With respect to you RI guys, down here in NY I think it could do some good. Not a good scenerio for a first post on my part? All the talk of where the monies goes is of no consequence to me. Any and all help is welcomed by me to support the resource. Another tax? You betcha! I kinda think some would go to extra enforcement? I spent nearly an hour talking to the DEC guys 2 weeks ago and found out they cut their hours to 7am to 3 pm buy order from Albany? What's the problem? You spend that much on 1 plug? If you think about it,it could go in your favor buy alienating the casual types tying up an inlet with clams with momma and the kids looking on. Big Brother could be a godsend in disguise! Prospector

having a federal license that allows you to fish in all atlantic waters is one thing...as long as the money obtained from the sale of the licenses definately goes to improve the fishery.
Perhaps you just fish in New york and thats just fine... but here in the rest of New England , i dont want to have a license for each state i want to saltwater fish in. As it stands now, thats already a real pain in the arse for freshwater fishing which again i think should be a federal license that allows you to fish in any state any time. It should work just like a drivers license that allows you to drive anywhere without having to stop at each states department of motor vehicles for a temporary license each time your there.

Prospector - welcome. I agree on a lot of it. Problem is Rhody has repeatedly shown that they can't keep the hands out of the til and they would easily suck it up for something else. But they were also going to give 15 mil to the Greyhound owners...

Lets see - 15 million to the dog owners or ENTIRE DEM BUDGET 2.2 Mil of which much comes from other licenses and apllied to federal matching funds. So a few guys will get 5-7 times what the entire state gets for coastal marine issues.... Nah - it's gotta be right before it goes. Most people I've discussed this in detail with would probably be for it if it had consideral benefit to managing marine resources but it didn't come close under the last series of meetings and there was NO detail on this last go round.

This is a very interesting situation because I too have been preaching for a Saltwater License but only on certain terms. The terms are simple and the crooked politicians are not allowed to put their hands in the cookie jar. Another words, the funds can not fall into the “general funds” and it must be used for the sole purpose of marine enhancements and for stricter enforcement to better our fishing endeavors.

In addition, it adds fuel to our fishing community in, which will give us a tool to be counted and a perfect vehicle (voice) to fight for our fish and prevent future destruction to our fishery that are caused by the powerful commercial sectors and other users.

Apparently the RI crooked politicians (as expected) got the gist of this and are already taking advantage of what could have been a good cause! This is truly sad and it’s a terrible example and a new found disease that could potentially spread throughout our fishing states.

So the question is… Where is the newfound money (our fishing funds) being allocated to? Do we really have an honest answer or is this just plain robbery?


“Crazy” Alberto
NonStopFisher@aol.com

Prospector,
if you mean this "All the talk of where the monies goes is of no consequence to me" then you'll never get what your looking for. Once the money goes into the general fund the resource will never see a dime of it.
Alberto,
A license will give you more say in rge decision making process? Does your freahwater license give you any clout in the making of freashwater regs? Does your drivers license give you say in traffic regs.? Do you really expect the bureaucrats to listen to you just because you have a license?

Problem is that the monies raised by this would mostly go to DEM BUT it would not be in addition to but in replacement of the money they already get in the budget. For this to work properly, existing funding of DEM must be guaranteed without question and then licensing funds added on top of that with a mixed body steering commitee, mostly recreational, to oversee the direction and success of the funds. The funds "should" be for enforcement with teeth that can generate some money thru fines to offset some of its cost AND to enforce what they are supposed to protect. The funds "should" be for maintaing and improving access, education (multi lingual), better science, blah blah.

Oops, soap box is being hammered away at by politicians :eek5:

Good point MJ !

Have a great trip !

Macomike,

Oops. Thought you were the mako going on a break.

Whatever.

Good comments

MakoMike,
I know where you are coming from and I agree with you on most parts! Believe me, I am not fond of licenses by all means but I feel that it is pertinent to want better things (improvements) for our sport and not loose control of the resources, enforcement and access. For starters, It’s pretty much what JohnR posted and I wholeheartedly agree with him! I am sick of watching poachers illegally keeping short fish, watching commercial guys getting the best of our fishery, the morons leaving trash all over and most importantly, dealing with a bunch of self-serving bureaucratic BS! :af:

In relation to what you asked regarding the freshwater license and what it has done… Well, I know the positives because I do a lot of freshwater fishing! The license funds are “specifically” directed toward fishing enforcement, access, research and fish! It does not fall into the “general funds” which would be downright wrong and ludicrous!

Mind you, it’s all about fulfilling the needs so we can enjoy our sport to the fullest. It’s about the protection of our species, having a voice, the continued and new access and enforcement (by giving stiff fines to those that breaks the laws and use the funds wisely back to the cause) and to promote our sport! Where we stand, our days are noticeably numbered and without recognizing the power to be reckoned with… we are finished!

This will only fly if there is an “guaranteed” that all new funds will be allocated toward the fishing community! Anything less should be rightly petitioned and killed!

“Crazy” Alberto
NonStopFisher@aol.com

Crazy Al,

Have you followed any of the thread I posted ?

There is feedback there...........

We have discussed guarantees, etc.

What do you think the best way to guarantee fund allocations would be ?
Policing of catch ?
Policing of license held ?
POlicing of the coffers ?
Policing of the police ?
State to State coordination ?

Look forward to some feedback. I have been discussing the same things for a few days at another thread here.

Any reason why there is no response there ?

Hi Beachwalker,

Unfortunately I have been incredibly busy and don’t have much time to web. However, you brought up some excellent points… Please forward the thread link and I will give you my opinion.

“Any reason why there is no response there ?”… I could take an educated guess. This is not a “fun” topic and when it’s about regulations, conservation etc… People turn their heads. Most people just want to fish and enjoy the sport and left alone.

Unfortunately, when it’s time to make a decision on some unjustified rules…. they rant only to find out that it’s too late. I would suggest that some would do their part and show a little appreciation by giving a little back. Again, this is just my opinion!


“Crazy” Alberto
NonStopFisher@aol.com

Al,

Thanks for the reply. I'll keep up with what's going on here and research some other areas.

Hope you fish this weekend.

Beachwalker,

No problem and keep up the good work!

If you are fishing this weekend - Cath'em up! :)

"Crazy" Alberto
NonStopFisher@aol.com

Guy's on both sides have issues. More important to me besides where the money goes is the fact that a rag tag bunch of fisherman could have a voice just by the shear numbers of fisherman who vote. Your local represenetive would think twice with his vote! The General Fund is always mentioned everytime this issue comes up. So? What could you lose or better, what could you gain? They can't rape every dollar so in my mind enforcement has to come out a winner. License is a mind set, nobody wants another permit to buy. Seeing how there's more people using the resource it just might make sense. Decades ago folks like Texas Instruments and Lilco funded some research. Now were left with hearsay as to the health of a fishery? Maybe instead of the nonexistent grants anymore we might just fund an unbiased source? The commercial fisherman paint a rosey picture of the state of the striped bass. I don't know about you but the average size or weight of a bass has been on a downhill slide every since the inception of the 28 inch limit. I'm no marine biologist but can tell you were killing inmature fish. It works in freshwater, why not in salt? Prospector

Well this year they are on the upside insize and I believe it has a lot to do with the health of the bait stocks.

Finally management is showing some progress.

Two days ago we were hooking up big 20-25 lbers between Nantucket and the Vineyard. There were schools of bass bigger than anything I have EVER seen, EVER !

Sh*%$#t is gonna be huse this year !

But still. We can't get complacent. Gotta keep tabs on the fishees