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BY JOHN GEISER
CORRESPONDENT
Proponents of a saltwater fishing license are busy as usual working every
backroom and hall from Trenton to Washington.
They are making some progress against those who love freedom and liberty by
moving the campaign as far away from salt water as possible. The recently passed
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act contained a provision
opening the door to a national saltwater registration system.
The language in the bill does not specify imposition of a saltwater fishing
license, and no fee can be charged until after Jan. 1, 2011. The Recreational
Fishing Alliance, the United Boatmen of New Jersey and New York and others were
able to prevent an immediate mandate.
The saltwater fishing license idea has been around in New Jersey for 50 years,
and each time it has been brought up, it has been soundly rejected.
New Jersey is the most heavily taxed state in the Union, and it is a remarkable
testimony to the zeal of fishermen and the backbone of legislators and governors
for the last half century that the saltwater tax has never been adopted.
In 1988, Gov. Thomas Kean told me he supported President George H.W. Bush in
opposing a saltwater fishing license.
"I'm against a saltwater fishing license," he said, and his stand has been
echoed by every New Jersey governor since that time.
Ironically, the saltwater fishing license is being pushed at a time when
recreational fishermen are getting less and less. Restrictions on fishing for
winter flounders, blackfish, fluke, porgies, weakfish, tuna, sharks, marlin, sea
bass, cobia, cod, haddock, pollock, king mackerel, red drum, river herring and
Spanish mackerel are getting tighter and tighter.
A saltwater fishing license for recreational anglers now would be the equivalent
of a driver's license restricting the operator to commuting to and from work
only with full driving privileges in his home driveway.
James A. Donofrio, executive director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance, said
a concerted effort to pass a saltwater fishing license in Delaware is being
fought actively.
"This is a tax pure and simple," he said. "They talk about the money being
dedicated to saltwater fishing, but the money goes into the general treasury."
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