goes to show that the emails have some impact.

I don't buy into the effectiveness of the copy/paste method. You want to be effective, take the 15 minutes to compose a person, paraphrased version.

:soon: Sent off my e-mails today to Rep and Sen.

E-mail gone !!!

My Rep sent me the following message back :buds:
VB

Dear Peter,

Thank you for contacting me regarding House Bill 4224, An Act Instituting Salt Water Fishing License. Please know that I understand your concerns on this matter and will share your request with the Committee. I will keep your thoughts in mind when this bill comes before the House for debate.

Thank you once again for bringing this matter to my attention and please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns that you may have on this matter or any other.

Sincerely,

If the RFA can come up with enough money to sue the feds over the sea bass closure, and the United Boatmen of NY can sue both the feds and ASMFC over their fluke quotas, I'm sure the money can be found. Besides, lots of fishermen are lawyers and many would work pro bono on such a case. I know I would.

I sent it in, but.....

Whine whine whine, and I will. If not this year, you can bet that sometime the $$$ will be spread out and not get directed toward the fisherman.

Second, if we just got the federal license, because some license is a given unfortunately, at least the federal license might have been good for more states than just 1 or 2.

With individual states, when New Jersey, New York, Vermont, Conn., Maine people come to Mass to fish (I leave out Rhody and New Hamp. as they border Mass. and maybe we will honor their licenses and vice versa), they will have to buy another license - how long before they say %^$# that and not come? That might be nice for some, but as a business owner in this industry it sucks. And please don't tell me the charge will be minimal - today maybe, in a few years who knows, and what about the family with a few teenagers - buy 4 licenses, right.

If I am wrong with the thought process, someone please correct me.

I sent it in, but.....

Whine whine whine, and I will. If not this year, you can bet that sometime the $$$ will be spread out and not get directed toward the fisherman.

Second, if we just got the federal license, because some license is a given unfortunately, at least the federal license might have been good for more states than just 1 or 2.

With individual states, when New Jersey, New York, Vermont, Conn., Maine people come to Mass to fish (I leave out Rhody and New Hamp. as they border Mass. and maybe we will honor their licenses and vice versa), they will have to buy another license - how long before they say %^$# that and not come? That might be nice for some, but as a business owner in this industry it sucks. And please don't tell me the charge will be minimal - today maybe, in a few years who knows, and what about the family with a few teenagers - buy 4 licenses, right.

If I am wrong with the thought process, someone please correct me.

Rich, I can agree with you and unfortunately, what's advantageous for the average Cape Fisherman (fewer Jersey Barriers and New Yorkers bunking in on top of us when trying to beach fish) means less traffic through your store.

The erratic beach closures and seals aren't helping that either though. I know of 3 people that have gotten stickers for the Race for over the last 10 years (one person for probably over 20 years) that won't be getting stickers. If I were from NY or NJ, why plan a vacation and drive 6 hours to a place that might be unfishable, closed or sealed out. Just from the short history I have experienced, it seems like they are more and more aggressive with closing the beaches at will.

So true, the beach closures, seals, mung, make it a tough journey to take for those south of us. Add in a non-resident license and that might be the straw that breaks my back. Maybe I'll just do my charters - less aggravation and I am at least on the water!

Momentum builds to stop fishing license law
Cuomo refuses to defend DEC as more towns join East End suit
BY CARA LORIZ | EDITOR


#^&#^&#^&#^& BAKER PHOTO Fishing continues this fall in Island and South Fork waters as a lawsuit to stop a marine recreational license builds steam and support. Mike Loriz wrestled this striped bass aboard #^&#^&#^&#^& Baker's boat earlier this month. Island anglers can continue to fish license free, town officials reported this week.
The injunction against a New York State marine fishing license is “becoming pretty indefinite,” Town Supervisor Jim Dougherty said at Friday's Town Board meeting, and two more towns — Huntington and Brookhaven — have joined the lawsuit filed by Shelter Island, Southampton and East Hampton challenging the state's authority to regulate their water resources.

Town Attorney Laury Dowd received court papers Friday from the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) acknowledging that Attorney General Andrew Cuomo would not defend the agency in the state court suit; the case has been adjourned until mid-November. In withdrawing from the litigation, Mr. Cuomo cited problems in implementing the licenses and said that a hasty implementation of the law would “jeopardize” Long Island fishing communities. “In my opinion, the law should not take effect for several months,” he said in a statement issued last week and published in Newsday.

“I think Southampton deserves a pat on the back” for the lawsuit's success thus far, Councilman Glenn Waddington said Friday. “They're the ones who got this going.” Southampton Town Attorney Joseph Lombardo is the lead litigator for the suit based on the East End town's colonial patent rights.

Southampton's State Assemblymen Fred Thiele opposed the law creating the license from the outset. Mr. Thiele commended the Attorney General's action. “Attorney General Cuomo has again demonstrated common sense that is often lacking in Albany,” he said in a press release.

Mr. Thiele said he will renew efforts to repeal the law; the senate adjourned for the year before acting on an earlier Thiele bill to postpone the license law until January 2010. Mr. Thiele has also requested that legislation be added to Governor David Paterson's special session agenda for October 28, 2009 that would delay the enactment of the fishing license law until July 1, 2010. During that delay, license opponents could maneuver for a compromise to eliminate the license and replace it with a one-time, free registration program.

The state law establishing the license was developed in response to a federal one requiring better monitoring of recreational fishing harvests. The license law was adopted during the state budget process last spring and the fees it imposes — $10 per year for residents, $250 per year for charter boat captains — were expected to raise 3 million dollars for the state. The legislature set an October 1 start date for the license, requiring all recreational saltwater anglers to purchase a license that would only be good for three months; another license would have to be purchased in January good throughout 2010.

But implementing the new law was problematic. The DEC did not have a license distribution system in place when the law went into effect. The agency's on-line licensing system, DECALS, couldn't issue a three-month license; it had to be reprogrammed, which took weeks. Commercial license vendors also reported difficulties in getting information and licensing materials as did Town Clerk Dorothy Ogar, who issues hunting licenses for the state.

U.S. Senator Charles Schumer joined the effort to end the state license last week, calling on the federal government to create a free, life-time saltwater fishing license. The senator made a direct appeal to the U.S. Department of Commerce and the New York State DEC, asking them to set up a free, easy and convenient registration process for Long Island's saltwater fishing community, describing the current system is “too onerous.”

“The bottom line is the current system places far too great a burden on Long Island anglers who are already struggling day to day,” Mr. Schumer said in a statement to the press. “This is not the time to change the system and impose new fees. While we must ensure that adequate scientific data is available to keep fishing stocks thriving, we can't do it on the backs of fishermen.”

Mr. Schumer said that the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the federal law that governs fishing up and down the east coast, stipulates certain requirements for state programs to be in compliance with federal rules. However, those rules do not require that states impose a fee or an annual registration. The DEC can set up a new system that is free for fisherman and permanent, so they only have to register once in their lifetime, and still be in compliance with federal reporting requirements. Delaware is using such a system and New Jersey is considering one.

Mr. Schumer also wrote to the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration asking them to work with the DEC and local communities to ensure the new systems are in compliance.

The state Supreme Court injunction against the licenses in Shelter Island, Southampton and East Hampton waters, filed September 30, will continue at least through mid-November when Judge Patrick Sweeney has scheduled the court proceedings to reconvene.

At Friday's meeting, Councilman Peter Reich couldn't resist making a closing commentary: “There's something fishy about this law.”

Original at: The Shelter Island Reporter (http://www2.timesreview.com/SIR/stories/SIR-fishing-10-292009-10-28T17-59-10)

So true, the beach closures, seals, mung, make it a tough journey to take for those south of us. Add in a non-resident license and that might be the straw that breaks my back. Maybe I'll just do my charters - less aggravation and I am at least on the water!

Very true. Gets you away from that desk. Btw, heard you landed one that day Paul and I saw you out there. Congrats!

That law suit is nothing new and is more aobut NY State Legislative procedure, than anything else.

If you read all the articles about the mess NY is trying to deal with that then you will learn that they had a recreational steering committee that wrote a license, could not agree, then all kinds of groups (not all fishers) tried to lobby the bill...the NY legislature eventually passed a bill that was going to take all the salt water license money to pay for a bankrupt inland fishing fund and it got worse from there.

That whole situation is a big mess and is exactly why the MA Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission, Cape Cod Salties, MBBA, MSBA, MA Sportsman's Council, Red Top, Surfland, Fishing Finatics, New England Outdoor Writers Assn, On The Water, Charlie Soares etc etc etc. joined together to sek out and find the best way to lessen the damage. We have done good and are asking for fishermen to help.

By the way...the Shelter Island Paper is a dinky little publication that I doubt has any legal staff never mind enough legal staff to give reporters advice on federal fisheries authorities so taking their reporters view of anything is probably not very smart. Just because the press prints it does not make it true.

FishOnNelsons

#1...The whole federal registry idea was pushed for and lobbied by CCA and the ASA (American Sportfishing Association) which as you know is the tackle industry lobby in DC. Maybe not you personally but your industry and it's representatives are why we have any license at all. I know you don't like it but maybe you you should ask your Shimano, Penn, and Pure Fishing Reps what they were thinking and ask them why they have done this to you.

#2 Why should you support MA #4224? Under this bill your out of state clients will always pay the same price as MA residents (10-12 dollars) for the first few years and some if not all of them that have licenses from their home states may not need one from MA at all. If the Feds go forward with their plan then these same clients will pay more like 20-25 dollars and no consideration if they have paid anywhere else. No reciprocity in the federal plan as of yet.

#3 I agree the whole thing stinks to high heaven but if we do nothing we get what we deserve...I'd rather participate in a democracy and have some say then just let them screw us completely.

#4 Also I agree with many that have posted...the beach closures are and will hurt your shop waaaaaayyyyyyyyy more than a license. The closures are kiling the outer Cape. More hearings we can't get people to attend.

emails sent

"The bottom line is the current system places far too great a burden on Long Island anglers who are already struggling day to day,” Mr. Schumer said in a statement to the press. “This is not the time to change the system and impose new fees. So NOW Chuck Schumer says it is no time to pay more fees? Where was that quote over the years of spending increases - Sorry, had to laugh. But wish he had stepped in a few years ago when there may have been a chance to stop this bulldozer

11-4



Hi Bob,



Representative Greene has forwarded your email to me, expressing your support for H.4224, establishing salt water fishing licenses. I apologize for taking so long to reply, but this bill has been working through another Committee, and has actually just been released by the House Ways and Means as H. 4309. Before responding to you, I wanted to be certain that the intent of the bill had not been altered, as you feared might happen. The Ways and Means version clearly intends the revenue generated by the licensing program be used to support science and conservation programs designed to improve recreational saltwater fishing and other recreational saltwater fishing improvements. The bill actually specifies that 1/3 of the fees appropriated in a fiscal year must be expended on existing or new facilities or activities which improve public access to recreational saltwater fishing. The bill Is scheduled for a vote in the full formal session this afternoon. I will try and send you an email following the vote, but please feel free to call or send an email if you don’t hear from me.



Again, sorry for taking so long, but I wanted to be certain I had the latest information. Thank you for taking the time to contact us on this matter.



Ellen


11-4



Hi Bob,



Rep. Greene asked me to let you know the bill has been passed by the House. It now goes to the Senate for their consideration.



Ellen